Eight Gates in Qimen: Meanings, Elements, and Reading Order
The Eight Gates are Rest, Life, Harm, Block, View, Stillness, Shock, and Open. They form the human-action layer, describing the kind of route or activity…
Overview
The Eight Gates are Rest, Life, Harm, Block, View, Stillness, Shock, and Open. They form the human-action layer, describing the kind of route or activity available rather than a complete good-or-bad verdict. Their home sequence follows Kan 1 Rest, Gen 8 Life, Zhen 3 Harm, Xun 4 Block, Li 9 View, Kun 2 Stillness, Dui 7 Shock, and Qian 6 Open. A rotating chart moves the ring; gates never enter Center 5 under the declared method.
At a glance
- Page role
- Foundation concept
- Terms covered
- Eight Doors · Qimen gates
- Verification focus
- Their home sequence follows Kan 1 Rest, Gen 8 Life, Zhen 3 Harm, Xun 4 Block, Li 9 View, Kun 2 Stillness, Dui 7 Shock, and Qian 6 Open. A rotating chart moves the ring; gates never enter Center 5 under the declared method.
- Stop rule
- Avoid fixed rankings such as “three good gates and five bad gates.” Name the task, the palace conditions, the counterevidence, and the real-world check before recommending action.
Explore concepts
- Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
Rest Gate (休門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Rest Gate describes pause, recovery, accommodation, and a lower-friction way of proceeding rather than simple inactivity.
Read definition - Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
Life Gate (生門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Life Gate is the Qimen gate most often associated with growth, resources, income sources, and processes that can be sustained.
Read definition - Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
Harm Gate (傷門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Harm Gate describes pressure, cutting action, competition, pursuit, and the possibility of damage or friction. It can be relevant when the task itself…
Read definition - Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
Block Gate (杜門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Block Gate describes closure, privacy, concealment, technical depth, and a route that is not publicly open. Read it for confidentiality, research,…
Read definition - Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
View Gate (景門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Scene Gate describes visibility, presentation, documents, reputation, and what is made legible to an audience. Use it for exams, publicity, proposals,…
Read definition - Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
Stillness Gate (死門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Stillness or Death Gate describes closure, completion, immobility, and processes whose active phase has ended. It can be relevant to ending, archiving,…
Read definition - Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
Shock Gate (驚門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Shock Gate describes alarms, disputes, sudden messages, verbal pressure, and attention captured by uncertainty. It is relevant to litigation, debate,…
Read definition - Qimen Dunjia Wiki · chart methods and references
Open Gate (開門) in Qimen Dunjia
The Open Gate describes access, public procedure, career openings, launches, and a route through which action can become visible.
Read definition
Direct answer and scope
The Eight Gates are Rest, Life, Harm, Block, View, Stillness, Shock, and Open. They form the human-action layer, describing the kind of route or activity available rather than a complete good-or-bad verdict.
- Names and related terms: Eight Doors
- Names and related terms: Qimen gates
How the rule is formed or checked
Their home sequence follows Kan 1 Rest, Gen 8 Life, Zhen 3 Harm, Xun 4 Block, Li 9 View, Kun 2 Stillness, Dui 7 Shock, and Qian 6 Open. A rotating chart moves the ring; gates never enter Center 5 under the declared method.
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 the selected gate’s own role, seasonal vigor, landing palace, five-element relation, strain, void, and connection to the asker and matter. A gate useful for one task can be unsuitable for another.
- 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
Open Gate may be useful for a public application but poor for a confidential investigation. Block Gate may obstruct outreach but protect a private research task. Context changes the operational value without changing the gate.
Common mistake and limit
Avoid fixed rankings such as “three good gates and five bad gates.” Name the task, the palace conditions, the counterevidence, and the real-world check before recommending action.
Sources and editorial basis
- 《煙波釣叟歌》Wikisource lines 112–220: nine palaces, 陰陽遁, 三元, 值符/值使, 三奇六儀, 伏吟/反吟, gates, stars, vigor, 擊刑, 入墓, and selected patterns.A public-domain classical verse used only for the rule passages it actually states, including nine palaces, Yin and Yang Dun, Three Wonders and Six Instruments, Chief Star and Gate, gate and star sequences, vigor, and selected conditions. Legendary origin verses are not presented as verified history.
- 猪野毅「奇門遁甲の基礎的研究」Abstract and pp. 161–185: history and vocabulary; nine palaces; Three Wonders and Six Instruments; Eight Gates, Nine Stars, and deities; 排宮 and 飛宮 method distinction.A 2010 Hokkaido University research article used for historical vocabulary, the basic board structure, and the documented distinction between rotating-palace and flying-palace approaches. It does not test predictive accuracy.
- OpenFate Qimen hour-chart methodOpenFate docs/QIMEN_SYSTEM.md, “Professional calculation contract,” “Interpretation and evidence contract,” and “Rule-source map,” source-reviewed 2026-09-12.Product-specific reference for OpenFate’s fixed-offset civil-time, hour-Qimen, rotating-plate, Chaibu implementation and its deterministic chart fields. A source review on 2026-09-12 does not prove live deployment, other schools, or predictive validity.