Zhouyi six-line divination, Qimen Dunjia, Ziwei Doushu, the Taiyi art, Meihua Yishu, and the greater and lesser Liuren.
Starting from Duke Ping of Jin's dialogue with Shi Kuang, this article traces the origins and bibliographic history of Divine Light divination, explains the “divine light” through The Secret of the Golden Flower, describes how to see it and read its colors, and records nine sample cases.
A study of the Classic of the Divine Light: its history from the Divine Light Divination listed in the Baopuzi through later bibliographies, the prefaces, study, memorial, and treatise on its origins with modern translations, and an explanation of how the divine light works, its nine applications, and the method of practice.
A detailed guide to Xiao Liuren, also called the Horse-Front Lesson: the six positions on the left hand, counting through month, day, and hour with worked examples, the meanings and verses of the Six Spirits, reading by Ti and Yong, and flexible and random ways of drawing numbers.
An introduction to Da Liuren, one of the Three Arts: how it differs from Xiao Liuren, BaZi, feng shui, and Qimen Dunjia, the heaven and earth plates on the palm, the omens of the Twelve Heavenly Generals, and a four-step method for beginners.
An introduction to Ziwei Doushu (Purple Star Astrology): its origins and history, its astronomical roots, the fourteen major stars and twelve palaces, the Four Transformations and the two schools, how to draw a chart and work out annual luck, sample readings, common mistakes, and debates over its origins.
Da Liuren and Xiao Liuren compared by concept, origins, role, and structure: the former traces the whole course of human affairs through the heaven and earth plates, Four Lessons, Three Transmissions, and Twelve Heavenly Generals; the latter counts month, day, and hour on the Six Spirits for quick judgments.
What Da Liuren is, the five foundations a beginner must lay, the six core areas such as the Four Lessons and Three Transmissions, the heaven and earth plates, and the Twelve Heavenly Generals, the five stages of advanced study, and the five qualities a student of Liuren should cultivate.
An overview of Taoist prediction—BaZi and Ziwei Doushu, divination such as Six Lines, Plum Blossom, Qimen, and Liuren, physiognomy and feng shui, omens and oracle lots, inner-vision arts, and character and dream reading—with the “three cases not to divine” and a call for rational use.
A systematic course on Plum Blossom Numerology: its origins and development, the basics of the trigrams, Five Phases, and stems and branches, a dozen ways of casting a hexagram, reading by Ti and Yong and timing, and methods for eighteen kinds of questions from weather and home to marriage, wealth, and illness.
Six classic cases from Plum Blossom Numerology explained in plain language—the plum blossoms, the peony, the neighbor knocking at night, today's movement and stillness, the Xilin Temple plaque, and the worried old man—showing how to cast hexagrams from dates, sounds, characters, and observation, and how to read Ti and Yong.
The original rules of divination from the first volume of Plum Blossom Numerology—correspondence, dividing by eight and by six, the nuclear hexagram, casting by date and time, by objects, sounds, and characters, readings for others and oneself, and animals and still objects—each with a plain-language translation and explanation.
A roadmap for beginners in Qimen Dunjia: five stages of study from numerological basics to reading charts, six core principles such as seasonal strength, the true nature of the Three Wonders, the Void, and a single Useful God, and five common mistakes, from mystifying the art to rote memorization.