China's Lunar Calendar 2014 07-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/26..........................................................................................................................7/19

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
四

四期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, July 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

除陽益歲
神德後馬

Generational Horse
Advantage After

—————————————————

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

吉吉凶

戌午寅
吉中凶
亥未卯

吉吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

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
修安作修
倉牀灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Positioning Beds
Repairing Granaries

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

廿
八
丙
申
火
奎
除

Twenty-eighth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingshen (33/60)

Phase (element):  Fire

Constellation: Astride (15/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜

開交掃祭

渠易舍祀

栽修醫裁

種造病衣

除動開移

服土市徙

安上立沐

葬樑約浴

口猴
陰劫五無
將煞虛祿

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Households

Bubbling and Bathing

Sweeping Rooms

Physician Treatments

Opening Markets

Setting-up Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Opening Sluices

Planting and Cultivating

Discarding Clothing

Positioning Graves

Monkey Mouth

Baleful Astral Influences

Without Emolument
Five Voids
Plundered Balefulness
Yin General

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 火

Bifurcation, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
爐 灶 廚
Furnace, Stove, Kitchen