China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-15

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
五

五期星

Eighth Month, Fifteenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, August 15

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不生合天
將氣日德
Heavenly Virtue
Linked Days
Engendered Vapor
Not General

—————————————————

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

吉吉中

戌午寅
中中凶
亥未卯

中吉吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
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.

————————————————— 

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

忌
塔苫置買
厠蓋業田
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Thatched Coverings
Constructing Toilets

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

二
十
戊
午
火
牛
開

Twentieth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuwu (55/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Ox (9/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

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

宜

開開出祭
渠市行祀
穿修嫁祈
井造娶福
栽動納入
種土采學
成上移會
服樑徙友
煞班
白天灾四
虎火煞耗

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Repairing and Construction
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Opening Sluices 
Boring Wells
Planting and Cultivating
Putting-together Clothing

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Stalwarts
Disastrous Balefulness
Heavenly Fire
White Tiger

————

  Section Seven

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

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
碓 牀 房
Pestle, Bed, Edifice