From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 12-31

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
LEFT January 5..................................January 1..........Monthly Calendar Information 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) 


二期星
  Twelfth Month, Thirty-first Day
Astral Period Two
Tuesday, December 31
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
要麒
安麟
Unicorn
Urgent Calm
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰子
吉中中
酉己丑

戌午寅
亥未卯
中吉
23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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) 
造合
酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 
廿





Twenty-ninth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
伐交
木易
田安
獵牀
出補
服塞

羊月
口煞

Appropriate Activities
Trade and Commerce
Positioning Beds
Patching Cave-holes
Felling Timber
Field Venery
Discarding Clothing

Spring Waters Move
(the sixty-sixth of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the lunar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information  
Lunar Balefulness
Goat Mouth

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)
白 林
White, Copse
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
(Top to bottom; right to left)

廚 灶
Toilet
Kitchen, Stove

Monday, December 30, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 12-30

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
LEFT December 31............................................................................................December 23 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) 


一期星
  Twelfth Month, Thirtieth Day
Astral Period One
Monday, December 30
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
陰解
德神
Releasing Spirits
Yin Virtue
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰子
吉中
酉己丑
吉中吉
戌午寅
凶凶
亥未卯
吉中
23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 In-Between

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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) 
苫結
蓋綱
Binding Nets
Thatched Coverings
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 
廿





Twenty-eighth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: gengwu (7/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Heart (5/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)








厭月
對破
血大
忌耗

Appropriate Activities
Seeking Physicians
Treating Illness
Destroying Rooms
Smashing Embankments

Miscellaneous Information  
Lunar Destruction
Great Squander
Mutual Loathing
Blood Taboo

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)
白 天
White, Heaven
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
(Top to bottom; right to left)

磨 碓
Divination
Mortar, Pestle