China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 10-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/29..................................................................10/25...........................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. 

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 that "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 calendar. Some 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

七

四期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Thursday, October 27

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

福母

生倉

Maternal Granary

Fortunate Engenderment

————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰甲

凶凶吉

酉巳丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

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 In-Between

————

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

忌

取詞

魚訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Garnering Piscinity (Goin' Fishin')

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

三

癸

丑

木

斗

平

Third Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guichou (50/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Dipper (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

修

厨

作

灶

月債

煞不

月下

虛兀

Appropriate Activities

Repairing Kitchens

 Stove Work

Baleful Asterisms

Debt Not

Lower Amputee

Lunar Balefulness

Lunar Void

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)

白 神

White, Spirit

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,

however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)

房

厠 牀

Edifice

Toilet, Bed

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 10-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/29..................................................................10/25...........................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. 

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 that "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 calendar. Some 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

三期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Wednesday, October 26

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時四歲

德相德

Generational Exemplarity

Four Facings

Timely Exemplarity

————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰甲

凶凶吉

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

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

問放開

卜水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

Divinatory Inquiries

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

二

壬

子

木

箕

滿

Second Day (Temtj Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renzi (49/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

交裁祭

易衣祀

入理入

倉髮學

成整會

服甲友

安開出

葬市行

忌歸

陽天灾

將火煞

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Entering Granaries

Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Baleful Asterisms

Disastrous Balefulness

Heavenly Conflagration

Yang General

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)

白 地

White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,

however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)

倉

碓 庫

Granary

Pestle, Storehouse

Social and Cultural Theory "Bridges to Theory" Assignment

[a] A Bridge(d) RF

The midterm assignment in all of my classes is pivotal in several senses of the term. Of course, the first thing students realize is that it is important—pivotal.  A solid chunk of the grade turns (pivots) on it. The next sense is even more significant, though. The midterm assignment is designed to encourage students to consider all of the work they have done in the first half of the course and to put it together in a midterm assignment that helps them to pivot to the second half of the course. The results of this assignment are especially enjoyable for me to read, since students have engaged the fascinating and surprisingly complex novels Mrs. Bridge (1959) and Mr. Bridge (1969). These were written by the extraordinarily versatile writer Evan S. Connell, and told in a "polished fieldnote" sort of vignette style that works beautifully in a social and cultural theory course.
 

Social and Cultural Theory
Anthropology 206
"Midterm Assignment"—“Bridges to Theory” 

[b] Too-too RF

The Basics 

Review Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge, then watch the film (TBA). Write a review essay of at least 2,500 words (about eight pages) commenting upon some of the many themes found in Evan Connell’s vignettes on the Bridges. As with the letter assignment a few weeks ago, you will really need to write something more along the lines of 3,000 words (ten pages) to do a high quality job (and get a very good grade). You have more than enough material to do so. 

Note the assignment title above ("Bridges to Theory"), and show some of the many connections to the theoretical materials we have studied up to this point in the course. Because this is a review essay, you will be evaluating the examples in both the film and the two novels. 

 Preparation
Although this assignment is deliberately open-ended (allowing you to use any number of interpretive strategies), do not forget its role as a “pivot” in our course. Your work should engage, on some level, the full range of our materials from the first half of the course (your class notes, reading notes, abstracts, and even quizzes will be useful as you proceed). If you take the assignment seriously, it will give you a solid foundation—and significant momentum—for the second half of the course. 

[c] Ostentation RF

Review Essay 
You have been reading a few good review essays from the New York Review of Books for several weeks. Now, is the time to write one of your own that has a distinctly “theoretical” focus. 

The basic idea is as follows. A good review essay has a two-pronged approach. It is, on the one hand, a “review” of the books and the film. By this, I mean that you need to engage examples from the lives of the Bridges. This should not be at all difficult, given the immediacy of much of the material. In the “rest” of the essay you should show how the themes in the novels can be seen in the wider perspective of social and cultural theory. In other words, how might the essays and lectures we have read in Anthropology and Theory and other texts connect to the specific issues in the novels you have read (or, from another perspective, the pile of Evan Connell's “fieldnotes” you have been studying)? To be sure, you will blend these approaches, but how you do so will be part of your writing strategy. We’ll discuss this in class.

[d] Pineapple Bread RF

Additional Notes 
This assignment asks you to engage the two novels and to review all of the work you have done thus far in the course (the exam you just finished is good preparation for this). It does not require you to do “research” beyond the significant labor you have already invested in your course reading and writing. In fact, substantial outside work will almost certainly be counterproductive. For example, spending two or three pages on the history of 1930s Kansas City will be far less productive than spending those pages examining the world of the Bridges or theoretical perspectives that might help us understand them better. Background information is occasionally useful (and you may possibly have some from previous reading or coursework), but do not make the mistake of providing so much “background” that you don’t deal fully with the assignment itself. Again, with novels as “up front” as these, this should not be a problem.

[e] Tower RF

The greater challenge is to “use” our theoretical materials well. Plot out some of the themes (or scenes) in the novels and take notes to make sure you have dealt with the full range of possibilities in the theoretical materials. Your skills in spotting themes in the Moore, Bourdieu, Wacquant, and other readings will pay off a great deal in this assignment, as will the general contextual and theoretical knowledge you have gained in our discussions. 

