China's Lunar Calendar 2018 06-26

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

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⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/26..............................................................................................................6/19

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-solar (or "luni-solar" calendar; I call it the "lunar" calendar in order to distinguish it from the kinds of calendars most Westerners use. It has a basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying 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. You will likely find that several of the translations seem quite "fanciful" in English. I am simply trying to convey that they also sound fairly fanciful in Chinese.

***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation*** 

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
廿
六

二期星

Sixth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day  
Tuesday, June 26

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰寶聖
德光心

Sagely Heart-Mind
Precious Rays
Yin Virtue

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Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉凶凶
酉巳丑
吉吉凶
戌午寅
中中吉

亥未卯
凶凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

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.
                             —————————————————

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Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
時栽修
插種倉

Repairing Granaries
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
三
己
丑
火
觜
危

Thirteenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

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Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜
結起祭

網工祀
立架訂
寨馬婚
房安修
水牀造
搭經動
厠略土
將俱
月四無
虛擊祿
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Marriage Engagements
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Production
Fencing Horses
Positioning Beds
Outlining Strategies
Binding Nets
Setting-up Stockades
Putting-into Water
Building Toilets

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Without Emolument
Four Fisticuffs
Lunar Void
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Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
白 人

White, Person
———— 
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Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

占
厠 門

Divination
Toilet, Gate

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