# Three transmissions in Da Liu Ren: how they form

![Three grey river stones of decreasing size in a line, joined by a fine cinnabar cord, like a first, middle and final step](https://multifate.com/images/guides/daliuren/three-transmissions/cover-v1-1536x864.webp)

> 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.

Canonical page: https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/three-transmissions
Language: English. Content reviewed: 2026-10-17.
Also available in: [中文](https://multifate.com/zh/guides/daliuren/three-transmissions/index.md), [日本語](https://multifate.com/ja/guides/daliuren/three-transmissions/index.md), [한국어](https://multifate.com/ko/guides/daliuren/three-transmissions/index.md)

The three transmissions are the three branches a Da Liu Ren plate reads in order: where a matter starts, how it turns and where it settles. They are taken from the four lessons by a fixed order of nine methods. Most plates use the first, Zei Ke, which looks for a control between an upper and a lower branch.

**Key points**

- The first transmission comes out of the four lessons; the middle and final ones follow from it on the heaven plate.
- Zei Ke comes first: a lower branch that harms its upper god outranks an upper god that controls its lower.
- When several lessons qualify, polarity with the day stem decides, then depth of harm.
- For 2026-10-21 10:30 in Tokyo the tool gives 卯 Mao, 寅 Yin and 丑 Chou by Zei Ke, pattern Yuan Shou.

## What are the three transmissions?

A Da Liu Ren plate is read in layers: the heaven and earth plates, then the four lessons, then the three transmissions, which take three branches from the plate so the matter reads as a sequence.

- **初传** (chu chuan; First transmission, 发用 fa yong): The branch taken out of the four lessons, also called the one put to use. Everything after it depends on it.
- **中传** (zhong chuan; Middle transmission): In an ordinary plate, the heaven branch that stands over the first transmission on the earth plate.
- **末传** (mo chuan; Final transmission): The heaven branch that stands over the middle transmission, found the same way.

Each transmission also carries one of the twelve generals, the one riding that branch on the plate. How the generals are placed is explained in [the twelve heavenly generals](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/twelve-generals).

## Where do the three transmissions come from?

They come from the four lessons, each a pair: a lower position and the upper god standing on it. In the first lesson the lower is the day stem itself, placed at its lodging palace (巳 for the 戊 day in the example below); in the other three it is a branch. How the pairs are laid out is the subject of [the four lessons](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/four-lessons).

What counts here is the relation inside each pair, by the five elements. The free tool prints it in the last column of its four lessons table.

*The five relations a lesson can show*

| Relation | Chinese | Label in the tool | Used by Zei Ke |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The lower controls the upper | 下贼上 | lower harms upper | Yes, first |
| The upper controls the lower | 上克下 | upper controls lower | Yes, when nothing harms from below |
| The upper generates the lower | 上生下 | upper feeds lower | No |
| The lower generates the upper | 下生上 | lower feeds upper | No |
| Both share one element | 比和 | same phase | No |

![The example's four lessons, right to left, with the relation under each: two same phase, two upper controls lower](https://multifate.com/images/guides/daliuren/figures/daliuren-four-lessons-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

In the example, two lessons show upper controls lower and none shows lower harms upper\. That is all the next steps need from the four lessons\.

## Which of the nine methods applies?

Classical manuals give nine methods for taking the first transmission, the 九宗门 or nine gates. Each one handles a plate the method before it cannot settle, so they are tried in order and the first that fits is used.