Reminders 
1. This assignment is meant to tie together much of the work you have done this semester. Just as on weekly quizzes, be sure to use the full range of your “sources” in your interpretations—classroom analyses, Moore, Bourdieu, Eriksen and others.  As you know, the theoretical essays in Moore are the heart of the class, and I would like to see connections to them in your essays.

[f] Tarquin Plan RF

2. Don’t forget that I will be evaluating this assignment with the assumption that you are trying to explain these matters to “intelligent non-specialists.” That means that I do not want you to “skip” those portions that you know I know. I want you to explain them. I want you to be the expert who is explaining these matters to someone who does not know much about cultural anthropology, but who is intelligent, and certainly able to follow a complex argument. Imagine, for example, that you are writing for the professors you have in other classes this term, with moi looking over their shoulders. Keep your letter reader in mind, too. It will serve you well. While this is an essay (not a letter), audience still matters. Think about the readers of the New York Review of Books—very intelligent people who have not done the work we've done over the last two months.

3. Follow standard Chicago Manual of Style citation form, and use my writing guide as you proceed. This is a “formal” review essay, and the second section of the guide (grammar and style) guidelines should be followed closely.  

4. There should be a short bibliography of sources (class books and any outside materials that you have consulted) at the end of your document.

5. Good luck. There is more than enough material to write any number of essays. Choose several good points, scenes, or themes. Then write an essay.

6. Put in an illustration. By now, you should know why.

Due by 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 5 at 5:00 p.m. (hard copy in MI 206).

Use the word count feature of your software and put the word total at the bottom of the essay, e.g. “2,862 words."

Social and Cultural Theory Final Analysis Assignment 2022b

 Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Assignments"

On this date on Round and Square's History 

xxx

[a] Society RF

This is the last assignment for the Social and Cultural Theory course. Students have written a wide variety of papers, and engaged the study of social and cultural theory from several angles. Their task in this assignment is to explain something in detail...and to use "theory."

Social and Cultural Theory 

Anthropology 206

"Final Analysis" Assignment

Using Theory and Explaining Stuff

[b] Explaining RF

The Shorthand Version

1. Choose something that interests you.

2. Explain how it works (and explain the "world" around it).

3. Use theory. 

4. Show how it helps to understand the subject more deeply.

3,000 words, minimum. Preferably 3,000-5,000 words with extensive details of how that "world" works (think of Loïc Wacquant's Body and Soul and Howard Becker's various works.

Due by the end of the term (Thursday, December 15 by 5:00 p.m.)

Please drop off a hard copy at my office (MI 206)...or send a .pdf copy by email if you are off-campus.

[c] Culture RF

Possible Format A—Two Parts

1. Choose something that interests you, and that you think might make for an interesting analysis. Over the years, topics have included scuba training, EMT training, doughnut-making, coffee shop barista activities, the inner-workings of athletic teams, swimming the 50 Freestyle, and so forth.

2. In Part One, explain "the world" around that topic in detail, using “thick description” techniques (reread Geertz's essay on "thick description" in Anthropology in Theory). Think especially of the analysis in Loïc Wacquant's Body and Soul.

3. In Part Two, add a theoretical “appendix” discussing how readers might deepen their understanding with theoretical perspectives. 

4. Show how your analysis helps to understand the subject more deeply.

Possible Format B—Integration of Materials

1. Choose something that interests you (see "Format A" for examples).

2. Explain "the world" around that topic in detail, using “thick description” techniques and integrating theoretical perspectives as you proceed.

3. Add a succinct conclusion that explicitly… 

4. …shows how your theoretical perspective helps to understand the subject more deeply.

Possible Format C—New Vistas

1. Masterfully blend all elements together in a striking narrative form (previously unimagined) that will be anthologized in theory readers and read by students like you for generations. What if you knew you were writing a classic?

You have examples of anthropologists "using theory" while "explaining stuff" in many of your books this term. Perhaps the most useful ones for this assignment will be Body and Soul and Howard Becker's What About Mozart...? The key to this assignment is to use theory to explain how something works. Now read that again:

The key to this assignment is to use theory 

to explain how something works.

Loïc Wacqant's Body and Soul does this extraordinarily well, and any dozen or so pages of that book can be taken as a model for what I want you to do in this assignment. As you know, you will be thinking about this assignment from the very beginning of this course, and will be refining your explanation all semester long (on multiple quizzes and throughout the final month of the course).

Summary 

1. Choose something that interests you.
2. Explain "the world" around that topic in detail.

3. Use “theory.” 

4. Explain why it—the explanation (the "ethnographic detail") and the theory—matters.

Sorry—it’s really that straightforward.

We’ll discuss strategies in class throughout the term. This is a serious assignment, and is meant to make you reflect upon your approach to social and cultural theory. It only seems “glib” and lighthearted. I could write ten pages of detail for the assignment, but this is really all you need...without clutter.

DO NOT take this assignment lightly. 
It is, by far, the most important assignment of the entire term. 
A great job can save a big part of the term; a mediocre one can hurt your grade a great deal (as I have been saying all term long).

Send to me (lafleur@beloit.edu) as a .pdf file (not a hard copy)! 

by Thursday, December 15.

[d] Pathways RF