# What is Da Liu Ren and how do you start?

![A dark lacquered round lid with a cinnabar knob on a square wooden tray, like a round heaven plate on a square earth plate](https://multifate.com/images/guides/daliuren/what-is-da-liu-ren/cover-v1-1536x864.webp)

> 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.

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

Da Liu Ren is a classical Chinese method that answers one concrete question from the moment it is asked. The month general is placed on the hour of that moment, a heaven plate turns over a fixed earth plate, and four lessons, three transmissions and twelve generals are read from the result.

**Key points**

- Da Liu Ren reads the moment a question is asked, not anyone's birth.
- One chart has four layers: the heaven and earth plates, four lessons, three transmissions and twelve generals.
- The same date and clock time always give the same chart; a new question gets a new chart.
- Calculators follow different conventions for the month general, the Noble One and the day boundary, so compare rules before results.

## What is Da Liu Ren, in plain terms?

Da Liu Ren (大六壬) belongs to the Chinese methods that read a moment rather than a person. You settle one question, note the date and clock time, and build a chart from that minute. The same minute always gives the same chart. A new question gets a chart of its own, even on the same day.

*What three systems start from*

| System | Starts from | Describes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Da Liu Ren | The date and clock time a question is asked | One question |
| Meihua Yishu | Three numbers, or a moment | One question, through a hexagram |
| BaZi | A birth date and time | A person |

Because nothing about the asker goes in, Da Liu Ren needs no birthday and works the same for any question. What matters is that the question is real and that the time entered is the time it was settled.

## Where does Da Liu Ren come from?

Tradition counts Da Liu Ren among the three shi (三式), the classical methods worked on a shi board, alongside Taiyi and Qimen Dunjia. The board was a square earth plate with a round heaven plate turning on it. Boards of this kind have been excavated from Han dynasty tombs.

The name is usually explained this way: 壬 (ren) is the yang Water stem, and Water comes first in the old number lore. Among the sixty stem and branch pairs, 壬 appears six times, hence six ren. Da, great, sets it apart from Xiao Liu Ren.

- **大六壬** (Da Liu Ren; Liu Ren, 六壬): The method this guide describes, read from heaven and earth plates built for one moment.
- **式盘** (shi board): The square and round board the plates were once turned on. A calculator now does the same turning.
- **小六壬** (Xiao Liu Ren): A much simpler finger-counting method with a similar name. It is not a shorter form of Da Liu Ren.

Most rules taught today come from Ming and early Qing manuals such as the Liuren Daquan (六壬大全) and the Da Liu Ren Zhinan (大六壬指南). Sixty day pairs and twelve turns of the heaven plate give the 720 lesson arrangements those books tabulate. The manuals do not agree on every detail.

## What is a Da Liu Ren chart made of?

Each chart, called one ke (一课), has four layers. Each one is built from the one before, so they are best learned in this order.

The earth plate is the twelve earthly branches in fixed seats. The heaven plate is the same twelve branches, turned so that the month general sits over the hour of the question. Every earth seat then carries one heaven branch, written heaven over earth, such as 辰 over 巳.

![Da Liu Ren heaven and earth plates: the heaven plate turned until month general 辰 sits on the hour 巳](https://multifate.com/images/guides/daliuren/figures/daliuren-plates-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

Read each square as heaven over earth: the large branch turns with the month general, the small corner branch is the fixed earth seat under it\.

