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.

Friday, May 31, 2019

China's Lunar Calendar 2019 05-31

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/2...............................................................................................................5/26
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.
Section One
Solar Calendar Date

五期星
Fifth Month, Thirty-First Day
Friday, May 31
————

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
德歲
日支
Generational Branch
Exemplary Days
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰
吉中中
酉巳丑

戌午寅

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious
 ————

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

置買
業田
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information
廿





Twenty-Seventh Day (Fourth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: wuchen (5/60)
Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
交祭
易祀
安祈
牀福
築裁
堤衣
補立
塞約


陽血
將支
 ————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Positioning Beds
Constructing Dikes
Patching and Plugging

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences
Blood Branch
Yang General

Section Seven
丫 水
Bifurcation, Water
 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

栖 牀
Edifice
Perch, Bed

Thursday, May 30, 2019

China's Lunar Calendar 2019 05-30

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/2...............................................................................................................5/26
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.
Section One
Solar Calendar Date

四期星
Fifth Month, Thirtieth Day
Thursday, May 30
————

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
生陰母
氣德倉
Maternal Granary
Yin Exemplarity
Engendered Vapor
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰
中中中
酉巳丑
凶凶
戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯
23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

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

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

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

開穿理
池井髮
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information
廿





Twenty-Sixth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
上訂祭
樑婚祀
安移祈
門徙福
作修入
灶造學
栽動出
種土行
不債
天班水
火煞痕
 ————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Moving Residences
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences
Water Scar
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Fire

Section Seven
丫 人
Bifurcation, Person
 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

庫 倉
Gate
Storehouse, Granary

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

China's Lunar Calendar 2019 05-29

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/2...............................................................................................................5/26
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.
Section One
Solar Calendar Date
廿
三期星
Fifth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day
Wednesday, May 29
————

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
六歲
合支
Generational Branch
Six Linkages

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰
凶凶
酉巳丑

戌午寅
中吉中
亥未卯
中吉
23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 In-Between
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

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

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

祭作
祀灶
Stove Work
Venerating Ancestors
 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information
廿





Twenty-Fifth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: bingyin (3/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Gathering (21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
移會
徙友
交出
易行
上嫁
樑娶
牧納
養采


重土
喪符
 ————
Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Trade and Commerce
Raising Beams
Raising Livestock
 
Short Star

Baleful Astral Influences
Soil Charm
Repeat Mourning

Section Seven
丫 鬼
Bifurcation, Ghost
 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

爐 灶
Kitchen
Furnace, Stove