China's Lunar Calendar 2017 03-14

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/19................................................................................................................3/12

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 calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar 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.

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
十
四

二期星

Second Month, Fourteenth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, March 14

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不陽
將德
Yang Virtue
Not General

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉中凶
酉己丑
凶中吉
戌午寅

凶凶中
亥未卯
中吉凶

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

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

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

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.
                             —————————————————

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

忌
進新
水船
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
七
庚
子
土
翌
收
Seventeenth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengzi (37/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Wings (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

————

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

宜

嫁
娶
理
髮
交
易
納
財
班水
煞痕
月火
刑星
————

Appropriate Activities
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair
Trade and Commerce
Cash Payments

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Epidemic
Fire Star
Classified Balefulness
Lunar Punishment

———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 天

Bifurcation, Heaven
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

占
磨 碓

Divination
Mortar, Pestle

China's Lunar Calendar 2017 03-13

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/19................................................................................................................3/12

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 calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar 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.

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
十
三

一期星

Second Month, Thirteenth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, March 13

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天合月歲
喜日德馬
Generational Horse
Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Heavenly Happiness 

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉中吉
酉己丑
凶凶凶
戌午寅

中吉吉
亥未卯
凶吉凶

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.
                             —————————————————

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

忌
行成除嫁
喪服靈娶
Marriage Alliances
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits 

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
六
己
亥
木
張
成
Sixteenth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jihai (36/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion(9/12)

————

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

宜

動醫出祭
土病行祀
上開納祈
樑市采福
栽交理入
種易髮學
納修移會
畜造徙友
日重
龍元刀四
 虎武砧祥不
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Patterning Hair
Moving Residences
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments

Doubled Days      

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Fortune-Nots
Sword Anvil
Primal Martiality
Dragon Tiger 

———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫

Bifurcation
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

牀 門 占

Bed, Gate, Divination

Historical Thought Essay III Spring 2017

On this date on Round and Square's History 

12 February 2016
12 February 2016
12 February 2015
12 February 2015
12 February 2014
12 February 2014
12 February 2013
12 February 2012
12 February 2011    

[a] Reworking RF

Historical Thought Essay III

All Classes

Spring 2017

Read all assigned class materials, and reread the two papers you have already turned in. Follow the directions below carefully. A paper copy of this essay (and all supporting materials) are due outside my office (MI 111) by Wednesday, March 1 at 10:00 p.m.

[1] Read the comments on your first and second essays (you will receive them by Monday, February 20.

[2] Now pick up your second essay (since you will be reworking that paper...and not just making minor, cosmetic changes). With any pen color other than green make your own comments about how you will improve your writing in future assignments.

[3] After going carefully through your second essay, make a one-page plan for rewriting your second paper. Incorporate all of the things that you would like to change, and make a brief outline for a slightly longer paper (with more examples).

[4] Finally, write an essay of 1,500 words (about five pages) explaining what you think that historical thought (or historical imagination) is...in relation to the primary sources you have studied. Now you are using actual primary sources (look up this phrase if you are not sure about it). Do not only use the sources you used in your second paper. Add new ones, and improve the writing.

[5] Students in all classes must add an illustration to the essay (think about our New York Review of Books discussions). Use a new illustration (different from the second paper).

[6] Turn in the second paper (with your notes), the outline and comments sheet, and the new (third, rewritten) paper as a complete package. I will provide you with clips for this in class. 

***  ***

Rewriting is a very important skill, and you need to master it to be an effective writer. Put together everything you have learned this semester from the New York Review of Books, your readings, our class discussions, and more. Make this the best paper you have ever written.

***  ***

Papers (and all other materials) are due in my office (MI 111)

by 10:00 p.m on Wednesday, March 1, 2017.

Add the word count and your Beloit College mailbox number to all papers!

[b] Hovering, Pondering RF