*The nine methods in brief*

| Method | Used when |
| --- | --- |
| Zei Ke 贼克 | One lesson shows a control between its lower and upper. |
| Bi Yong 比用 | Several lessons show the same control; keep the one matching the day stem in yin and yang. |
| She Hai 涉害 | Still tied; take the one that meets the most harm on its way home. |
| Yao Ke 遥克 | No control in any lesson; look for one between the day stem and an upper god of lessons two to four. |
| Mao Xing 昴星 | Four distinct lessons, no control and no Yao Ke; the branch You 酉 decides. |
| Bie Ze 别责 | Three distinct lessons, no control and no Yao Ke; a partner position stands in. |
| Ba Zhuan 八专 | Day stem and branch share one palace, leaving two distinct lessons. |
| Fu Yin 伏吟 | The heaven plate lies exactly on the earth plate. |
| Fan Yin 反吟 | Every heaven branch faces its opposite. |

The free tool follows this order with two shifts: as soon as no lesson shows a control it checks for Fu Yin or Fan Yin, and it tries Ba Zhuan before Yao Ke.

A Fu Yin or Fan Yin plate that does hold a control still takes its first transmission by Zei Ke, and the result names the plate pattern 伏吟 or 反吟. On a Fu Yin plate the middle and final transmissions then follow the punishment (刑) rule rather than the heaven plate.

## How does Zei Ke pick the first transmission?

Zei Ke reads the relation column. A lower position that controls its upper god is called zei, harm from below; an upper god that controls its lower is called ke. Harm from below is looked for first.

1. **Look for harm from below**: If exactly one lesson shows lower harms upper, its upper god is the first transmission. The pattern is called Chong Shen 重审, the second look.
2. **Otherwise, control from above**: If nothing harms from below and exactly one upper god controls its lower, that god is the first transmission. The pattern is Yuan Shou 元首, the head leads.
3. **Several candidates**: Keep those whose branch matches the day stem in yin and yang. If one remains, that is Bi Yong, and the pattern is Zhi Yi 知一.
4. **Still tied**: Use She Hai: count the controls each candidate meets on the way back to its own palace on the earth plate, and take the deepest.
5. **Chain the other two**: The middle transmission is the heaven branch over the first; the final one is the heaven branch over the middle.

One detail decides many real plates: when two lessons show the same control with the same upper god, that god counts once, so Bi Yong and She Hai never come into it.

> **Tip** She Hai counting differs between schools. The free tool also counts the stems lodged along the way, so its count can run higher than in a book that counts branches only.

## A worked example: 21 October 2026, 10:30 in Tokyo

All four Da Liu Ren guides here use this moment. The tool reads the clock time as entered, so 10:30 in Tokyo is cast as 10:30.

> **The moment**
>
> Clock time: 2026-10-21 10:30, Asia/Tokyo
> Day: 戊辰, Wu Chen
> Hour: 巳, Si, the period from 09:00 to 11:00
> Month general: 辰 天罡, Tian Gang, after the Autumn Equinox
> Heaven plate: 辰 placed on 巳

*The four lessons for this moment, as the tool lists them*

| Lesson | Upper | Lower | Relation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| First, 干阳 | 辰 Chen | 戊 Wu, the day stem | same phase |
| Second, 干阴 | 卯 Mao | 辰 Chen | upper controls lower |
| Third, 支阳 | 卯 Mao | 辰 Chen, the day branch | upper controls lower |
| Fourth, 支阴 | 寅 Yin | 卯 Mao | same phase |

1. **No harm from below**: None of the four lessons shows lower harms upper.
2. **One controlling god**: Lessons two and three both put Mao, wood, over Chen, earth. Wood controls earth, but it is the same god twice, so there is a single candidate.
3. **First transmission**: Mao 卯 is put to use. A single control from above makes the method Zei Ke and the pattern Yuan Shou.
4. **Middle transmission**: On the plate, Yin 寅 stands over Mao, so Yin is the middle transmission.
5. **Final transmission**: Chou 丑 stands over Yin, so Chou is the final transmission.

![How the three transmissions form: 卯 over 辰 is the only control, so 卯 starts, and 寅 and 丑 follow on the heaven plate](https://multifate.com/images/guides/daliuren/figures/daliuren-three-transmissions-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

The shaded pair of lessons is the single candidate, which Zei Ke takes as the first transmission\. Follow the arrows down: each transmission is the branch standing over the one before, shown with the general it rides\.

