China's Lunar Calendar 2013 07-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT July 29.............................................................................................................July 22 RIGHT

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
(top to bottom; right to left) 
廿
三

二期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-third Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, July 23

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

十五金母
靈富匱倉

Maternal Granary
Golden Exhaustion
Five Riches
Ten Spirits

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

凶吉凶

酉己丑

中中凶

戌午寅

凶吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

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

祈祭結經
福祀綱絡

Energy Channels
Binding Nets
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
六
庚
寅
木
室
危

Sixteenth Day (sixth lunar month)

Cyclical day: gengyin (27/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Pyre (13/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————————————————— 

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

伏中
宜

醞開訂入

釀市昏學

除交移會

服易徙友

安安理出

葬牀髮行

星火

下虎游四

   兀口禍祥不＊

Middle Prostration
(The second of three, progressively hotter, periods in the summer months) 

Appropriate Activities 
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Positioning Beds
Fermenting Beverages
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves   

Fire Star

Miscellaneous Information 
Great Un-luck*
Traveling Misfortune
Tiger Mouth
Lower Amputee 
*This modified character is used in calendars, but not everyday writing.

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
丫
Bifurcation

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Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
爐 磨 碓
Furnace, Mortar, Pestle