China's Lunar Calendar 2015 08-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/3..................................................................................................................8/26

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
廿
八

五期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, August 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

三時德歲
合德日支
Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
Timely Virtue
Three Linkages

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

吉吉凶

戌午寅
吉凶凶
亥未卯
吉中中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
置問作修
產卜灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Divinatory Inquiries
Setting-up Production

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
五
丙
子
水
鬼
定
Fifiteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingzi (13/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Ghost (23/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

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

元中
————
宜

修開嫁祭
倉市娶祀
安動納會
門土采友
安上移出
葬樑徙行
肅始地天 
下俱死鼠
兀將氣口

————
Zhongyuan Festival (Ghost Festival)

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Positioning Graves

Heaven and Earth Become Severe
(the forty-first of seventy-two five-day micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)
 
Baleful Astral Influences

Rat Mouth
Death Vapor
Everything General
Lower Amputee

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
丫

Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

碓 灶 廚

Pestle, Stove, Kitchen