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, October 2, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-02

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
LEFT October 4........................................................................................September 26 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) 


期星
  Tenth Month, Second Day
Astral Period Three
Wednesday, October 2
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
母三歲
倉合支
Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Maternal Granary
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
申辰子
中中
酉己丑
吉吉
戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯
凶凶
23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between
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) 
成造合
服酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Completing Clothing
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 
廿






Twenty-eighth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)
Cyclical day: xinchou (38/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Drawn Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
(and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

安理會
牀髮友
作修出
灶倉行
置移裁
產居衣
納入納
畜宅財
日復
陽重死
將喪氣
Appropriate Activities  
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Putting-together Clothing
Capital Outflow
Patterning Hair
Repairing Granaries
Moving Households
Staying Home
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Setting-up Production
Livestock Payments

Repeated Days

Miscellaneous Information  
Death Vapor
Repeat Mourning
Yang General
————
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)
丫 林
Bifurcation, Copse
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
(Top to bottom; right to left)
厠 磨
Kitchen
Toilet, Mortar
————

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