Liùrén dàquán 六壬大全
Complete Compendium of the Six-Rén [Divinatory System] author unknown; Míng-period compilation; printed by Guō Zàiláng 郭載騋 (Tuīguān of Huáiqìngfǔ)
About the work
A 12-juan comprehensive compendium of the Liùrén 六壬 divinatory system, an unascribed Míng-period compilation. The Liùrén — together with the Dùnjiǎ 遁甲 (KR3g0048) and Tàiyī 太乙 (KR3g0047) — constitutes the Sānshì 三式 (Three-Form) trinity of late-imperial Chinese cosmological-divinatory systems. Of the three, Liùrén is conventionally regarded as the most ancient.
The methodology: the Liù (Six) refers to the 6 chéngshù (completed-numbers) of the 5 phases combined with the 12 earthly-branches; the rén refers to the heavenly-trunk rén 壬 (the 9th trunk, water-element). The system uses tiānpán dìpán (heaven-board / earth-board) twin-disks combined with shénjiāng (spirit-generals) lay-on; gànzhī (heavenly-trunks / earthly-branches) generate sìkè (four-categories), and fāyòng (initiating-application) generates sānchuán (three-transmissions). Through these, 64 kè (categories) of divinatory-configurations are derived.
The work draws on multiple earlier transmitted Liùrén technical works: Xú Dàofú’s 徐道符 Xīnjìng (Heart-Mirror), Jiǎng Rìxīn’s 蔣日新 Kāiyún Guānyuè gē (Open-Cloud Watching-Moon Song), Líng Fúzhī’s 凌福之 Bìfǎ fù (Closing-Method Composition), the Wǔbiàn zhōnghuáng jīng (Five-Variations Central-Yellow Classic) — all canonical Liùrén references. The work also includes the Kuònáng Yúnxiāo fù (Encompassing-Bag Cloud-Sky Composition) and the Kèjīng (Categories Classic).
The methodology centers on the Tiānyī Guìshén 天乙貴神 (Heavenly-One Noble-Spirit) determination: the auspicious-or-inauspicious orientation of the Tiānyī Guìshén through yīnyáng shùnnì (yīnyáng forward-and-backward) movements determines the divinatory outcome. The work specifies the determination procedures using the xiāntiān zhī dé qǐ yú zǐ, hòutiān zhī dé qǐ yú wèi (Pre-Heaven virtue starts from zǐ, Post-Heaven virtue starts from wèi) doctrine.
The Sìkù 提要 commends the work: “[the Liùrén] is among the most ancient of arts; some say it emerges from the Yellow Emperor’s Mysterious-Maiden — though a baseless [tradition], its technique is certainly not what later divinatory-school [practitioners] could have created”. The 提要 traces Liùrén allusions to the Guóyǔ (Wǔ Zǐxū’s jīmíng / rìchū / rìyìng / yúzhōng four-procedure consultation), the WúYuè chūnqiū (Wǔ Yuán’s jīmíng rìchū rìyìng yúzhōng), and the Yuèjué shū (Gōngsūn Shèng’s jīnrì rénwǔ shí jiā nánfāng — “today on the rénwǔ hour of south-direction”). These early-Hàn references confirm the Liùrén methodology was already practiced in the Hàn period.
The Sìkù preserves the work as the principal Liùrén reference compendium. The 提要 notes the slight discrepancy with the Míngshǐ Yìwén zhì’s Yuán Xiáng Liùrén dàquán 33 juàn — same title but different juàn-count.
For the related Sānshì divinatory works, see KR3g0047 Tàiyī jīnjìng shìjīng and KR3g0048 Dùnjiǎ yǎnyì.
Tiyao
[Full text in source file. Dated Qiánlóng 46 (1781).]