*The four layers and where the free calculator shows them*

| Layer | What it is | In the free result |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Heaven and earth plates 天地盘 | Twelve heaven branches over twelve fixed earth seats | The round plate, a heaven branch over each earth branch |
| Four lessons 四课 | Four upper and lower pairs from the day stem and branch | The Four lessons table: lesson, upper, lower, relation |
| Three transmissions 三传 | An initial, a middle and a final branch drawn from the lessons | The centre of the plate and the Three transmissions line |
| Twelve generals 十二天将 | Twelve figures laid around the plate, led by the Noble One | The general beside each transmission, and the Noble line |

![What is Da Liu Ren in one chart: the plates, the four lessons, and the three transmissions 卯, 寅, 丑 with their generals](https://multifate.com/images/guides/daliuren/figures/daliuren-chart-anatomy-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

The four layers of the example worked through below, a 戊辰 day at the 巳 hour, numbered in the order they are built\. Layer four shows only the generals on the three transmissions: the Vermilion Bird, the Serpent and the Noble One\.

The four lessons bring the day stem and day branch onto the plate. Each lesson is an upper branch over a lower one, and the way their elements relate decides what happens next. The article on the [four lessons](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/four-lessons) lays them out one by one.

The three transmissions are drawn out of the four lessons: usually a lesson where one element controls the other starts the chain, and the plate gives the next two. Tradition reads them as how a matter starts, turns and settles. See how the [three transmissions](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/three-transmissions) are produced.

The twelve heavenly generals, led by the Noble One, are laid around the plate one per seat, so every branch and every transmission rides a general. They add a character to each position. The [twelve heavenly generals](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/twelve-generals) article covers each one.

## One moment, one chart: 21 October 2026 at 10:30

> **Cast record**
>
> Moment entered: 2026-10-21 10:30
> Calendar: 丙午年九月十二, hour 巳
> Day and hour: 戊辰 · 巳
> Month general: 辰, Tian Gang 天罡
> Four lessons: 辰 over 戊 · 卯 over 辰 · 卯 over 辰 · 寅 over 卯
> Three transmissions: 卯 Vermilion Bird · 寅 Serpent · 丑 Noble One
> Noble One: 丑, generals run forward
> Cast by 贼克 (Zei Ke); plate pattern 元首 (Yuan Shou)

The Da Liu Ren articles on this site share one moment so that each can be checked against the others: 21 October 2026 at 10:30, entered exactly as written. The wording of the question does not change the plate, so any question will do.

1. **Put the month general on the hour**: The last middle solar term before 21 October is the autumn equinox, so the month general is 辰, Tian Gang. It goes on 巳, the two-hour period that holds 10:30, and the whole heaven plate sits one seat behind the earth plate: 辰 over 巳, 卯 over 辰, and so on round the circle.
2. **Build the four lessons**: The day stem 戊 is lodged at 巳, which carries 辰, so lesson one is 辰 over 戊, Earth over Earth. Lesson two is 卯 over 辰. Lesson three starts from the day branch 辰 and gives 卯 over 辰 again, and lesson four is 寅 over 卯.
3. **Draw the three transmissions**: Only 卯 over 辰 shows a control: Wood controls Earth, upper over lower, so 卯 starts. 卯 carries 寅, and 寅 carries 丑, which gives 卯, 寅, 丑.
4. **Lay out the generals**: 10:30 is a daytime hour, and on a 戊 day the daytime Noble One is 丑. 丑 sits over 寅, so the generals run forward from there, and the three transmissions ride the Vermilion Bird, the Serpent and the Noble One.

The tool records two names here. Cast by 贼克 names the method: a control between an upper and a lower branch picked the first transmission. The plate pattern 元首 is the traditional name when no lower branch harms the one above it and exactly one upper branch controls the branch below it.

## Why does another calculator give a different chart?

Several Da Liu Ren conventions change the plate itself. When two calculators disagree about the same moment, compare these points before suspecting the arithmetic.

