China's Lunar Calendar 2016 08-08

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/15...............................................................................................................8/8

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
八
日

一期星

Eighth Month, Eighth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, August 8

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月母月
恩倉德

Lunar Virtue
Maternal Granary
Lunar Kindness

————

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

吉中凶 
亥未卯
吉吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
行放開
喪水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Mourning Visits

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
六
壬
戌
水
心
滿
Sixth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renxu (59/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上嫁會
樑娶友
補移出
塞徙行
栽開訂
種市婚
安動納
葬土采

兀下
三招厭
喪遙對
————

Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Wedding Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Patching and Plugging
Planting and Cultivating
Positioning Beds      

Lower Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Mutual Loathing
Rollicking Bellicosity
Three Mournings
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白 水

White, Water
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

倉
栖 庫 

Granary
Perch, Storehouse