China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-05

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
五
日

二期星

Eighth Month, Fifth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, August 5

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不陽歲
將德馬
Generational Horse
Yang Virtue
Not General

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

中吉凶

戌午寅
中中凶
亥未卯

中吉中

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 Auspicious
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 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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.

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Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
安置買
牀產田
Buying Land
Setting-up Factories
Positioning Beds

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
戊
申
土
翌
除

Tenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wushen (45/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Wings (27/28)

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

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

宜
修移祭
造居祀
動理沐
土髮浴
安求掃
碓醫舍
牧治嫁
養病娶
不債
復五火
喪虛星

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Bubbling and Bathing
Sweeping Rooms
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Seeking Physicians
Treating Illness
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Positioning Pestles
Raising Livestock

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Fire Star
Five Voids
Repeat Mourning

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人 火
Person, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
房
爐 牀

Edifice
Furnace, Bed