China's Lunar Calendar 2014 08-25

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/29.....................................................8/25........................................Monthly Information

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
廿
五

一期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-Fifth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, August 25

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天合天
醫喜日德

Heavenly Virtue
Collated Days
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

—————————————————

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

吉吉吉

戌午寅
凶中凶
亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
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 Inauspicious
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
進新置買
水船業田
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
New Boats
Entering Water

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

初

一

戊

辰
木
畢
成

First Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuchen (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Net (19/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
修交訂祭
倉易婚祀
作修納祈
灶造采福
納動裁入
畜土衣學
安上開會
葬樑市友
痕水
四血地月
擊忌火厭
————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Repairing Granaries

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Repression
Earthly Conflagration
Blood Taboo
Four Fisticuffs

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 地
White, Earth
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
栖 牀 房
Perch, Bed, Edifice