China's Lunar Calendar 2015 08-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/13................................................................................................................8/6

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
九
日

日期星

Eighth Month, Ninth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, August 9

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

合月歲
日德馬
Generational Horse
Lunar Virtue
Linked Days

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

吉吉凶

戌午寅
吉吉凶
亥未卯
凶吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
動遠理
土行髮
Patterning Hair
Distant Journeys
Moving Soil

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
五
丁
巳
土
房
收
Twenty-Fifth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingsi (54/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Edifice (4/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

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

宜

上納祭
樑采祀
醞移祈
釀 徙福
捕開會
捉市友
納交嫁
畜易娶
囊地
陰劫重
將煞日

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Raising Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Seizing and Capturing
Livestock Payments

Earth Duffel

 

Baleful Astral Influences

Doubled Days
Classified Balefulness
Yin General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
丫 神
Bifurcation, Spirit

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous

倉

牀 庫

Granary
Bed, Storehouse