China's Lunar Calendar 2019 08-29

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
九

四期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day 
Thursday, August 29

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陽合天
德日德
Heavenly Exemplarity
Linked Days 
Yang Exemplaritiy

————

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

亥未卯
中吉吉

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

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

 ————

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

忌
行置買
喪業田

Purchasing Land
Setting-up Industry
Mourning Visits

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
九
戊
戌
木
角
滿

Twenty-Ninth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuxu (35/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上移會
樑徙友
補開出
塞市行
栽交嫁
種易娶
安動納
葬土采
喪三
厭無楊
碓祿忌

 ————

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Patching and Plugging
Planting and Cultivating
Positioning Graves

Three Mournings

Baleful Astral Influences

Poplar Taboo
Without Emolument
Mutual Repression

Section Seven
白 水

White, Water

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items

房
栖 牀

Edifice
Perch, Bed