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.

Monday, February 4, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 02-04

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
Today's date is marked by the following asterisk:                   *
[a] February 1-9, 2013
This is the first post in a series that will go on-and-on—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 material. 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

四
日
星期一
Fourth Day
Weekday One
(Monday, February 4) 
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
合月
日德
Lunar Virtue
Gathering Days
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
申辰子
凶中中
酉己丑
中吉吉
戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯
凶凶中
23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 Auspicious 
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 In-Between
07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious
15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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

 忌
動醞
土釀
Fermenting Beverages
Moving Earth
————————————————— 
 Section Five
 Cosmological Information
廿
四
辛
丑
土
危
閉
Twenty-fourth day (twelfth lunar month)
Cyclical day: xinchou (38/60)
Phase (element): Earth 
Constellation: Danger
Jianchu Cycle: "Closed" 
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Meteorological Information)
 立
春
十子
三正
分零
    時
宜
塞補
東
風
解
凍
 土火
符星
Beginning of Spring (1/24 solar cycles)
Begins 00:13
Appropriate Activities: Plugging and repairing
East Wind Melts the Ice (1/72 mini-cycles of the solar year)
Miscellaneous Matter: Fire Star, Earth Charm 
————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
 白
White
————————————————— 
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

 廚
厠灶
Kitchen
Toilet, Stove
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)