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.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 02-21

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

廿
一
四期星
Twenty-first Day
Astral Period Four
(Thursday, February 21) 
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
時民時歲
陰日德德
Generational Virtue
Timely Virtue
People's Days
Timely Yin
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
申辰子
凶中凶
酉己丑
吉吉中
戌午寅
中中凶
亥未卯
凶吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
塔苫置買
厠蓋業田
Buying Land
Buying Real Estate
Thatched Coverings
Building Outhouses
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 
十
二
戊
午
火
角
定
Twelfth day (first lunar month)
Cyclical day: wuwu (55/60)
Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Horn (1/28)
Jianchu Cycle: Decide (5/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
宜
樑開行祭
修市訂祀
倉交婚祈
醞易納福
釀修采求
成造嫁嗣
服動娶會
安土移友
葬上徒出
俱死白九
將氣虎 ☐*
Appropriate Activities
Paying Reverence
Inquiring into Fortune
Seeking Posterity
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Engagement to Marry
Grain Payments
Marriage Ceremonies
Moving Residences
Market Days
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Earth
Erecting Beams
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Putting together Clothing
Positioning Graves     
Miscellaneous Information
Nine Ghost-territories
White Tiger
Death Vapors
Implement General
 ————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白火
White, Fire
————————————————— 
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities
碓牀房
Pestle, Bed, Building
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