China's Lunar Calendar 2014 07-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/26..........................................................................................................................7/19

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
一

一期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-First Day

Astral Period One
Monday, July 21

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時驛
氣陽馬

Post Horse
Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉吉凶
酉己丑

中吉凶

戌午寅
吉中中
亥未卯

凶凶吉

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

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 Auspicious
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
除遠詞
服行訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Distant Journeys
Discarding Clothing

—————————————————  
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
五
癸
巳
水
危
開

Twenty-fifth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guisi (30/60)

Phase (element):  Water

Constellation: Danger (12/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

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

宜

安裁祭
門衣祀
作理入
灶髮學
安求會
牀醫友
納治訂
畜病婚
兀下
大月空
亡空厭日 

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Seeking Physicians
Treating Illness
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments

Lower Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Doubled Days
Lunar Repression
Great Loss-Void

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 林
White, Copse
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
占
牀 庫
Divination
Bed, Storehouse