What Is Qi Men Dun Jia (Qi Men Dun Jia)?
What Is Qi Men Dun Jia (奇门遁甲)?
Unlike Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗数), which charts an entire lifetime, Qi Men Dun Jia answers one specific question at this very moment: whether a business deal is worth pursuing, whether tomorrow's negotiation will go smoothly, or which direction to search for a lost item. At the moment of casting, it generates a Nine-Palace Chart, using four layers of information — Heaven Plate Stems, Earth Plate Stems, the Eight Gates, the Nine Stars, and the Eight Deities — to determine auspiciousness, directions, and timing of manifestation.
What You Need to Cast a Chart
| Input | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Moment of casting (defaults to now, can be specified) | Determines the chart number: Yin Dun or Yang Dun, and which Ju (局) |
| The question being asked | Determines the Yong Shen (用神) — for wealth matters, look at the Life Gate; for career, look at the Open Gate; whatever you ask, that's what you examine |
The Four Layers of the Chart
- Earth Plate: Fixed stems, branches, and directions — the "hidden cards" of the matter
- Heaven Plate: The Nine Stars carry the Heavenly Stems as they rotate with the Zhi Fu (值符) — the energy of celestial timing
- Human Plate: The Eight Gates — the direct indicator of human affairs and their fortune
- Spirit Plate: The Eight Deities — unseen assistance and undercurrents
Order of Interpretation
- Determine the Yong Shen (Day Stem = self, Hour Stem = the matter, or a matter-specific Yong Shen based on the category)
- Examine which palace the Yong Shen falls in: strength or weakness, auspiciousness of the Gate, brightness of the Star, support from the Deity
- Check the Heaven-Earth Plate Stem interaction combinations for interpretive statements + auspicious or inauspicious formations
- Look at the generating/overcoming relationship with the Day Stem's palace (the matter generates me = smooth; the matter overcomes me = obstructed)
- Determine the timing of manifestation: Void (空亡) becoming non-void, entering or clashing out of the Tomb, the Horse Star on duty
This site uses the Hour-Family Rotating-Plate Chai-Bu Method (时家转盘拆补法) to cast charts — this is currently the most widely used casting standard.