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.

Friday, April 30, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25


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)
五期星
Fourth Month, Thirtieth Day
Friday, April 30
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
時臨三金
陰日合匱
Golden Cupboard
Three Linkages
Entering Days
Timely Yin
————

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 Auspicious
3:00-5:00 Inauspicious
5:00-7:00 In-Between

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

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

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


行除安置
喪服牀產
Setting-up Production
Positioning Beds
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits
————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Nineteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: wushen (45/60)
Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Ghost 
(23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
理祭
髮祀
安祈
碓福
安裁
門衣
納合
畜帳
桑於降勝戴
復下債
喪兀不
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Linking Sails
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Positioning Pestles
Positioning Gates
Livestock Payments

Hoopoe Alight in Mulberry
(the eighteenth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences
Debt not
Lower Amputee
Return Morning
————

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

White
————

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)
爐 牀 房
Furnace, Bed, Edifice

Thursday, April 29, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25


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
Fourth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day
Thursday, April 29
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
德天
合月
Heavenly Lunarity
Exemplary Linkage
————

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

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


整理
甲髮
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Trimming Nails
————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Eighteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: dingwei (44/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well 
(22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
月歲
煞破
月天
虛罡
Appropriate Activities
Unhitching and Unloading
Sweeping Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences
Generational Destruction
Heavenly Dipper
Lunar Balefulness
Lunar Void
————

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

白 州
White, Landmass
————

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

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25


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
三期星
Fourth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day
Wednesday, April 28
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
月歲
空德
Generational Exemplarity
Lunar Vacancy
————

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 Auspicious
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) 


作修
灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
滿
Seventeenth Day (Third Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: bingwu (43/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Gathering 
(21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
上水
兀痕
天陽
刑將
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Marriage Alliances
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences
Water Scar
Yang General
Upper Amputee
Heavenly Punishment
————

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

丫 水
Bifurcation, Water
————

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
Kitchen
Pestle, Stove

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25


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
二期星
Fourth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day
Tuesday, April 27
————

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

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


成栽
服種
Planting and Cultivating
Completing Clothing
————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information
Sixteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: yisi (42/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle 
(20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)
————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
短上
星朔
劫重
煞日
Appropriate Activities
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Sweeping Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences
Upper Decade
Doubled Days
Short Star
Plundered Balefulness
————

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

丫 人
Bifurcation, Person
————

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