From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Monday, June 11, 2018

Lunar World Preview 2018 06-11

As the Lunar World Turns
Monday, June 11, 2018
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We're rolling right along, people, and today is right there in "50-50 territory (at least in Lunar World). On top of it all, it's a big four-wide day column, that looks like the head of a busy backstretch at Talladega Speedway (trust me)...or maybe Belmont Park. Let's take a closer look.
Day Personality
Constellation Personality (Section Five—Character Six)
Today's "constellation personality" is Heart-Mind (心). It is the fifth of twenty-eight "lunar mansions" (宿) or "constellations." Traditional calendars state that it isn't as rosy as it looks. It is an especially bad day for building projects (although section six, below, will make you wonder. Children born of a marriage on this day will fall ill. Pretty tough stuff.
[b] Decide (then act) RF

Jianchu Personality (Section Five—Character Seven) 
The jianchu "personality" is Decide (), and it is as roseate in its outlook as Heart-Mind is foreboding. It is the fifth of twelve characters in the jianchu cycle, and it is a perfect day to decide on courses of action, and then get right down to them. It is one of my favorites among the forty "personality" characters, and is pronounced ding. I like to think of it (as regular readers know) as a hum-dinger of a day. Just Decide It.
Lucky Stars
(Section Two)
There are four beneficent asterisms today: Universal Protection (普護), Three Linkages (三合), Greeting Days (臨日), and Not General (不將). I am always intrigued by the first one, which sounds like something an insurance firm would create.

Auspicious Times
(Section Three)
There are three inauspicious (凶) two-hour periods, four in-between () times, and five auspicious () times. That'll do.
Things to Avoid
(Section Four)
[c] Granary RF
It's a bad day for Opening Granaries (開倉), Capital Outflow (出財), Repairing Rooms (修室), and Setting-up Production (置產). This is one of those places where I strongly suspect a "typo" or a "printo." The last two in the day column (reading right to left) make no sense unless they are re-sorted. Then they are pretty common phrases. I have left the Chinese text as it is in the calendar, but I have taken the step of modifying the English translation.
Just Plain Counting
(Section Four—Characters 1-4)
It is the twenty-eighth (廿八) day of the fourth lunar month. The cycle of sixty character is 11: jiaxu (甲戌). The days cycle—1, 2, 3, 58, 59, 60, 1, 2, 3...—in perpetuity. 
Elemental (and Phased)
(Section Five—Character 5)
Today's slice of the "Five Phases" (sometimes called the "Five Elements") is Fire (火). Ordinarily, the Five Phases weave their way, two-by-two, through the calendar. Yesterday was Metal. Today is Fire, and tomorrow is Fire.
Appropriate Things
(Section Six) 
[d] Meeting Friends RF
It's a solid day for sixteen different things today, including: Studying (入學), Meeting Friends (會友), Moving Households (移居), and Stove Work (作灶). Be sure to click the link for the other dozen.
Monday's Lunar Calendar
Solar Periods
(Section Six—Upper and Middle)
We are in the ninth of the twenty-four fifteen day solar periods (the 二十四節氣), which began on Wednesday, June 6 and runs through Wednesday, June 20. It is called Grain in Ear (芒種). We are in the twenty-sixth of the seventy-two five-day solar micro periods (the 七十二候). It is called Shrikes Begin to Cry (鵙始鳴). It began on Monday, June 11, and runs through Friday, June 15.
Fear Your Unlucky Stars 
(Bottom of Section Six)
The baleful asterisms (the bottom of section six) are Four Fortune-Nots (四不祥), Death Vapor (死氣), Heavenly Punishment (天刑), and Wooden Horse (木馬).
Miscellaneous Omens and Activities
(Sections Seven and Eight)

Today's miscellaneous omens are Bifurcation (丫) and Fire (火). The miscellaneous activities are Perch (栖), Pestle (碓), and Gate (門). Nobody knows what they mean.
[e] Shrike RF
See You Tomorrow
O.k., people, it's time to make a decision. Get 'er done on this Decide day, and I'll see you back here on Monday night for a preview of Tuesday in Lunar World.

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