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Chapter 1 of 14
六壬粹言
Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams, and King Wen expanded upon them; the Art of Six Ren originated from the Yellow Emperor and was transmitted to later generations by Jiang Ziya (Taigong). The two are like matched drums and flags, equal in power and merit. 🌱 However, since each school began guarding its techniques as secret arts, divergent theories proliferated with no consensus. What circulates widely in the world is only the Bi Fa (Complete Methods) in the Da Liu Ren Da Quan (Great Compendium of Six Ren) and the Hui Cuan (Collected Compilations) in the Zhi Nan (Compass Guide)—like wheels following ruts, they have become the obligatory path for students of Six Ren.
That said, the style of the Bi Fa is casual and spontaneous—once the meaning is exhausted, it stops without embellishment; the Hui Cuan, by contrast, holds back without fully releasing its insights, remaining reserved and failing to unfold its arguments completely. I devoted exhaustive effort, enduring cold and heat without pause for seven years. Whenever a predecessor produced a phrase of exquisite insight or a passage of fitting relevance, I gathered and included it in this work, categorizing and compiling, organizing its structure and arrangement. Where I occasionally arrived at small insights of my own, expanding on the subtle meanings, it was merely to draw out implications and draw analogies, in pursuit of clarity and thoroughness—I would never presume to interject my own self-satisfied content into the mix.
The manuscript was revised three times before becoming this compilation. Alas! My efforts have been sincere indeed. Yet when one judges a matter by seeking it in the established examples, there may be omissions yet unrecorded—this is what is meant by "books do not exhaust words, and words do not exhaust meaning." When one judges a matter by applying the former masters' methods as a fixed measure, there may be incongruities—this is what is meant by "those who study me become clumsy; those who imitate me perish."
Lun Pian declared that the books of the ancients are nothing but dregs, claiming that the subtlety of what he could execute with ease could not be transmitted from craftsman to son, nor received by son from craftsman. ⚡ The I Ching says: "To be spirit-like and luminous—this resides in the person." Indeed, this is hardly something that those who have not undergone the discipline of "three broken arms" or achieved the completion of "nine-fold elixir forging" are qualified to discuss.
I observe the one volume of Zhan Yan (Verified Prognostications) transmitted by Master Chen Gongxian—its spiritual agility and oral acuity are things never found in printed books. The few cases preserved by Master Guo Yuqing are akin to a seasoned judge deciding cases—circuitous yet satisfying, seeming to craft ideas independently while skillfully discoursing on profound principles. Confucius said: learning has three distinct levels—"attaining the Way," "establishing oneself," and "exercising judgment." The Bi Fa Bu Tan (Supplementary Discourses on Complete Methods) is a book of "attaining the Way"; the Zhi Nan Hui Jian (Annotated Compilation of the Compass Guide) is a book of "establishing oneself"; the verified prognostication cases of the two gentlemen Chen and Guo constitute the book of "exercising judgment." The art of Six Ren is nothing beyond these three levels. With the carving of blocks completed, I now present this outline at the head of the volume.
Written on the third day before the Summer Solstice, in the year of Bingxu of the Daoguang era (1826), by Liu Chijiang (Munong Fu) of Jiaomen, at the Zhizhi Xiaoshe studio in Jingmen.
The three-tier framework of "Way—Establishment—Discretion" is the central intellectual architecture of this text. Liu Chijiang draws upon the progressive structure of Analects, Zihan—"One may study with someone, yet not necessarily attain the Way with them; one may attain the Way, yet not necessarily establish oneself with them; one may establish oneself, yet not necessarily exercise discretion with them"—and maps it onto the study of Six Ren:
These three tiers actually describe a universal pattern in the cultivation of any skill:
| Level | Classical Phrasing | Modern Equivalent | Core Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attaining the Way | Entrance to the correct path | Systematic theoretical study | Mastering rules |
| Establishing Oneself | Standing firm | Forming a methodology | Proficiency in application |
| Exercising Discretion | Adapting with fluidity | Creative expression | Transcending rules |
Liu Chijiang's discourse reveals a profound paradox: rules are both the entry step and the obstacle to transcendence. He candidly acknowledges the limits of written texts—"books do not exhaust words, and words do not exhaust meaning"—and invokes the fable of Lun Pian carving wheels to demonstrate that truly refined skill possesses a tacit dimension that cannot be fully conveyed through text. In modern epistemology, this is known as "tacit knowledge"—those things "we know but cannot tell."
In modern decision-making thinking, this framework translates into a "hypothesis—action—reflection" methodology:
Liu Chijiang's rigorous attitude of three manuscript revisions over seven years likewise embodies the proper spirit of modern scholarship and professional work: broad collection, repeated revision, and sustained humility—never replacing objective principles with subjective preference.
"Those who study me become clumsy; those who imitate me perish" articulates the fundamental tension between tradition and innovation. Every knowledge system faces a dual dilemma: without any framework, there is no point of entry; clinging rigidly to a framework leads to stagnation. Liu Chijiang's answer lies implicitly in his proposal of "exercising discretion"—the framework is a ladder, not the destination. This aligns seamlessly with the I Ching's dictum, "To be spirit-like and luminous—this resides in the person": the highest wisdom resides not in texts but in the immediate encounter between the practitioner and the Way. Lun Pian's fable pushes further: what, exactly, qualifies as genuine "knowledge"? If the subtle mastery flowing from the craftsman's hands cannot be transmitted, then where lies the value of books? Liu Chijiang's answer: books can provide the ladder of "attaining the Way" and "establishing oneself," but "exercising discretion" can only be won by the individual through long practice. 🤔
Modern scholars examining traditional divination arts generally proceed from a sociology of knowledge angle: treating methods such as Six Ren and Eight Characters as a form of traditional decision-support system, attending to their organizational logic, case-based reasoning patterns, and the transmission of practical wisdom. Liu Chijiang's three-tier rubric of "Way—Establishment—Discretion," near-equatable to contemporary frameworks of professional skill development (e.g., Dreyfus's model of skill acquisition), testifies to ancient scholars' sharp insight into the internalization of knowledge.