China's Lunar Calendar 2016 08-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/31...............................................................................................................8/24

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
廿
六

五期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, August 26

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天三歲
醫喜合支
Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician 

————

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

凶吉凶
亥未卯
吉吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
行成除結
喪服靈網
Binding Nets
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
四
庚
辰
金
鬼
成
Twenty-Fourth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengchen (17/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

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

宜

上立納祭
樑約采祀
入交裁祈
倉易衣福
作修醫會
灶造病友
栽動開訂
種土市婚
日復 
重血月下
喪忌厭兀
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Physician Treatments

Opening Markets

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Entering Granaries

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating    

Repeated Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Lunar Repression
Blood Taboo
Repeat Mourning

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白 地

White, Earth
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar, Pestle