China's Lunar Calendar 2019 07-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/15.................................................................................................................7/7

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
九
日

二期星

Seventh Month, Ninth Day 
Tuesday, July 9

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

聖守
心日
Protected Days
Sagely Heart-Mind

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

亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

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

 ————

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

忌
動理 
土髮

Patterning Hair
Moving Soil

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
七
丁
未
水
尾
建

Seventh Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingwei (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Tail  (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
出

行

交

易

上

樑

建

屋
三水
喪痕
陰土
將府
 ————

Auspicious Activities
Going Out (and about)
Trade and Commerce
Raising Beams
Establishing Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Soil Palace
Three Mournings
Yin General

Section Seven
白 神

White, Spirit

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

倉
厠 庫

Granary

Toilet, Storehouse