Chinese Horoscopes by Nathaniel

July begins under the auspices of the 5th Moon month of the Chinese calendar, the Dragon Moon. The Last Quarter Dragon Moon is on the 7th. The 6th Moon month, the Lotus Moon, is New on the 14th, climbs to her First Quarter on the 22nd, and is Full on the 30th.

In China, the Lotus Moon was often a very wet month. A number of quaint customs were carried out to stay in tune with nature's theme of cleansing rain. The sixth day of the Lotus Moon, usually a dry day, was set aside as the 'hui' or day of 'union.' The name 'union' came about as identical customs were practised in both Taoist and Buddhist temples and monasteries.

It was the day for 'airing the classics.' The sacred books were removed from their altars and libraries and carried to the sunny temple courtyards. The books were opened and dusted, and then herbs were placed between their pages to protect against mould and ravaging insects. This sunning and airing, dried out any damp from the pages and removed that 'old' book smell. The custom originated with one of the T'ang dynasty emperors. He fell sick and seeking a cure, sent a priest to retrieve a sacred book from the Western Heaven. While crossing a river, the tome got wet. The distressed priest was at a loss, but an old peasant woman advised him to spread the pages out on the ground to dry. He followed her advice, but a wind raised the pages into the air and scattered them. The priest searched in vain and returned to the Emperor with just a handful of pages. Since this happened on the sixth day of the sixth Moon, the Emperor set this day aside in remembrance of the event.

The general population celebrated similarly, and on the '6th of the 6th,' women washed their hair and aired their clothing, the Imperial archives were dusted and exposed to the sun, and cat and dog owners bathed and groomed their companions. The Imperial elephants were taken to the moat outside Peking's city wall and given a swim. A huge crowd would gather, cheering and laughing, to watch them frolic in the water. By Nathaniel.