China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-28

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT September 4........................................................................................................August 28 RIGHT

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing. There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. 

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left) 
廿
八
三期星

  Eighth Month, Twenty-eighth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, August 28

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

解驛
神馬

Post-horse Station
Releasing Spirits

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

凶凶吉

酉己丑

吉中中

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

凶中吉

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.

————————————————— 

Section Four
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌

祭作
祀灶

Stove Work
Venerating Ancestors

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
二
丙
寅
火
參
破

Twenty-second Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingyin (03/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Mix (21/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————————————————— 

Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information) 
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

治

病

破

屋

壊

垣

______________________________

天

地

始

肅
_____________________________ 

 短月

星破

Appropriate Activities  

Treating Illness
Destroying Rooms
Breaking-down Embankments

Heaven and Earth Turn Strict
(the forty-first of seventy-two, five-day, micro-periods in the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information

Lunar Destruction
Brief Star

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人 天
Person, Heaven

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
廚

爐 灶

Kitchen
Furnace, Stove