Da Liu Ren

Da Liu Ren (Chinese: 大六壬 pinyin: dàliùrén) is a form of Chinese calendrical astrology dating from (at least) the later Warring States period.

Along with the divination methods Qi Men Dun Jia 奇门遁甲 and Taiyi 太乙—collectively known as the "Three Styles" (San shi 三式)—Da Liu Ren is considered in China to be one of the highest forms of Chinese metaphysics.

Beijing Medical professor, Li Yang, in her "I Ching and Chinese Medicine (2000) describes Da Liu Ren as the highest form of divination in China. This divination form is called Da Liu Ren because in the Sexagenary cycle there are Six Rens each with a different branch:

In the words of a contemporary Chinese master of Da Liu Ren, the six Ren indicate an entire movement of the sexagenary cycle, during which an event – object may appear, rise to maturity and then decline and disappear. Thus the six Ren indicate the life cycle of phenomena. There is a homonym in the Chinese language which carries the meaning of pregnancy, and so the six Ren also carry this meaning, that of the term of the birth of a phenomenon, its maturity and its passing, all within the period of a sexagenary cycle.

The diviner's board (shi) used for the Three Styles differ markedly. The Qi Men Dun Jia divinor's board consists of a 3 × 3 magic square, while the Tai Yi board is somewhat larger, and may be drawn as either a square or circle. The Da Liu Ren cosmic board contains positions for the Earth pan and Heaven pan, which hold the twelve Earth Branches and the twelve spirits. In addition, the Da Liu Ren cosmic board indicates the Three Transmissions (san chuan 三传) and Four Classes (四课).

A shi (also known as a liuren astrolabe) from the Six Dynasties period (222–589 CE) consists of a Heaven Plate 天盘 placed over an Earth Plate 地盘. On the Earth Plate are three groups of inscriptions:

The square plate is divided diagonally into four sections that allocate 9 animals, 7 xiu, and 5 ganzhi to a section.

A diviner examined current sky phenomena to set the board and adjust their position in relation to the board.

A modern version of the Da Liu Ren cosmic board places the Three Transmissions at the top of the board, along with the corresponding Earth Branch and any pertinent vacancies.

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