China's Lunar Calendar 2018 08-01

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
一八
日月

三期星

Eighth Month, First Day  
Wednesday, August 1

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

神天
在恩

Heavenly Kindness
Spirits In-Place

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

亥未卯
中凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
裁栽
衣種

Planting and Cultivating
Cutting-out Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

二
十
乙
丑
金
軫
破

Twentieth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yichou (2/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

求
醫
治
病
朱短
雀星
陽月
將破
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Seeking Physicians
Treating Illness

Baleful Astral Influences

Short Star
Lunar Destruction
Vermilion Bird
Yang General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
人 州

Person, Landmass

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

碓
厠 磨

Pestle
Toilet, Mortar