China's Lunar Calendar 2019 08-25

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/29................................................................................................................8/23

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
五

日期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-Fifth Day 
Sunday, August 25

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生歲歲
氣祿德
Generational Exemplarity
Generational Emolument
Engendered Vapor

————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中中凶
酉巳丑
吉凶吉
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 In-Between
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 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
除出開
服財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Discarding Clothing

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
五
甲
午
金
星
開

Twenty-Fifth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25/28)
"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
煞班
復天上
喪火兀

 ————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Setting-up Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Opening Sluices
Raising Livestock

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Heavenly Fire
Repeat Mourning

Section Seven
丫 火

Bifurcation, Fire

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items

占
碓 門

Divination

Pestle, Gate