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.

Friday, May 2, 2014

China's Lunar Calendar 2014 05-02

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
LEFT May 3 .......................................  ........April 29.......................Monthly 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

五期星
Fifth Month, Second Day
Astral Period Five
Friday, May 2
———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
除寶六普
神光合護
Universal Protection
Six Unities
Precious Luminosity
Expelling Spirits
—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰子
吉吉
酉己丑
中吉吉
戌午寅
中吉
亥未卯
凶凶
23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

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

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

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) 

作修動詞
灶倉土訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Moving Soil
Repairing Granaries
Stove Work
—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 







Fourth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: guiyou (10/60)
Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Mound (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)
—————————————————  
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
 
醞醫裁祭
釀病衣祀
捕建理祈
捉屋髮福
納安沐訂
畜門浴婚
安安掃嫁
葬牀舍娶
符土 
俱咸小五
將池耗虛
Appropriate
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Bubbling and Bathing
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Visits
Establishing Quarters
Positioning Doors
Positioning Beds
Fermenting Liquors
Seizing and Capturing
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves 

Earth Charm

Baleful Astral Influences
Five Voids
Small Squander
Widespread Pond
Everything General
————

 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫     
Bifurcation       
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
門 牀 房
Gate, Bed, Edifice

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