What Are the Twelve Heavenly Generals and Twelve Monthly Generals of Da Liu Ren, and How Do They Differ?

How do the twelve Monthly Generals and twelve Heavenly Generals differ?

Da Liu Ren (大六壬) is one of the Three Styles, alongside Qi Men Dun Jia and Tai Yi. By common account, it formed after the Warring States period and uses a heaven plate set over an earth plate. The name "Liu Ren" is tied to the Ren stem, yang water, which appears six times in the Jia Zi cycle. A single divination has four layers: the fixed earth plate, the rotating heaven plate, the Four Lessons and Three Transmissions, and the star layers placed on top.

Within that system, Monthly Generals and Heavenly Generals are two entirely different layers:

• Monthly Generals are the names of the twelve palaces of the heaven plate, each carrying its own name such as Đăng Minh, Hà Khôi, Tòng Khôi. This layer determines the position of the heaven plate relative to the earth plate, meaning it determines the entire frame of the divination.
• Heavenly Generals are the second star layer, including Quý Nhân, Đằng Xà, Chu Tước and others, placed starting from the Quý Nhân position and then running in a fixed direction. This layer supports interpretation; it does not determine the frame of the divination.

According to the book Lục Nhâm, volume 1: Introduction, the twelve heaven plate palaces are called the "twelve heavenly spirits", each with its own name, and are used to calculate the Four Lessons, Three Transmissions, line images, punishment clash destruction harm, and the prosperous, strong, resting, imprisoned, and dead qi states, and only from there are the twelve Heavenly Generals placed. So the order of operations is: determine the Monthly General, build the heaven plate, establish the Four Lessons and Three Transmissions, and only then place the Heavenly Generals.

What are the names of the twelve Monthly Generals and which branches do they correspond to?

According to the book Lục Nhâm, volume 1: Introduction, the twelve heaven plate palaces carry the following names:

The book Lục Nhâm, volume 1: Introduction explains that Đăng Minh is the Hoi palace, where one yang line begins to arise and light emerges, hence the name Đăng Minh; Hoi is also called Heaven Gate. This palace belongs to yin water, same category as the Quy stem and the Huyền Vũ star, and is used as the first monthly general during the Vũ Thủy qi and Kinh Chập node of the first lunar month.

How do the Monthly Generals change with the mid-qi to build the heaven plate?

The Monthly Generals are not fixed by lunar month but change with the mid-qi, meaning the qi that fall between two nodes. The common way to remember is that each lunar month corresponds to one mid-qi, and that mid-qi corresponds to one Monthly General. The book Kỳ Môn Chỉ Quy, part 37, records a table matching months and qi, listing pairs such as the first month corresponding to Vũ Thủy, the second to Xuân Phân, the third to Cốc Vũ, the fourth to Tiểu Mãn, the fifth to Hạ Chí, the sixth to Đại Thử, the seventh to Xử Thử, the eighth to Thu Phân, the ninth to Sương Giáng, the tenth to Tiểu Tuyết, the eleventh to Đông Chí, the twelfth to Đại Hàn. This table is used in Qi Men but reflects the same way of tying qi to months that Liu Ren also uses when choosing the Monthly General.

Once the Monthly General of the moment of casting is known, the operation to build the heaven plate is to superimpose the Monthly General on the current hour palace. That is, the palace carrying the Monthly General name is placed directly over the earth plate palace corresponding to the hour being examined, and the remaining palaces follow in the order Ty, Suu, Dan, Mao through to Hoi.

The book Lục Nhâm, volume 1: Introduction gives an example: on a Mậu Dần day, the Monthly General is Thin, and the hour is Dau. Then the Monthly General Thin is superimposed on the Dau palace of the earth plate, and the other palaces are arranged accordingly. If on the same day and hour one moves to the next divination, the practitioner changes the Monthly General by an alternating forward and backward rule. This book records the sequence of Monthly General changes: Ty, Dau, Dan, Hoi, Thin, Suu, Ngo, Mao, Than, Ti, Tuat, Mui, then back to Ty. The accompanying rule is that the Monthly General of the first divination must belong to the yang group (Ty, Dan, Thin, Ngo, Than, Tuat), and each time the divination changes the Monthly General name changes but the position superimposed on the hour palace remains the same.

What are the twelve Heavenly Generals and by what principle are they placed?

The twelve Heavenly Generals are the supporting star layer, placed starting from Quý Nhân, also called Thiên Ất Quý Nhân. According to the Twelve Branch Spirit General Chart in the book Kỳ Môn Chỉ Quy, part 37, the branch and general pairs are recorded as follows: Than corresponds to Truyền Tống and Bạch Hổ, Dau to Tòng Khôi and Thái Âm, Tuat to Hà Khôi and Thiên Không, Hoi to Đăng Minh and Huyền Vũ, Ty to Thần Hậu and Thiên Hậu, Suu to Đại Cát and Thiên Ất, Ngo to Thắng Quang and Chu Tước, Ti to Thái Ất and Đằng Xà, Thin to Thiên Cương and Câu Trần, Mao to Thái Xung and Lục Hợp, Dan to Công Tào and Thanh Long, Mui to Tiểu Cát and Thái Thường. This table shows that the twelve Heavenly Generals are attached to each heaven plate palace, one general per palace.

The placing principle is: first determine the Quý Nhân position by day stem and by day or night, then from that position place the remaining eleven generals in sequence in a fixed direction. Whether the direction is forward or backward depends on which group of palaces Quý Nhân falls into, and this is where schools may record differently.

The table above is a common classification, not an absolute rule. The auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of a general also depends on the prosperous, strong, resting, imprisoned, and dead qi states, on which palace it sits in, and on interaction with other layers in the divination.

How is Quý Nhân placed by day stem and by day or night?