> **What the result records**
>
> Cast by: 贼克
> Three transmissions: 卯 with 朱雀, 寅 with 腾蛇, 丑 with 贵人
> Plate pattern: 元首
> Noble: 丑 · 顺 (forward)

Next to the pattern the tool adds its traditional gloss: one upper god controls a lower one, traditionally read as a matter led from above, orderly and open.

## How are the first, middle and final transmissions read?

Traditional manuals call the three the gate where a matter begins, the gate where it shifts and the gate where it settles (发端, 移易, 归计). Read them as one line, not as three separate verdicts.

- First transmission: how the matter starts and what sets it moving. It carries the most weight on the plate.
- Middle transmission: what the matter turns into on the way, the help or the friction in between.
- Final transmission: where it comes to rest. Tradition also looks to it, with the first, when asking when a matter shows its shape.

In the example, Mao, Yin and Chou step back one branch at a time. Tradition calls such a run 退连茹, linked roots in retreat, and usually reads it as a matter pulling back, better held than pushed ahead. The generals add their own colour: the Vermilion Bird rides the start and the Noble One the end, as [the twelve heavenly generals](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/twelve-generals) explains.

> **Where the reading stops** These are traditional associations to think with. A plate does not decide a medical, legal or financial question for you.

## Build your own plate

Try the steps on a moment of your own with the [free Da Liu Ren calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/daliuren). Choose Chart only to see the four lessons and the three transmissions without asking anything. The chart is free; AI questions have separate limits. Then check the result in this order:

- Which lessons show a control, and does it come from below or from above?
- Is the same upper god repeated, so that it counts once?
- Which branch stands over the first transmission on the plate, and which over that one?

New to the method? Start with [what is Da Liu Ren](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/what-is-da-liu-ren) or the [Da Liu Ren guide](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren).

## Three transmissions: common questions

### Why is it Zei Ke when two lessons show a control?

Because both controls come from the same god. In the shared example, lessons two and three are both Mao over Chen, so there is one candidate and Zei Ke settles it without Bi Yong or She Hai.

### Is the middle transmission always the next branch along?

No. It is the heaven branch standing over the first transmission, so it depends on how far the plate has turned. Fu Yin plates, Fan Yin plates without a control, and Ba Zhuan, Bie Ze and Mao Xing plates also fill the middle and final transmissions by rules of their own.

### Why does another site give different transmissions for the same moment?

Check the month general first: schools change it on different dates, and the free tool changes it at the middle solar term. She Hai counting also differs between schools, and a different day or night Noble One changes the generals riding the transmissions, though not the branches.

## Sources and scope

- [Multifate free Da Liu Ren calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/daliuren): The plate, four lessons and three transmissions this guide works through, from the same engine.
- [Da Liu Ren Zhinan (大六壬指南), volume one](https://libokang.com/guji/liuren/%E5%A4%A7%E5%85%AD%E5%A3%AC%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97/): Classical text on the four lessons and the order of methods for the first transmission.
- [Liuren Daquan (六壬大全), She Hai chapter](https://www.shidianguji.com/book/SK1599/chapter/1m1g2evjvmoez): Classical chapter on She Hai, with worked plates for counting depth of harm.

## Continue with Da Liu Ren

- [Try the Da Liu Ren tool](https://multifate.com/tools/daliuren)
- [Twelve heavenly generals of Da Liu Ren: meanings](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/twelve-generals/index.md)
- [Da Liu Ren four lessons: how they are laid out](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/four-lessons/index.md)
- [What is Da Liu Ren and how do you start?](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/what-is-da-liu-ren/index.md)
- [All Da Liu Ren articles](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren)
- [Fortune telling guides: BaZi, tarot and more](https://multifate.com/guides/index.md)

These guides describe traditional symbolic frameworks and the current Multifate tools, not verified predictions. The chart tools are free; optional AI questions have separate limits. Check the pricing page for current terms. Interpretations do not replace medical, legal, financial or safety advice.