China's Lunar Calendar 2019 08-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/3.....................................................8/31..........Monthly Calendar Information

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
卅
一

六期星

Eighth Month, Thirty-First Day 
Saturday, August 31

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

福三民時
生合日德
Timely Exemplarity
Peopled Days
Three Linkages
Engendered Fortune

————

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

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

 ————

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

忌
行成除結
喪福靈網

Binding Nets
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
二
庚
子
土
氐
定

Second Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengzi (37/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Foundation (3/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

作修裁祭
灶造衣祀
修動移祈
倉土徙福
醞上開會
釀樑市友
納安交出
畜牀易行
喪重
俱復鼠死
將日口氣

 ————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune 
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Livestock Payments

Repeat Mourning 

Baleful Astral Influences

Death Vapor
Rat Orifice
Repeated Days
Everything General

Section Seven
白

White

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination