China's Lunar Calendar 2019 08-26

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
六

一期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day 
Monday, August 26

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不金母
將堂倉
Maternal Granary
Golden Hall
Not General

————

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

亥未卯
吉中吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
進新栽
水船種

Planting and Cultivating
New Boats
Entering Water

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
六
乙
未
金
張
閉

Twenty-Sixth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiwei (32/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

作裁祭
灶衣祀
開修出
渠造行
補動嫁
塞土娶
安上納
葬樑采
不債
月血水
煞支痕

 ————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Opening Sluices
Patching and Plugging
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Blood Branch
Lunar Balefulness

Section Seven
丫 山

Bifurcation, Mountain

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items

碓
厠 磨

Pestle
Toilet, Mortar