China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/7.........................................................................................................................7/31

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
一八

日月

五期星

Eighth Month, First Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, August 1

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天歲
德德德
Generational Virtue
Heavenly Virtue
Lunar Virtue

—————————————————

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

吉中凶

戌午寅
凶凶吉
亥未卯

吉吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
田出開
獵財倉
Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Field Venery

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

初
六
甲
辰
火
鬼
收

Sixth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Ghost (23/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

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

宜
上嫁祭
樑娶祀
作納祈
灶采福
納移會
畜徙友
安動出
葬土行
兀下
陽白五
將虎虛

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Lower Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Voids
White Tiger
Yang General

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 天
White, Heaven
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
門
栖 碓
Gate
Perch, Pestle