式Mantic arts dossier · The Three Cosmic Boards and spatiotemporal methods
奇门遁甲
Qímén Dùnjiǎ·Qimen Dunjia
A nine-palace system placing the Three Wonders, Six Instruments, Eight Gates, Nine Stars and spirits according to season, date and yin-yang rotation to analyze timing, direction and action.
- Aliases
- Dunjia, Qimen, Nine-Palace Dunjia
- Formation
- The name Dunjia is Han-attested; received systems formed from Tang-Song through Ming-Qing
- Evidence status
Study notes & citation
奇门遁甲. Institute of Mantic Arts. https://www.manticarts.com/en/arts/qimen-dunjia
On this page
01Core principles
Core principles
Translate formulas into structure: what enters, how the model is arranged, and which relations drive interpretation.
Season and date determine yin or yang rotation and configuration number, after which earth, heaven, human and spirit layers are arranged. Interpretation centers on day, hour or topic signs and compares palace, gates, stars, spirits, seasonal strength and pattern.
Key concepts
- Three Wonders and Six Instruments
- Eight Gates
- Nine Stars
- yin and yang rotations
02Origins and historical development
Origins and historical development
Keep traditional accounts, surviving evidence and later transformations distinct.
Early Dunjia was closely associated with military omen reading, selection and techniques of direction. Dunhuang and Tang-Song materials show plural layouts; Ming-Qing compilations systematized them, while modern schools include rotating, flying, split-term, intercalary and Maoshan approaches.
TEXT / METHOD / EVIDENCE
Nine Palaces, eighteen configurations and layered boards
A catalogue record, a reproducible earth plate and the separate movements of stars and gates require different kinds of reading. This study joins textual evidence to coordinates and procedure, fixing assumptions before adding another layer.
Titles, attribution and surviving witnesses
The Siku-edition abstract of Dunjia Yanyi attributes four juan to Cheng Daosheng of the Ming. Volume one presents an origin narrative followed by annual, monthly, daily and hourly methods. Its accounts assign roles to the Yellow Emperor, Feng Hou and Zhang Liang. Record these attributions as claims made by the text, alongside a separate description of the surviving edition. A narrative about invention and a date for a particular witness require different evidence.
The National Central Library catalogue records Dunjia Qimen Fuying Jing under accession 06583 and call number 306.5 06583: three juan in two bound volumes, described as an old manuscript copy. It attributes authorship to Yang Weide of the Song and a preface to Wang Xun. This review establishes the catalogue fields, without a folio-by-folio image examination. An attributed author's dynasty does not date the physical copy.
Spatial coordinates and numerical order
The experiment uses a south-up Luoshu layout: 4–9–2 above, 3–5–7 across the centre and 8–1–6 below. Kan 1 is north, Li 9 south, Zhen 3 east and Dui 7 west; Xun 4, Kun 2, Gen 8 and Qian 6 occupy the corners, with 5 at the centre. Keeping direction, number and trigram visible makes the coordinate convention explicit.
Numerical forward movement increases from 1 to 9 and wraps to 1; reverse movement decreases and wraps from 1 to 9. Consecutive numbers often occupy non-adjacent cells. An arrow moving clockwise around the perimeter would therefore represent a different operation. Rotating the drawing preserves palace identities only when the whole layout and its direction labels rotate together.
Three Wonders, Six Instruments and six Jia heads
The Three Wonders are Yi, Bing and Ding; the Six Instruments are Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui. The sixty-pair cycle has six ten-position sequences beginning with Jia: Jia-Zi, Jia-Xu, Jia-Shen, Jia-Wu, Jia-Chen and Jia-Yin. They correspond respectively to those six instruments. A chart can encode a Jia head through its instrument, so a reading should retain both the visible stem and the head it represents.
For a single reproducible earth-plate sequence, the experiment places Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui, Ding, Bing and Yi. The six instruments retain their usual order, followed by the wonders in Ding–Bing–Yi order. Yang configuration 1 consequently puts Yi in 9, Bing in 8 and Ding in 7, matching the explicit hourly-method example in Dunjia Yanyi, volume one. Type and placement-step labels keep naming order distinct from placement order.
