From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Sunday, February 28, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 02-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/3............................................................................................................................2/24


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 tha"it" doesn't "mean" any one thing (almost any "it" you will see). 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 calendarSome of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
        (top to bottom, right to left)
廿
期星
Second Month, Twenty-Eighth Day
Sunday, February 28
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
四天
相德
Heavenly Exemplarity
Four Facings

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left

申辰甲
酉巳丑
戌午寅
亥未卯
23:00-1:00 In-Between
1:00-3:00 Inauspicious
3:00-5:00 In-Between
5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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

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


塔苫作修
厠蓋灶厨
Patterning Hair
Field Venery

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Seventeenth Day (First Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: dingwei (44/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Pleiades 
(18/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
————
————
八歲
專破

Appropriate Activities
Unhitching and Unloading
Sweeping  Rooms

Grasses and Trees Sprout
(the sixth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences
Generational Destruction
Eight Specialties

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)

白 山
White, Mountains
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)
厠 庫
Granary
Toilet, Storehouse

Saturday, February 27, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 02-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/3............................................................................................................................2/24


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 tha"it" doesn't "mean" any one thing (almost any "it" you will see). 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 calendarSome of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
(top to bottom, right to left)
廿
六期星
Second Month, Twenty-Seventh Day
Saturday, February 27
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
月時月歲
恩德德德
Generational Exemplarity
Lunar Exemplarity
Timely Exemplarity
Lunar Kindness

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left

申辰甲
酉巳丑
戌午寅
亥未卯
23:00-1:00 Inauspicious
1:00-3:00 In-Between
3:00-5:00 In-Between
5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious
————

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


塔苫作修
厠蓋灶厨
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Thatched Coverings
Building Toilets

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Sixteenth Day (First Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: bingwu (43/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Stomach 
(17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
土開行祭
上市訂祀
樑立婚祈
修約嫁福
倉交娶求
納易納嗣
畜修采會
安造裁友
葬動衣出

陽白死四
 將虎氣祥不

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Seeking Inheritance
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Opening Markets
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences
Four Auspicious-Nots
Death Vapor
White Tiger
Yang General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)

丫 神
Bifurcation, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)
碓 灶 厨
Pestle, Stove, Kitchen

Thursday, February 25, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 02-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/3............................................................................................................................2/24


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 tha"it" doesn't "mean" any one thing (almost any "it" you will see). 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 calendarSome of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
(top to bottom, right to left)
廿
五期星
Second Month, Twenty-Sixth Day
Friday, February 26
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
三歲
合支
Generational Branch
Three Linkages

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left

申辰甲
酉巳丑
戌午寅
中中
亥未卯
23:00-1:00 Auspicious
1:00-3:00 Auspicious
3:00-5:00 In-Between
5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious
————

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


遠栽
行種
Planting and Cultivating
Distant Journeys

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Fifteenth Day (First Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: yisi (42/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Mound 
(16/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
————
重上
日朔
下蛇
兀口
Appropriate Activities
Sweeping Rooms
Leveling Roadways

Baleful Astral Influences
Upper Decade
Snake Mouth
Doubled Days
Lower Amputee

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)

丫 神
Bifurcation, Spirit
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)
牀 磨
Pestle
Bed, Mortar

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 02-25

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/3............................................................................................................................2/24


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

As for interpreting the translation, 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 tha"it" doesn't "mean" any one thing (almost any "it" you will see). 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 calendarSome of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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
(top to bottom, right to left)
廿
四期星
Second Month, Twenty-Fifth Day
Thursday, February 25
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
十福
靈德
Fortunate Exemplarity
Ten Spirits

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left

申辰甲
酉巳丑
吉中
戌午寅
亥未卯
23:00-1:00 Auspicious
1:00-3:00 Auspicious
3:00-5:00 Auspicious
5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious
————

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


行開
喪倉
Opening Granaries
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
滿
Fourteenth (First Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: jiachen (41/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Astride 
(15/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
三重
喪喪
復月
日忌
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Baleful Astral Influences
Doubled Mourning
Lunar Taboo
Three Mournings
Repeated Days

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)

丫 地
Bifurcation, Earth
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)
栖 碓
Gate
Perch, Pestle