China's Lunar Calendar 2015 07-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/20.........................................................7/16...............................Monthly Information

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
十
九

日期星

Seventh Month, Nineteenth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, July 19

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

益吉相天
後期日貴
Heavenly Nobility
Facing Days
Auspicious Temporal-Slice
Advantage After

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

吉吉凶

戌午寅
吉中凶
亥未卯
吉吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

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
補安作修
塞牀灶廚
Kitchen Repairs
Stove Work
Positioning Beds
Patching and Plugging

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
四
丙
神
火
虛
除

Fourth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingshen (33/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Void (11/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

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

宜

開入裁祭
渠宅衣祀
栽修開沐
種造市浴
除動交掃
服土易舍
安上出醫
髒樑火病
兀下
劫五反猴
煞虛支口

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Bathing and Bubbling
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Visits
Cutting-out Clothing
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Starting Fires
Staying Home
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Opening Sluices
Planting and Cultivating
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Lower Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Monkey Mouth
Recalcitrant Branch
Five Voids
Plundered Balefulness

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
丫 火
Bifurcation, Fire

————

Section Eight

爐 灶 廚

Furnace, Stove, Kitchen