China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-14

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/15.........................................................................................................................8/8

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
十
四

四期星

Eighth Month, Fourteenth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, August 14

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

五要合月
富安日德
Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Urgent Repose
Five Wealths

—————————————————

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

吉吉吉

戌午寅
吉吉凶
亥未卯

凶吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
除動遠理
服土行髮
Patterning Hair
Distant Journeys
Moving Soil
Discarding Clothing

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

十
九
丁
巳
土
斗
收

Nineteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingsi (54/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Dipper (8/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜

開移訂祭
倉徙婚祀
醞開納祈
釀市采福
捕交嫁求
捉易娶嗣
納上裁會
畜樑衣友
日重
月河劫地
將魁煞囊

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Seeking Inheritance
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Putting-up Beams
Opening Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Seizing and Apprehending
Livestock Payments

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Earth Duffel
Plundered Balefulness
River Stalwart
Yin General

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 神
White, Spirit
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
牀 庫 倉
Gate, Storehouse, Granary