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, February 15, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 02-15

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
Today's date:                                                                                                                *
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 calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar 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.
 
Section One
Solar Calendar Date



Fifteenth Day
Astral Period Five
(Friday, February 15
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
生合天歲
氣日德禄
Generational Emolument
Heavenly Virtue
Concatenation of Days
Pure Vapors
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
申辰子
酉己丑
戌午寅
亥未卯

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
09:00-11:00 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 Inauspicious

*The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.
 
————————————————— 
Section Four
Activities to Avoid 
 忌
取問放開
魚卜水渠
Opening Sluices
Placing Water
Divination Inquiries
Grasping Fish 
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 



Sixth day (first lunar month)
Cyclical day: renzi (49/60)
Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Ghost (23/28)
Jianchu Cycle: Open (11/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
 
動裁出祭
土衣行祀
 上移訂祈
樑徒婚福
置開納入
產市采學
納修嫁會
畜造娶友
將陰
天灾班大
  火煞煞  
 *The computer programs I use do not contain the character noted by the asterisk (it is used exclusively for prognostication and divination). If you wish to see it, look at the Chinese text, above.
Appropriate Activities
Paying Reverence
Inquiring into Fortune
Entering Study
Gathering with Friends

Going Out (and about)
Engaging to Marry
Paying Taxes
Marriage Alliances

Cutting out clothing
Moving residences
Opening Markets
Repairing and Manufacturing

Moving Earth
Erecting Beams
Setting Up Industry
Livestock Payments  
 
Miscellaneous Information
Yin General
Great Vacancy
Baleful Squad
Baleful Disaster
Heavenly Conflagration  
 ————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

Bifurcation
————————————————— 
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities
庫 倉
Pestle, Storehouse, Granary

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