China's Lunar Calendar 2016 08-17

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/23...............................................................................................................8/16

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
七

三期星

Eighth Month, Seventeenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, August 17

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

合歲
日德
Generational Virtue
Linked Days

————

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

中吉凶
亥未卯
中中吉

23:00-01:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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) 

忌
造合
酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
五
辛
未
土
壁
閉
Fifteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Eastern Wall (14/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

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

元
————
宜

動出
土行
作交
灶易
寒

蟬

鳴
血羊
支口
————

Middle Beginning (Ghost Festival)
 
Appropriate Activities
Going Out (and about)
Trade and Commerce
Moving Soil
Stove Work

Cold Cicada Chirps
(the thirty-ninth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the lunar calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Goat Mouth

Blood Branch
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 山

Bifurcation, Mountain
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

廚

厠 灶

Kitchen

Toilet, Stove