- Place your thumb on Da An (1), at the base of the index finger.
- Count the lunar month (M), moving clockwise from joint to joint. The joint you start on counts as 1. This is the Heaven palace: the origin of the matter, or the other side.
- From where you stopped, count the lunar day (D) the same way. This is the Earth palace: the connection or process in between.
- From there, count the double-hour (T). Zi (23:00 to 01:00) is 1 (from 23:00 the next day’s date applies), Chou is 2, and so on up to Hai, which is 12. This is the Human palace: you, and the result.
- You end on the Human palace, and this site reads all three stops together. These three roles follow common Xiao Liu Ren teaching.
Example: month 3, day 5, hour 7. Month 3 ends on Su Xi. Counting 5 from Su Xi ends on Da An. Counting 7 from Da An ends on Da An again.
Shortcut: add M + D + T, subtract 3, and divide by 6. A remainder of 0 means Da An, 1 Liu Lian, 2 Su Xi, 3 Chi Kou, 4 Xiao Ji, 5 Kong Wang.