China's Lunar Calendar 2019 07-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/31.................................................................................................................7/24

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-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
六

五期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-Sixth Day 
Friday, July 26

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進月天歲
神德德德
Generational Exemplarity
Heavenly Exemplarity
Lunar Exemplarity
Entering Spirits

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

亥未卯
中吉中

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
補問出開
塞卜財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow 
Inquiring-into Fortune
Patching and Plugging

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
四
甲
子
金
鬼
執

Twenty-Fourth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiazi (1/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安理訂祭
牀髮婚祀
修修納祈
倉造采福
成動嫁會
服土娶友
 安上裁出
葬樑衣行
忌歸
陽咸小五
將池耗虛
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Repairing Granaries

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Voids
Small Squander
Widespread Pond
Yang General

Section Seven
白 水

White, Water

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination