China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/24.........................................................................................................................8/16

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
九

二期星

Eighth Month, Nineteenth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, August 19

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月陽四月
恩德相德

Lunar Virtue
Four Facings
Yang Virtue
Lunar Kindness

—————————————————

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

中吉中

戌午寅
吉中凶
亥未卯

吉吉吉

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 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
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 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
行除放開
喪服水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits

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

廿
四
壬
戌
水
室
滿

Twenty-fourth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renxu (59/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Room (13/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜

上開嫁會
樑市娶友
修交裁出
倉易衣行
補修移訂
塞造徙婚
安動醫納
葬土病采
對厭
大九三下
亡空空喪兀 

Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Patching and Plugging
Positioning Graves

Mutual Repression

 Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Three Mournings
Nine Vacancies
Great Loss-Void

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 水
White, Water
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
栖 庫 倉
Perch, Storehouse, Granary