China's Lunar Calendar 2016 08-01

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
一八
日月

一期星

Eighth Month, First Day

Astral Period One
Monday, August 1

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天三母
醫喜合倉

Maternal Granary
Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

————

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

戌午寅
吉中凶
亥未卯
吉吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
開穿時栽
池井插種
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds 

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
九
乙
卯
水
張
成
Twenty-Ninth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yimao (52/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
動醫出祭
 土病行祀
上開嫁祈
樑市娶福
醞交納入
釀易采學
安修移會
葬造徙友
煞班
陽四 小上
 將耗亡空兀 

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Positioning Graves    

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Small Loss-Void
Four Squanders
Yang General
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

門 磨 碓

Gate, Mortar, Pestle