Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
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.
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
LEFT
April 28
........................................................................................................April 20 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.
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left
廿
八
一期星
Fourth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day
Astral Period One
Monday, April 28
Monday, April 28
————————————————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
合歲
日德
日德
Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Linked Days
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰子
吉中凶
酉己丑
中中凶
戌午寅
凶吉吉
戌午寅
凶吉吉
亥未卯
凶吉中
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious
15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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)
忌
除遠
服行
除遠
服行
Distant Journeys
Discarding Clothing
Discarding Clothing
—————————————————
Section Five
Cosmological Information
廿
九
己
巳
木
危
除
九
己
巳
木
危
除
Twenty-Ninth Day (Third Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: jisi (6/60)
Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Danger (12/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)
—————————————————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
開會
市友
動裁
土衣
上移
樑徙
作掃
灶舍
五
虛
孤重
辰日
開會
市友
動裁
土衣
上移
樑徙
作掃
灶舍
五
虛
孤重
辰日
Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Sweeping Rooms
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Sweeping Rooms
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Five Voids
Baleful Astral Influences
Doubled Days
Orphaned Dawn
Orphaned Dawn
————
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(right to left)
白 人
White, Person
————
(right to left)
白 人
White, Person
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
(Top to bottom; right to left)
占
牀 門
Divination
Bed, Gate
Bed, Gate
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