China's Lunar Calendar 2015 08-12

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
十
二

三期星

Eighth Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, August 12

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

王歲
日德
Generational Virtue
Kingly Days

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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
凶吉凶
亥未卯
中吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
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 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) 

忌
安結
牀網
Binding Nets
Positioning Beds

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
八
庚
申
木
箕
建
Twenty-Eighth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengshen (57/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

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

未
伏
宜

安出
門行
作裁
灶衣
納建
畜屋
重
喪
土猴
府口

————
Final Prostration
(the last of three periods of intense heat noted on the agricultural calendar)

Appropriate Activities
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Establishing Rooms
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Grain Payments 

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Monkey Mouth
Earth Palace

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 鬼
White, Ghost

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous

碓

爐 磨

Pestle
Furnace, Mortar