China's Lunar Calendar 2014 07-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/30.....................................................7/27...........................Monthly Information

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
廿七

七月

日期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, July 27

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德歲德歲
合天日支
Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
Generational Heaven
Virtuous Linkage

—————————————————

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

中凶凶

戌午寅
中吉吉
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 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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) 

忌
行成除嫁
喪服靈娶
Marriage Alliances
Expelling Spirits
Putting-together Clothing
Mourning Visits

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

初
一
己
亥
木
昂
定

First Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jihai (36/60)

Phase (element):  Wood

Constellation: Pleiades(18/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜

上立納祭
樑約采祀
修交裁祈
倉易衣福
栽修移會
種造徙友
納動理出
畜土髮行
氣死
重火重楊
喪星日忌

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors

Grain Payments

Setting-up Appointments

Putting-up Beams

Inquiring-into Fortune

Cutting--out Clothing

Trade and Commerce

Repairing Granaries

Meeting Friends

 Going Out (and about)

Moving Households

Patterning Hair

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Planting and Cultivating

Livestock Payments

Death Vapor

Baleful Astral Influences

Poplar Taboo
Doubled Days
Fire Star
Repeat Mourning

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 人
White, Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
牀 門 占 
Bed, Gate, Divination