Quý Nhân is the anchor for placing the remaining eleven generals, so determining the Quý Nhân position correctly is the key step. The common way is to use the day stem to look up the Quý Nhân position, then distinguish day and night to choose one of two positions. The way of distinguishing day and night also has many variants: some schools take the Mao hour to the Than hour as daytime, and the Dau hour to the Dan hour as nighttime; some schools use sunrise and sunset; and some schools use only the day stem without distinguishing day and night.

The song for placing Quý Nhân by stem also has variants. The variants differ mainly in a few stems such as Giap, Mau, Canh or Nham, Quy, causing the Quý Nhân position to shift by one palace. So when comparing two divinations cast by two people, if the twelve Heavenly Generals are offset by one palace, the cause usually lies here rather than in the heaven plate construction.

The running direction of the remaining eleven generals also has variants. The common rule is that if Quý Nhân falls into the group of palaces Hoi, Ty, Suu, Dan, Mao, Thin it runs backward, while if it falls into the group Ti, Ngo, Mui, Than, Dau, Tuat it runs forward, or the reverse depending on the book. The book Lục Nhâm, volume 1: Introduction, when discussing the relationship between the heaven plate and the heavenly generals, sets out the concepts of internal war and external war: if the heaven plate palace controls the heavenly general it is called internal war, if the heavenly general controls the heaven plate palace it is called external war. This book holds that both indicate inauspicious harm, but internal war is heavier than external war, and the discussion of internal and external war is not calculated by the earth plate palace. This is an example showing that the relationship between the two layers of Monthly Generals and Heavenly Generals is used in interpretation, not merely a technical step.

Where do the books differ, and what should be noted?

There are at least three points on which books and schools do not agree:

• The song for placing Quý Nhân by stem: there are variants, differing mainly in a few stems, causing the Quý Nhân position to differ by one palace.
• Forward or backward direction: the rule dividing palace groups for running forward or backward is recorded differently in different books, leading to different orders of the twelve Heavenly Generals.
• Names and positions of some generals: the book Kỳ Môn Chỉ Quy, part 37, records the Ngo palace corresponding to Chu Tước and the Hoi palace to Huyền Vũ, while some other editions may copy differently. When reading hand-copied or old printed editions, students should compare at least two editions before concluding.

This article follows the common convention: Monthly Generals change with the mid-qi and are superimposed on the hour palace; Heavenly Generals are placed from Quý Nhân by day stem, distinguishing day and night, then running forward or backward by palace group. If one encounters a different edition, one should state clearly which edition is being used before comparing.

Distinguishing from the Eight Spirits of Qi Men and same-named stars in Tử Vi

The twelve Heavenly Generals of Da Liu Ren are easily confused with other systems bearing similar names:

• Eight Spirits of Qi Men: Qi Men Dun Jia uses eight spirits, not twelve. The book Thuat So Lạc Thư (Original Qi Men Dun Jia) lists generals such as Trực Phù, Đằng Xà, Thái Âm, Lục Hợp, Bạch Hổ, Huyền Vũ, Cửu Địa, Cửu Thiên. Some names overlap with Liu Ren such as Đằng Xà, Thái Âm, Lục Hợp, Bạch Hổ, Huyền Vũ, but the number and the way of placing are entirely different. Qi Men places by gate and by configuration, Liu Ren places by Quý Nhân and by heaven plate palace.
• Same-named stars in Tử Vi: Tử Vi Đẩu Số also has stars Thanh Long, Bạch Hổ, Thiên Tướng, Thiên Không, Thái Âm. According to the book Tử Vi Kinh Nghiem, lower volume, these stars are used in a completely different way: Thiên Tướng in Tử Vi is assigned to brush, seal, iron box, and tied to facial features; Bạch Hổ is tied to bones, blood, stone dogs. This is interpretation by stars and palace positions in the chart, unrelated to the heaven plate or Quý Nhân.

In other words, sharing a name does not mean sharing a system. To understand a general correctly, one must place it within the system being used.

Practical application: from Monthly Generals to interpretation

Once the heaven plate is built and the twelve Heavenly Generals are placed, the interpreter reads the divination through four layers: the Four Lessons, the Three Transmissions, the relationship between the heaven plate and the heavenly generals, and the prosperous, strong, resting, imprisoned, and dead qi states of the palaces. The book Lục Nhâm, volume 1: Introduction emphasizes that one must examine the Void of the cycle to forecast whether good is slightly good or greatly good, bad is slightly bad or greatly bad, or whether something bad yet escapes badness, something good yet fails to be good.

For example with Thái Thường, the book Lục Nhâm, volume 1: Introduction records: Thái Thường is an auspicious general, its home position at Kỷ Mùi, belongs to yin earth, southwest direction, prosperous qi during the last eighteen days of the months Thin, Tuat, Suu, Mui. This general governs literature, seals and longevity, rites and music, clothing, houses and land, fields and gardens, and strongly avoids Đằng Xà and Thiên Không. The book also records specific cases: Thái Thường sitting in Dan is called being watched by petty people; sitting in Mao is called losing robes and hats, money and wealth; sitting in Thin is called the seal-bearing divination; sitting in Ti is called the seal-casting divination, good for office and wealth; sitting in Ngo is called the official Thái Thường riding a carriage; sitting in Mui is called the cup-raising divination, being invited to a banquet; sitting in Than it meets Bạch Hổ, indicating declining health or mourning. This is an example showing that the same general, depending on the palace it sits in, changes meaning, and depending on relationships with other generals, auspiciousness changes.

This way of interpreting shows that the twelve Monthly Generals and twelve Heavenly Generals are not two lists of names to memorize, but two layers of information that must be read together. Monthly Generals give the time frame and position, while Heavenly Generals give the flavor of events. Drop one layer and the divination loses half its information.