China's Lunar Calendar 2014 07-30

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
三

十

三期星

Seventh Month, Thirtieth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, July 30

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十五母歲
靈富倉祿
Generational Emolument
Maternal Granary
Five Wealths
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

中中凶

戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯

中吉吉

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
祈祭放開
福祀水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

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

初
四
壬
寅
金
參
危

Fourth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renyin (39/60)

Phase (element):  Metal

Constellation: Mix (21/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜
安交納入
牀易采學
作修移會
灶造徙友
開動理出
倉土髮行
安上開訂
葬樑市婚
兀上
四 小游九
  耗方亡空禍鬼土  

Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Opening Granaries
Positioning Graves

 Upper Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Nine Ghost-Soils
Natatorial Disaster
Small Loss-Void
Four Stalwart-Square

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫
Bifurcation
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
爐 庫 倉
Furnace, Storehouse, Granary