China's Lunar Calendar 2018 08-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/1.................................................................................................................8/25

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
三
十

四期星

Eighth Month, Thirtieth Day  
Thursday, August 30

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不進生
將神氣

Engendered Vapor
Entering Spirits
Not General

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

亥未卯
中吉中

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
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 In-Between
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
除苫開
福蓋倉

Opening Granaries
Thatched Coverings
Discarding Clothing

 ————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

二
十
甲
午
金
角
開

Twentieth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Establish (21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

修出祭
造行祀
動嫁祈
土娶福
開立入
渠約學
牧交會
養易友
喪復
天班小
 火煞亡空

 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Opening Sluices

Raising Livestock

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Asterisms

Small Loss-Void
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Fire

 ————

Section Seven

白 火

White, Fire
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

占
碓 門

Divination
Pestle, Gate