Qimen Chart Structure: Nine Palaces and Four Layers

Direct answer and scope

A Qimen chart uses a Lo Shu nine-palace grid as its coordinate system and overlays separate calendrical and symbolic layers. Palace number, direction, trigram, element, branches, earth stems, heaven stems, stars, gates, and deities answer different questions.

• Names and related terms: Qimen board
• Names and related terms: nine-palace chart

How the rule is formed or checked

The center and eight outer palaces provide the fixed frame. The declared casting method places the earth plate, then moves the star and heaven-stem ring, gates, and deities according to the Chief, duty gate, Yin or Yang Dun, and method-specific center rules.

Keep the cast moment, UTC offset, method version, palace, and interacting symbols visible before adopting an interpretation.

How to use this in a reading

Read one palace as a bundle, but preserve the identity of every layer. A gate can be Fu Yin while the star layer is normal, and a deity image cannot replace the gate-palace relation or the asker–matter relation.

• Name the visible chart fact before assigning symbolic meaning.
• Compare the asker and matter anchors with every layer in their palaces.
• Record at least one supporting condition and one counter-signal.
• End with a reversible action and an observable review point.

Worked contrast

A palace containing Open Gate, Tian Rui, and Black Tortoise is not simply “open” or “bad.” It combines an access route, a maintenance or unresolved-problem signal, and an information-verification condition that must be read against the question.

Common mistake and limit

Do not flatten all layers into one adjective or compare screenshots that omit method and time data. A usable chart keeps the coordinate, placement, state, and provenance for each layer.