China's Lunar Calendar 2018 08-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/24.................................................................................................................8/16

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
廿
四

五期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-Fourth Day  
Friday, August 24

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時合天歲
德日德德

Generational Exemplarity
Heavenly Exemplarity
Linked Days
Timely Exemplarity

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

亥未卯
中中吉

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

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 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
田問置買
獵卜業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Divinatory Inquiries
Field Venery

 ————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
四
戊
子
火
鬼
定

Fourteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuzi (25/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜
倉交娶祭
安易納祀
牀修采祈
作造裁福
作動衣會
栽土移友
種上移出
安樑開行
葬修市嫁

陽死月
將氣忌

 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating
Positioning Graves

Baleful Asterisms

Lunar Taboo
Death Vapor
Yang General

 ————

Section Seven

白

White
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

碓 牀 房

Pestle, Bed, Edifice