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.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

Lunar World Preview 2018 07-12

As the Lunar World Turns
Thursday, July 12, 2018
[a] Red? Really? RF
One word for Thursday: boffo. Double-red is always a great way to start the day. It's the last day of the fifth lunar month, and you're going to be leaving traces of red ink throughout your day. What a way to finish the month. Let's take a closer look.
Day Personality
Constellation Personality (Section Five—Character Six)
Today's "constellation personality" is Ladle (). It is the eighth of twenty-eight "lunar mansions" (宿) or "constellations." Traditional calendars state that it is a good day for building, opening trenches, digging, and physical labor. So get to work, people.
Jianchu Personality (Section Five—Character Seven)
[b] Ladle RF
The jianchu "personality" is Open (), and it's one of the best. It is the eleventh of twelve characters in the jianchu cycle. It is a good day for communication of all sorts—write messages, visit people, and get connected.
Lucky Stars
(Section Two)
There are two beneficent asterisms today: Generational Emolument (歲祿) and Engendered Vapor (生氣). They're good, even if the "modern" reading of the second one is "to get angry."

Auspicious Times
(Section Three)
There are four inauspicious (凶) two-hour periods, three in-between () times, and five auspicious () times. Close enough, I guess (but still inflationary).
Things to Avoid
(Section Four)
It's a bad day for Planting and Cultivating (栽種) and Distant Journeys (遠行). So, the first thing to figure out is what does "distant" mean? No close reading of those two characters is going to tell you. For that, you need ethnography (and history).
Just Plain Counting
(Section Four—Characters 1-4)
It is the twenty-ninth (廿九) and final day of the fifth lunar month. The cycle of sixty character is #42: yisi (). 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 Fire (火). Ordinarily, the Five Phases weave their way, two-by-two, through the calendar. Yesterday was Fire. Today is Fire, and tomorrow is Water.
Appropriate Things
(Section Six) 
[d] Crickets RF
It's a solid day for six different things today: Meeting Friends (會友), Tailoring (裁衣), Haircuts (理髮), Positioning Doors (安門), Stove Work (作灶), and Raising Livestock (牧養).
Thursday's Lunar Calendar
Solar Periods
(Section Six—Upper and Middle)
We are in the eleventh of the twenty-four fifteen day solar periods (the 二十四節氣), which began on Saturday, July 7 and runs through Saturday, July 21. It is called Slight Heat (小暑). We are in the thirty-second of the seventy-two five-day solar micro periods (the 七十二候). It is called Crickets Reside in Walls (蟋蟀居壁). It began on Thursday, July 12 and runs through Monday, July 16.
Thursday's Lunar Calendar
Fear Your Unlucky Stars 
(Bottom of Section Six)
The baleful asterisms (the bottom of section six) are Snake Mouth (蛇口) and Doubled Days (重日).
Miscellaneous Omens and Activities
(Sections Seven and Eight)

Today's miscellaneous omens are White (白) and Copse (林). The miscellaneous activities are Pestle (碓), Bed (牀), and Mortar (磨). Nobody knows what they mean.
See You Tomorrow
What a day, people. Get crackin', and I'll see you back here on Thursday night for a preview of Friday in Lunar World.

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