How to Read a Qimen Chart Step by Step
Read a Qimen chart in dependency order: verify the cast, name the question, choose anchors, compare their palaces, inspect each palace bundle, apply only…
Overview
Read a Qimen chart in dependency order: verify the cast, name the question, choose anchors, compare their palaces, inspect each palace bundle, apply only triggered conditions, and translate the result into a reversible action. The minimum audit record includes local time, UTC offset, day boundary, solar term instant, Dun, Yuan, bureau, plate method, center rule, four pillars, and Xun heads. If any upstream field changes, recompute downstream placements.
At a glance
- Page role
- Conditional reading rule
- Terms covered
- Qimen reading sequence · Qimen chart checklist
- Verification focus
- The minimum audit record includes local time, UTC offset, day boundary, solar term instant, Dun, Yuan, bureau, plate method, center rule, four pillars, and Xun heads. If any upstream field changes, recompute downstream placements.
- Stop rule
- Do not skip provenance, cherry-pick a favorable palace, or add conditions that the calculated chart did not trigger. A reading that cannot show its inputs and rule path is not auditable.
Direct answer and scope
Read a Qimen chart in dependency order: verify the cast, name the question, choose anchors, compare their palaces, inspect each palace bundle, apply only triggered conditions, and translate the result into a reversible action.
- Names and related terms: Qimen reading sequence
- Names and related terms: Qimen chart checklist
How the rule is formed or checked
The minimum audit record includes local time, UTC offset, day boundary, solar term instant, Dun, Yuan, bureau, plate method, center rule, four pillars, and Xun heads. If any upstream field changes, recompute downstream placements.
Keep the cast moment, UTC offset, method version, palace, and interacting symbols visible before adopting an interpretation.
How to use this in a reading
For each selected palace, state the anchor, palace element, heaven and earth stems, star, gate, deity, vigor, relation, and active conditions. Then write supporting evidence, counterevidence, confidence, and the next check.
- 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
If one symbol suggests speed but the matter palace is void and the real deadline is flexible, the reading should prefer a small test over a dramatic launch. Sequence prevents one vivid symbol from overruling the board.
Common mistake and limit
Do not skip provenance, cherry-pick a favorable palace, or add conditions that the calculated chart did not trigger. A reading that cannot show its inputs and rule path is not auditable.
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.