Liu Ren 六壬 (1)

When Wei Qian Li’s 韋千里 “Liu Ren Divination Lecture Notes 六壬占卜講義” was about to be published, he sent a copy to Yuan Shu Shan 袁樹珊 and asked for comment as well as a preface. Yuan was happy to welcome his book and wrote a very good preface introducing the study of Liu Ren.

Here is a summary of what he wrote.

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1.   Whatever we do, if we know what we are going to encounter and are well prepared, we will have a better rate of success.

    2.   Liu Ren study (I call this Liurenology) is the most ancient method of divination that preceded the Yijing but it embodies the fundamental concept of the Yijing.

    

    3.   From the time of divination to the Month General, it is equivalent to Taiji born from Wuji. ( 由占時而月將，是無極生太極也。)

    4.     From Month General to stems and branches, it is equivalent to Taiji giving birth to Binary Appearances. (由月將而干支，是太極生两儀也。)

    5.     From stems and branches to the four readings, it is like the birth of the four images of Tai Yang, Shao Yang, Tai Yin, Shao Yin. ( 由干支而四課，則太陽，少陽，太隂，四象生焉。)

    6.     The initial interpretation refers to Heaven, the middle interpretation refers to Man while the final interpretation refers to Earth. When the Cosmic Trinity is complete, the five elements are ready. The Spiritual Generals are determined.  (由四課而發用，初傳法天，中傳法人，末傳法地。三才既具，五行備焉，神將定焉。)

    7.     When the Spiritual Generals are established, the central mechanism is in your hands. Then among all things on earth under heaven, which are auspicious and which are inauspicious, which are regrettable and which cause blames to come, are all displayed before you. It is not just about success or failure, fortune or misfortune, glory or shame. ( 神將既定，握其樞機，則天下萬事萬物，孰吉孰凶，孰悔孰咎，胥於此現象得之，豈獨是非成敗，禍福榮辱已哉。)
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In fact, we are part of the Universe and being a part, we can communicate with the whole. However, the communication is beyond our five senses. The communication is spiritual and not physical. Denouncing spirituality automatically denounces divination and vice versa. The entire Universe is a living entity. All other spirits are part of the Universe. This includes our spirit (or soul) and I don’t think anyone would denounce this. Then why the other parts of this paragraph?

Divination is just communication between the diviner’s spirit and other spirits. The method is a vehicle to bring the spirits together. Liu Ren is an excellent vehicle and to sell this vehicle our ancestors invented stories to say that the method was given to the Yellow Emperor 黄帝 by the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens 九天玄女. In fact, Liu Ren was invented and improved over time by intelligent diviners. 

This is the first article of a new series. If you are interested, stay tuned.