From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Lunar World Preview 2018 04-29

As the Lunar World Turns
Sunday, April 29, 2018
[a] Cat Preview RF
Well, yesterday was misprinted in double black ink, when it really should have been double-red (we need some editorial work in the Hong Kong publishing house, I think). Today, though, really is double black ink, but it is not quite as bad as it might seem. Let's take a closer look.

Day Personality
(Section Five—Characters Six and Seven)
Today's "constellation personality" is Pleiades (昂). Calendrical interpretations stress that it is particularly inauspicious, and both lawsuits and death are in the offing if you don't take precautions (at least in Lunar World). Be very wary.
[b] Closed RF

The jianchu "personality" is Closed (閉). It is the twelfth of twelve "personalities" in the jianchu cycle, and it is always printed in black ink. It is a day for burial and introspection. The latter, though, has potential benefits. Hunker down. Think, reflect. It's not all bad.
Lucky Stars
(Section Two)
There are two beneficent asterisms today: Generational Branch (歲支) and Virtuous Days (德日). They're good; really good.


Auspicious Times
(Section Three)
There are three inauspicious (凶) two-hour periods, five in-between () times, and four auspicious () times. Not bad. It almost feels "balanced."
Things to Avoid
(Section Four)
It's a bad day for Mixing Sauces (合醬) and Boring Wells (穿井). Think about these. What's a "sauce?" And what is "boring?"
[c] Cave RF

Just Plain Counting
(Section Four—Characters 1-4)
It is the fourteenth (十四) day of the third lunar month. The moon is almost full. The cycle of sixty character is #28: xinmao (). The days cycle—1, 2, 3, 58, 59, 60, 1, 2, 3...—in perpetuity. 
Elemental (and Phased)
(Section Five—Character 5)
Today's slice of the "Five Phases" (sometimes called the "Five Elements") is Wood (木). Ordinarily, the Five Phases weave their way, two-by-two, through the calendar. Yesterday was Wood. Today is Wood, and tomorrow is Water.

Appropriate Things
(Section Six) 
It's a solid day for eight different things, including Tailoring (裁衣), Patching Embankments (補垣), and Plugging Holes (塞穴) on your sprawling, eighteenth century southeastern Chinese estate. Click the link for the rest!
Sunday's Lunar Calendar
[d] Mountain RF

Solar Periods
(Section Six—Upper and Middle)
We are in the sixth of the twenty-four fifteen day solar periods (the 二十四節氣), which began on Friday, April 20 and runs through Friday, May 4. It is called Corn Rain (穀雨). We are in the seventeenth of the seventy-two five-day solar micro periods (the 七十二候). It is called Pigeons Flap Their Wings (鳴鳩拂其羽). It began on Wednesday, April 25, and runs through Sunday, April 29.

Fear Your Unlucky Stars 
(Bottom of Section Six)
The baleful asterisms (the bottom of section six) are Upper Amputee (上兀), Lunar Taboo (月忌), and Blood Branch (血支). 
Miscellaneous Omens and Activities
(Sections Seven and Eight)

Today's miscellaneous omens are Bifurcation (丫) and Mountain (山). The miscellaneous activities are Kitchen (廚), Gate (門), and Stove (灶). Nobody knows what they mean (and dedicated readers know that I am not kidding...and could spend the next hour telling you why).

See You Tomorrow
O.k., people, it's double black ink, but it's not that bad. It's more like "leans strongly bad," if this were a political race, but it is not completely in the "bad" column. Hunker down, and I'll see you back, right here, tomorrow night for a preview of Monday in Lunar World.

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