China's Lunar Calendar 2019 07-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/6...................................................7/3.........Monthly Calendar Information

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
六
日

六期星

Seventh Month, Sixth Day 
Saturday, July 6

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德歲生歲
日支氣德
Generational Exemplarity
Engendered Vapor
Generational Branch
Exemplary Days

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

亥未卯
吉吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
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 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
補動出開
塞土財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Moving Soil
Patching and Plugging

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
四
甲
辰
火
氐
開

Fourth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Foundation (3/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
安移出祭
牀徙徙祀
安理訂祈
門髮婚福
作醫納入
灶病采學
納上裁會
畜樑衣友
囊地
陽五龍下
將虛口兀
 ————

Auspicious Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Physician Treatments
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Livestock Payments

Earth Duffel (Dirt Bag)

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Dragon Orifice
Five Voids
Yang General

Section Seven
丫

Bifurcation

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

栖 碓 門

Perch, Pestle, Gate