About
The Asking Hour is an English-language platform for traditional Chinese astrology, dedicated to providing knowledge of the subject and tools for its practice, as well as chart judgments by AI and by human practitioners. It currently covers Da Liu Ren.
The platform
The platform publishes articles on Da Liu Ren, arranged by subject from the foundations to judgment. They are in preparation. The glossary is published one group of terms at a time.
The home page shows the chart of the current hour, cast in true solar time for the visitor's location. A chart-casting tool is in development and will be free of charge.
AI judgment provides a written judgment of a chart cast for a specific question. The service is not yet available; prices are listed on the Pricing page. Judgments by human practitioners will also be offered through the platform.
Da Liu Ren
Da Liu Ren is the Chinese counterpart of horary astrology. Together with Tai Yi Shen Shu and Qi Men Dun Jia, it forms the Three Styles. To judge a question, the Heaven Plate is turned on the Earth Plate according to the Monthly General and the hour at which the question is asked. The Four Lessons and the Three Transmissions are derived from this arrangement, and the question is judged from them together with the Twelve Heavenly Generals, the Six Relations, and the Spirits.
The name is usually explained as follows. Ren is the Heavenly Stem of Yang Water, and six of the sixty pairs in the sexagenary cycle begin with Ren: Ren Monkey, Ren Horse, Ren Dragon, Ren Tiger, Ren Rat, and Ren Dog. Hence the name Liu Ren, "the six Ren". The word Da, "great", distinguishes it from Xiao Liu Ren, a simplified method of later times.
Liu Ren derives from the ancient practice of divination with a cosmic board. The board consists of a round Heaven Plate set on a square Earth Plate, and the Heaven Plate can be turned. In 1977 a Liu Ren cosmic board was excavated from the Western Han tomb of the Marquis of Ruyin at Shuanggudui, Fuyang, in Anhui Province. The occupant of the tomb died in 165 BC, which shows that divination with the board was already practised in the early Western Han. In the Jingyou reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song (1034–1038), Yang Weide and others compiled the Jingyou Liu Ren Shending Jing, which carries a preface by the emperor. Works devoted to Liu Ren have been transmitted from every dynasty since.
Editorial principles
Terms are given standard English names, which are used consistently across the site and accompanied by the Chinese. Statements cite the texts on which they rest. Before the chart tool opens, the method used to cast charts will be published, with the practice adopted at each point on which the schools differ.
Contact
Questions about the content of the site and reports of errors may be sent to hello@askinghour.com.