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.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

China's Lunar Calendar 2020 09-30

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/7..............................................................................................................9/30
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 tha"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 calendarSome 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

三期星
Ninth Month, Thirtieth Day
Wednesday, September 30
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
玉時
宇德
Timely Exemplarity
Jade Expanse

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

酉巳丑
吉吉吉
戌午寅

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

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

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

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

作修
灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

si



Fourteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: bingzi (13/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)









死月
神忌
俱鼠
將口
————
Appropriate Activities
Leveling, Smoothing, and Painting Roadways
Repairing and Adorning Embankments and Walls

Baleful Astral Influences
Lunar Taboo
Rat Orifice
Death Spirit
Everything General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
白 天
White, Heaven
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)

碓 灶
Kitchen
Pestle, Stove

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

China's Lunar Calendar 2020 09-29

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/29..............................................................................................................9/22
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 tha"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 calendarSome 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
二期星
Ninth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day
Tuesday, September 29
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
十相德歲
靈日合月
Generational Lunarity
Exemplary Linkage
Facing Days
Ten Spirits

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

戌午寅

亥未卯
中吉
23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
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 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) 

成除嫁栽
服靈娶種
Planting and Cultivating
Marriage Alliances
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information





滿
Thirteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: yihai (12/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

動醫出祭
土病行祀
上開納祈
樑市采福
作交裁入
灶易衣學
納修移會
畜造徙友
喪復
俱五重天
 將虛日廢休
————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Livestock Payments

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences
Heavenly Abandon-Rest
Doubled Days
Five Vacancies
Everything General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
White
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)
牀 磨 碓
Bed, Mortar, Pestle

Monday, September 28, 2020

China's Lunar Calendar 2020 09-28

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/29..............................................................................................................9/22
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 tha"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 calendarSome 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
一期星
Ninth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day
Monday, September 28
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
月母
空倉
Maternal Granary
Lunar Vacancy

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

酉巳丑
中吉吉
戌午寅

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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) 

行開
喪倉
Opening Granaries
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information





Twelfth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: jiaxu (11/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Heart-Mind (5/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

安出
牀行
築理
堤髮
開掃
渠舎
裁移
種徙


陽血
將祭
————
Appropriate Activities
Going Out (and about)
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Sweeping Rooms
Moving Residences
Positioning Beds
Constructing Dikes
Opening Sluices (Irrigation Works)
Planting and Cultivating

Three Mournings

Baleful Astral Influences
Blood Taboo
Yang General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
White
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation for is under the bottom characters)

栖 碓
Gate
Perch, Pestle