China's Lunar Calendar 2016 08-13

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
十
三

六期星

Eighth Month, Thirteenth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, August 13

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天合月
恩日德

Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Heavenly Kindness

————

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

中吉凶
亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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) 

忌
動穿理
土井髮
Patterning Hair
Boring Wells
Moving Soil

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
一
丁
卯
火
女
危
Eleventh Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Woman (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

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

交嫁祭
易娶祀
上納會
樑采友
安裁出
牀衣行
安移訂
葬徙婚
符土
俱朱五
將雀虛
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Trade and Commerce

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Graves  

Earth Charm

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Vacancies
Vermilion Bird
Everything General    
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白 林

White, Copse
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

門

庫 倉

Gate
Storehouse, Granary