China's Lunar Calendar 2016 07-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/2...............................................................................................................7/26

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
六

二期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Astral Period Two
Thursday, July 26

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天進德天
恩神合月

Heavenly Lunarity
Virtuous Linkage
Entering Spirits
Heavenly Kindness

————

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

戌午寅
中吉凶
亥未卯
凶吉凶

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
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 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) 

忌
行除進新
喪服水船
New Boats
Entering Water
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits 

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
三
己
酉
土
觜
滿
Twenty-Third Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上開納祭
樑市采祀
安交嫁祈
牀易娶福
補修移出
塞造徙行
納動理訂
畜土髮婚
喪重
復月水上
日忌痕兀

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Opening Granaries
Patching and Plugging
Livestock Payments        

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Water Scar
Lunar Taboo
Repeated Days 
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

人 山

Person, Mountain
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

門 大 占

Gate, Great, Divination