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, March 31, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/3................................................................................................................................3/27


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 (almost any "it" you will see). 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. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
                                              (top to bottom, right to left)
一四
日月
四期星
Fourth Month, First Day (No Foolin')
Thursday, April 1
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
天麒
恩麟
Unicorn
Heavenly Kindness

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

申辰甲
酉巳丑
戌午寅
中吉
亥未卯
凶凶
23:00-1:00 Auspicious
1:00-3:00  Inauspicious
3:00-5:00 Auspicious
5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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) 


穿動
井土
Moving Soil
Boring Wells

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Twentieth Day (Second Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: jimao (16/60)
Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well 
(22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
月土
建府
下免
兀口
Appropriate Activities
Going Out (and about)
Meeting Friends

Baleful Astral Influences
Soil Palace
Hare Orifice
Lunar Establishment
Lower Amputee

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

白 神
White, Spirit
————

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)
門 大
Divination
Gate, Great

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 03-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/3................................................................................................................................3/27


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 (almost any "it" you will see). 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. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
                                              (top to bottom, right to left)
三期星
Third Month, Thirty-First Day
Wednesday, March 31
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
青五王天
龍富日赦
Heavenly Amnesty
Kingly Days
 Five Abundances
Blue-Green Dragon

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

申辰甲
酉巳丑
戌午寅
中吉
亥未卯
23:00-1:00 In-Between
1:00-3:00  Auspicious
3:00-5:00 Inauspicious
5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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

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


祈祭置買
福祀葉田
Purchasing Land
Setting-up Industry
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Nineteenth Day (Second Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: wuyin (15/60)
Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Gathering 
(21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
開作竪
渠灶柱
栽築上
種提樑
納補安
畜垣門
安塞修
葬穴廚
陰雪歸短
將支忌星
Appropriate Activities
Erecting Pillars
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Constructing Dikes
Patching Embankments
Plugging Caves
Opening Irrigation Sluices
Planting and Cultivating
Grain Payments
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences
Short Star
Return Taboo
Blood Branch
Yin General

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

白 地
White, Earth
————

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)
爐 牀 房
Furnace, Bed, Edifice

Monday, March 29, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 03-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/3................................................................................................................................3/27


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 (almost any "it" you will see). 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. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
                                              (top to bottom, right to left)
二期星
Third Month, Thirtieth Day
Tuesday, March 30
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
生時不月
氣陽將恩
Lunar Kindness
Not General
Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor

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

申辰甲
酉巳丑
戌午寅
中吉
亥未卯
23:00-1:00 Auspicious
1:00-3:00  In-Between
3:00-5:00 In-Between
5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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

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


安塞補理
葬穴垣髮
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Adorning Embankments
Plugging Caves
Positioning Graves

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Eighteenth Day (Second Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: dingchou (14/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle 
(20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
安移出祭
門徙行祀
開修訂祈
渠造婚福
修動嫁入
置土娶學
產上納會
室樑采友
寡五上
宿虛兀
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Opening Irrigation Sluices
Repairing Rooms
Setting-up Rooms

Lightning Starts
(the twelfth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences
Upper Amputee
Five Voids
Orphan Hostel

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

白 林
White, Copse
————

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)
厠 庫 倉
Toilet, Storehouse, Granary

Sunday, March 28, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 03-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/3................................................................................................................................3/27


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 (almost any "it" you will see). 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. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
                                              (top to bottom, right to left)
廿
一期星
Third Month, Twenty-Ninth Day
Monday, March 29
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
母歲
倉德
Generational Exemplarity
Maternal Granary

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

申辰甲
酉巳丑
吉吉
戌午寅
亥未卯
23:00-1:00 Auspicious
1:00-3:00  Auspicious
3:00-5:00 In-Between
5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
Seventeenth Day (Second Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: bingzi (13/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Net 
(19/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
班水
煞痕
咸天
池罡
Appropriate Activities
Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Binding Nets
Trade and Commerce
Field Venery (Hunting)

Baleful Astral Influences
Water Scar
Heavenly Dipper
Classified Balefulness
Widespread Pond

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

丫 天
Bifurcation, 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