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.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 02-19

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



Nineteenth Day
Astral Period Two
(Tuesday, February 19
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
十月月
恩德
Lunar Virtue
Lunar Kindness
Ten Spirits
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
申辰子
酉己丑
戌午寅
亥未卯

23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 In-Between
05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
行作修
喪灶廚
Repair Granaries
Stove Work
Mourning Visits
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

滿
Tenth day (first lunar month)
Cyclical day: bingchen (53/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Wings (27/28)
Jianchu Cycle: Full (3/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
動嫁祭
土娶
上納祈
樑采福
納移會
畜徒友
安開出
葬市行
喪三
招厭小
對☐*
Appropriate Activities
Paying Reverence
Inquiring into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage
Grain Payments
Moving Residence
Market Days
Moving Earth
Erecting Beams
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves    
Miscellaneous Information
THREE MOURNINGS 
Small Vacancy
Mutual Loathing
Beckoning Swaying
*My computer character programs don't have this variant. See the Chinese text at the top of the page for the actual character. 
 ————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
人地
Person, Ground
————————————————— 
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities
栖灶
Kitchen
Perch, Stove

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