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.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

China's Lunar Calendar 2015 09-30

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/5...................................................................................................................9/27
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

期星
Ninth Month, Thirtieth Day
Astral Period Three
Wednesday, September 30
———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
天進
恩神
Entering Spirits
Heavenly Kindness
—————————————————

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

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 In-Between
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) 

動裁
土衣
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Soil
—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 







Eighteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: jiyou (46/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)
—————————————————  

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









火上
星兀
土短
府星
————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences
Upper Amputee
Short Star
Fire Star
Soil Palace

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

White, Landmass
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous
門 大
Divination
Gate, Great

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

China's Lunar Calendar 2015 09-29

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/5...................................................................................................................9/27
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
廿
二期星
Ninth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day
Astral Period Two
Tuesday, September 29
———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
不王天
將日赦
Heavenly Amnesty
Kingly Days
Not General
—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰子
吉吉中
酉己丑
中吉
戌午寅
中中
亥未卯
中吉
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 Auspicious
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 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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) 

安置買
牀業田
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Positioning Beds
—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 







Seventeenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: wushen (45/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Wings (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)
—————————————————  

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

補掃祭
塞舍祀
栽立嫁
種約娶
納交裁
畜易衣
安修理
葬倉髮
痕水
白血五
虎支離
————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Marriage Alliances 
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Setting-up Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing Granaries
Patching and Plugging
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Beds

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences
Five Separations
Blood Branch
White Tiger

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 水
Bifurcation, Water
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous
爐 牀
Edifice
Furnace, Bed

Monday, September 28, 2015

China's Lunar Calendar 2015 09-28

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/5...................................................................................................................9/27
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
廿
一期星
Ninth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day
Astral Period One
Monday, September 28
———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
生陰
氣德
Yin Virtue
Engendered Vapor
—————————————————

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

動理
土髮
Patterning Hair
Moving Soil
—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 







Sixteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: dingwei (44/60)
Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)
—————————————————  

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



————






————




————
 土五
符虛
————
Moon Completely Consumed 
(Total Lunar Eclipse)
Not Seen in the Hong Kong Area

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Marriage Alliances 

Beetles Wall Up Their Burrows
(the forty-seventh of seventy-two five-day micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences
Five Voids
Earth Charm

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 人
Bifurcation, Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous
廁 庫 Granary
Toilet, Storehouse