China's Lunar Calendar 2019 07-13

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
十
三

六期星

Seventh Month, Thirteenth Day 
Saturday, July 13

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天十月陰
恩靈恩德
Yin Exemplarity
Lunar Kindness
Ten Spirits
Heavenly Kindness

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

亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
除嫁造合
服娶酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
一
辛
亥
金
女
定

Eleventh Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinhai (48/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Maiden (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
樑立行祭
修約納祀
倉交采祈
穿易裁福
井修衣入
安造移學
門動徙會
作土理友
灶上髮出

招厭死重
搖對氣日
 ————

Auspicious Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
 Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Boring Wells
Positioning Gates
Stove Work

Baleful Astral Influences

Doubled Days
Death Vapor
Mutual Repression
Rollicking Braggadocio 

Section Seven
白 人

White, Person

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

牀 灶 廚

Bed, Stove, Kitchen