China's Lunar Calendar 2014 07-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/18..........................................................................................................................7/10

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
十

九

六期星

Seventh Month, Nineteenth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, July 19

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天天三
恩醫喜合

Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
Lunar Kindness

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中中凶
酉己丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅
吉吉吉
亥未卯

中中吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
開穿造合
池井酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds

—————————————————  
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
三
辛
卯
木
女
成

Twenty-third Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinmao (28/60)

Phase (element):  Wood

Constellation: Woman (10/28)

"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
上開嫁祈
樑市娶福
成交納入
服易采學
安修移會
葬造徙友
煞班
月大水上
忌煞痕兀

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune 
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams 
Putting-together Clothing
Positioning Graves

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Water Scar
Great Balefulness
Lunar Taboo

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人
Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
門 灶 廚

Gate, Stove, Kitchen