What is Da Liu Ren and how do you start?
What is Da Liu Ren? A plain guide to the classical Chinese method: where it comes from, what one chart holds and how to cast your first one free.
Da Liu Ren guide for beginners
Da Liu Ren answers one concrete question from the moment it is asked, not from anyone’s birth. The month general, which moves on at each middle solar term, is placed on the hour of that moment, and the heaven plate turns with it against the fixed earth plate. The day stem and day branch are read against those plates to give the four lessons, and the three transmissions are drawn out of the lessons as an initial, a middle and a final step, each with the general that sits on it.
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All Da Liu Ren articles
Basics
How to read a Da Liu Ren chart, layer by layer
How to read a Da Liu Ren chart in the order it was cast: the moment, the plates, the four lessons, the three transmissions and the generals they ride.
Casting
Da Liu Ren month general and how the plate turns
The Da Liu Ren month general changes at each middle solar term. A twelve-row table, the exact change moment, and the example chart turned onto its hour.
Three transmissions in Da Liu Ren: how they form
The three transmissions of Da Liu Ren come from the four lessons. See the nine methods, how Zei Ke picks the first, and one plate worked through.
Da Liu Ren four lessons: how they are laid out
The Da Liu Ren four lessons come from the day stem's lodging palace and the day branch on the turned plate. One real moment, worked step by step.
Twelve heavenly generals of Da Liu Ren: meanings
The twelve heavenly generals of Da Liu Ren: how the Noble One is placed by day stem and hour, which way the rest run, and what each general stands for.
Da Liu Ren lesson patterns and how to spot each
Da Liu Ren lesson patterns, or lesson types, name how the first transmission was taken. All twelve, how to spot each, and one day that shows seven.
Da Liu Ren timing: when will it happen?
Da Liu Ren timing names branches, not dates: the first and final transmissions, an empty branch filled, and each harmony and clash, on one example plate.
Da Liu Ren class gods (lei shen) by question
Da Liu Ren class gods stand for the matter you ask about: Wealth and the Azure Dragon for money, Officer and the White Tiger for illness. How to find them.
Da Liu Ren articles are added to this page as they are written. They take the plate one layer at a time, in an order a beginner can check: the moment entered, the two plates, the four lessons, then the transmissions. That way each term in an explanation can be found on your own plate before you weigh what it means.
The free Da Liu Ren tool builds the plate from a date and a clock time. The hour branch, day stem and branch, and day boundary follow the clock time exactly as typed, with no place correction; only the month general is compared at the exact middle-term moment, in your browser’s time zone. So a teaching example cast in one city needs its date and time written out in full before a reader somewhere else can reproduce it.
What this system examines
Da Liu Ren reads a concrete question through the heaven-earth plates, four lessons, three transmissions, and twelve generals of a sealed moment.
How the result is formed
An explicit wall-clock time produces the monthly general, the rotating plates, the four lessons and the three transmissions. The time entered is the time the cast is sealed to; the monthly general changes at the exact 中气 moment, converted to your browser’s time zone.
How to read it responsibly
Da Liu Ren is a classical calendrical ritual, not proof of future events. It needs a precise question and a faithful cast time, and must not replace professional judgment.
Common questions about Da Liu Ren
What is Da Liu Ren?
Da Liu Ren is a classical Chinese method for answering a specific question from the moment it is asked. It builds heaven and earth plates from that moment, derives four lessons and three transmissions, and reads them with the twelve generals. It is a traditional framework for reflection, not proof of what will happen.
What time should I enter for Da Liu Ren?
Enter the moment the question is settled, as a local date and clock time. The hour branch and day stem and branch follow the time exactly as typed, and only the month general uses your browser’s time zone, so check the value in the form before you build the plate, especially if the page has been open for a while.
How is Da Liu Ren different from BaZi?
BaZi describes a person from their birth date and time. Da Liu Ren describes a question from the moment it is asked, so it needs no birthday and is cast again for every new question.