China's Lunar Calendar 2016 08-18

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
八

四期星

Eighth Month, Eighteenth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, August 18

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月月
將恩德
Lunar Virtue
Lunar Kindness
Not General

————

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

中中凶
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
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 Auspicious
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
安放開
牀水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Positioning Beds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
六
壬
申
金
奎
建
Sixteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renshen (9/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Astride (15/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

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

上移會
樑徙友
作理出
灶髮行
納醫嫁
畜病娶
安開納
葬市采
兀上
土無五
府祿離
————

Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves   

Upper Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Without Emolument
Soil Palace

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 鬼

Bifurcation, Ghost
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

倉

爐 庫

Granary
Furnace, Storehouse