China's Lunar Calendar 2018 07-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/2...............................................................................................................7/26

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-solar (or "luni-solar" calendar; I call it the "lunar" calendar in order to distinguish it from the kinds of calendars most Westerners use. It has a basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying 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. You will likely find that several of the translations seem quite "fanciful" in English. I am simply trying to convey that they also sound fairly fanciful in Chinese.

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
卅
一

二期星

Seventh Month, Thirty-First Day  
Tuesday, July 31

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天進月天
恩神德德

Heavenly Exemplarity
Lunar Exemplarity
Entering Spirits
Heavenly Kindness

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉凶吉
酉巳丑
中中凶
戌午寅
中凶吉

亥未卯
中吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
補問出開
塞卜財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Divinatory Questions
Plugging-up Caves

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
九
甲
子
金
翌
執

Nineteenth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiazi (1/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Wings (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

安理訂祭
牀髮婚祀
納修納祈
畜造采福
成動嫁會
服土娶友
安上裁出
葬樑衣行
兀下
陽天歸咸
將刑忌池
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances 
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Lower Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Widespread Pond
Return Taboo
Heavenly Punishment
Yang General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
白 水

White, Water

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination