The Empty Day

We find the concept of "the Empty Day" (往亡日 Wǎng wáng rì) in the classic "Master Dong's Date Selection" (董公擇日 Dong Gong Jie Zhi), and there is a description of what should and should not be done on this day:

"The Empty Day (往亡日) is unfavorable for taking up a new position, getting married, or moving to a new home. It should not be used to start construction work, get married, or sign contracts. Using this day for such things will lead to elderly family members falling ill or legal difficulties. If this rule is violated, the adverse effects of the Void Day will be felt for 60-120 days, during which young children are at risk of getting hurt or injured. In addition, a death may also occur in the family. Thus, this day is not suitable for any important affairs or undertakings." It should be said that although the text: "Choosing dates of Master Dong" is considered one of the most important in the Chinese technique of choosing auspicious dates, it appeared in the Middle Ages, during the Ming Dynasty, and in our time it is far from always necessary to take its instructions literally. At least because in those days death accompanied people much more often than in our days due to poorer nutrition and underdeveloped medicine. In our time, children are very protected from injuries, and death more often occurs from natural causes than from sudden illnesses and injuries.

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Nevertheless, the Empty Days are not very good for important matters in general and should be paid attention to.

The literal translation of 往亡日 Wǎng wáng rì would be "the Day of Emptiness and Death", and it sounds similar to a well-known concept in Chinese metaphysics: 空亡 (kōng wáng). We discussed its origin and meaning in another article. There, we talked about the two Earthly Branches that were left out of the decade of the Heavenly Pillar — Earthly Branch pairs. In Master Dong's Date Selection, the Empty Days of (往亡 Wǎng wáng) are calculated differently, it is simply one of the days in the corresponding month. Judging by the similar but different names of 往亡 Wǎng wáng and 空亡 Kōng wáng and different calculation systems, we are talking about two different concepts, although similar in name. The table below lists all the Empty Days (往亡 Wǎng wáng) throughout the year.

How did they appear and how were they calculated? Master Dong has no explanation for this, however, it is not difficult to guess by simply comparing the “Triangles” of the Earthly Branches (Combinations of Three) and the seasons. 

Month - Fire Triangle and Day - Wood seaso

寅Tiger           -           寅Tiger

午Horse     -           卯Rabbit

戌Dog      -           辰Dragon

Month - Wood Triangle and Day - Fire season

亥Pig      -           未Goat

卯Rabbit      -           巳Snake

未Goat          -           午Horse

Month - Water Triangle and Day - Metal season

申Monkey  -           酉Rooster

子Rat        -           戌 Dog

辰Dragon     -           申 Monkey

Month - Metal Triangle and Day - Water season

巳Snake          -           亥 Pig

酉 Rooster         -           子 Rat

丑 Ox            -           丑Ox

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Perhaps the question arises: why did we combine the Combination of Fire and the Wood season, and the Combination of Water with the Metal season? There can be only one explanation: Wood and Fire are the Yang half of the year, Metal and Water are the Yin half of the year. And we compare them in turn, the months of the Combination of Fire with the days of the Wood season and vice versa, the months of the Combination of Wood with the days of the Fire season. The same with Metal and Water. The only thing that remains unclear is why the Earthly Branches do not always follow in the same order in the seasons. For example, in the Wood season (the first table), we have the months of spring following one another: 寅 Tiger - 卯 Rabbit - 辰 Dragon. And in the summer season (the second table), in a mixed-up order: 未 Goat - 巳 Snake - 午 Horse. But I will leave this question to Master Dong and future researchers.