*Conventions that differ between schools*

| Point | The free calculator | Other practice |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Month general | Changes from the day of each middle solar term. Frost Descent (霜降) falls on 23 October 2026, so 22 October still uses 辰 and 23 October uses 卯 | Some change it at the start of the solar month instead, which already gives 卯 on 21 October |
| Day or night Noble One | Hours 卯 to 申 use the daytime Noble One, the other six the night one | Some split day and night at sunrise and sunset, or use other Noble tables |
| Direction of the generals | Forward when the Noble One sits over 亥 to 辰, reverse over 巳 to 戌 | Widely shared, though manuals word it differently |
| Day boundary | The day turns at midnight on the clock you enter, so 23:00 to 24:00 stays on the same day | Many practitioners start the next day at 23:00 |
| Time and place | The clock time is used as typed, with no time zone or solar time correction | Some correct to local solar time first |

> **What the tool shows** The free calculator shows the plate, the four lessons, the three transmissions with their generals, the Noble One and the method it used. Under How this chart was built, the result also prints the calendar line, the method it used and its day boundary.

## How is a Da Liu Ren reading used?

A plate speaks to the question it was cast for, so the question comes first. Make it one matter you can act on, and cast when it is settled rather than hours later.

- Ask about one matter: "Will the landlord accept my offer this week?" works better than "How will my year go?"
- Cast once per question. Casting again because you dislike the answer only gives you a second, unrelated plate.
- Write the question and the moment down, so you can compare the plate with what actually happened.

Traditionally the day stem stands for the person asking and the day branch for the other side or the matter. The four lessons show how the two meet, and the three transmissions are read as the beginning, the turn and the outcome. Readers also look for the branch or general tied to the subject, such as money or travel.

> **Where the reading stops** Treat a plate as a prompt for thinking a decision through. It does not prove what will happen, and it does not replace a doctor, a lawyer or a financial adviser.

## How do you start with the free Da Liu Ren calculator?

1. **Choose how to begin**: Pick With a question and write your one matter, or Chart only if you want the plate first and a question later.
2. **Set the moment**: Type the date and time, or press Use the current time. The chart is built from that exact minute, so check it before you go on.
3. **Draw the chart**: Press Draw this chart. It is free and needs no account.
4. **Read it in order**: Check the calendar line first, then the plate, the four lessons table and the three transmissions with their generals.

Open the [free Da Liu Ren calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/daliuren) and cast the example above, then take the parts one at a time, starting with the [four lessons](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/four-lessons). The [Da Liu Ren guide](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren) lists every article as it is added. The chart is free; AI questions have separate limits.

> **Tip** To reproduce the example, enter 21 October 2026, 10:30 exactly. The tool attaches no time zone, so those numbers give the same plate wherever you are. [Free Da Liu Ren calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/daliuren)

## Da Liu Ren basics: common questions

### Is Da Liu Ren the same as Xiao Liu Ren?

No. Xiao Liu Ren is a short finger-counting method with six positions. Da Liu Ren builds full heaven and earth plates, four lessons, three transmissions and twelve generals from the moment of a question.

### Do I need my birth date for Da Liu Ren?

No. Da Liu Ren is cast from the date and clock time a question is asked, not from a birth. For a chart of a person, see the [BaZi guide](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi).

### Why does the same hour give a different chart two days later?

The day stem and branch change every day, and the month general changes at each middle solar term. In the free calculator, 21 and 22 October 2026 use 辰 as the month general, and 23 October, the day of Frost Descent, uses 卯.

### Can I cast a chart for a question I asked yesterday?

You can enter any past moment, and the plate is built from it exactly. Tradition prefers the moment the question was truly settled, so use that time if you remember it rather than the time you sit down to cast.

## Sources and scope

- [Multifate Da Liu Ren tool](https://multifate.com/tools/daliuren): The plates, four lessons, three transmissions and generals this guide describes, and the method and day boundary each result prints.
- [Liuren Daquan (六壬大全), She Hai chapter](https://www.shidianguji.com/book/SK1599/chapter/1m1g2evjvmoez): One of the Ming manuals the calculator's rules were checked against.

## 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)
- [Three transmissions in Da Liu Ren: how they form](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/three-transmissions/index.md)
- [Da Liu Ren four lessons: how they are laid out](https://multifate.com/guides/daliuren/four-lessons/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.