Eighteen configurations and their inputs
In this earth-plate model, the configuration number sets Wu's starting palace. Yang moves through increasing palace numbers and Yin through decreasing numbers, each with nine starting configurations. Yin 9 begins with Wu in 9, Ji in 8 and Geng in 7, ending with Yi in 1. Two directions and nine starts produce eighteen configurations. A nine-step trace checks that every palace receives exactly one stem.
Choosing a configuration from an actual date introduces solar terms, stem-branch notation, yuan and a declared setup method. The Yanbo Diaosou Rhapsody in volume one discusses three yuan within a term, five-day units and the vocabulary of chaoshén and jiēqì. Boundary handling requires a comparison of specific textual rules. Here the configuration is selected directly; the experiment does not convert civil dates or silently infer a universal calendrical procedure.
Reading earth stems, stars and gates separately
Earth stems form one positional layer. The leading star, leading gate and their movements introduce additional relations. In the hourly-movement instructions for Yang configuration 1, Dunjia Yanyi lists Tianpeng and Rest in palace 1 at Jia-Zi; Tianpeng in 9 and Rest in 2 at Yi-Chou; then Tianpeng in 8 and Rest in 3 at Bing-Yin. A single rotation angle cannot reproduce even these distinct star and gate sequences.
Treatment of the centre deserves its own record. The hourly-method passage places Tianqin in 5 for the Jia-Chen entry of Yang configuration 1 and states that it lodges in Kun 2. Forcing nine star names into eight perimeter cells would erase this condition. Separate home position, lodged position and the rule adopted in the example, allowing multiple objects in a displayed palace without treating them as accidental duplicates.
Rotating boards, flying boards and comparable cases
Ino Takeshi's 2010 study in Kenkyū Ronshū discusses rotating and flying boards and illustrates earth plates. It is an entry point for comparing methods, not a substitute for each tradition's full instructions. Fix date, configuration and earth plate first, then compare stars, gates, spirits and the centre to locate the layer at which two cases diverge.
A reviewable case file retains the title and passage, original date and conversion assumptions, Yin or Yang and configuration number, earth-stem positions, each star and gate layer, centre-lodging rules, exceptional cases and interpretive text. Reproducing a chart establishes agreement with a chosen procedure. Claims about predictive performance require independently collected observations and a separate test design. Keep those outcomes distinct in the research record.
STRUCTURE LAB / 018
Eighteen earth-plate configurations
Select Yin or Yang and a configuration, then trace each stem into the fixed Nine Palaces. Colour marks the current step; compare its numerical order with the complete placement table.
Placement rulePalace 1 · Increasing palace numbers; 9 wraps to 1戊 → 己 → 庚 → 辛 → 壬 → 癸 → 丁 → 丙 → 乙
乙9
Three WondersComplete placement and Jia-head table
| Step | Stem | Palace | Jia head |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 戊 Wu | 1 | 甲子 |
| 2 | 己 Ji | 2 | 甲戌 |
| 3 | 庚 Geng | 3 | 甲申 |
| 4 | 辛 Xin | 4 | 甲午 |
| 5 | 壬 Ren | 5 | 甲辰 |
| 6 | 癸 Gui | 6 | 甲寅 |
| 7 | 丁 Ding | 7 | — |
| 8 | 丙 Bing | 8 | — |
| 9 | 乙 Yi | 9 | — |
Original teaching model, south-up. Earth stems only: no date conversion, full star/gate/spirit chart or prognostication. Both comparison presets are explicitly listed in Dunjia Yanyi, volume one, hourly method.
Jia heads, instruments and three hourly layers
Six Jia heads and their instruments
- 甲子Jia-Zi
- 戊Wu
- 甲戌Jia-Xu
- 己Ji
- 甲申Jia-Shen
- 庚Geng
- 甲午Jia-Wu
- 辛Xin
- 甲辰Jia-Chen
- 壬Ren
- 甲寅Jia-Yin
- 癸Gui
| Hour | Tianpeng palace | Rest gate palace |
|---|---|---|
| Jia-Zi | 1 | 1 |
| Yi-Chou | 9 | 2 |
| Bing-Yin | 8 | 3 |
Only the star and gate positions explicitly listed in that passage are transcribed here. Other layers are not inferred; the earth-plate experiment and this comparison retain their separate inputs and scope.
A four-step research record
Fix text and method
Identify edition, passage, hourly or other method, configuration selection and centre rule.
Reproduce the earth plate
Declare orientation, configuration and placement sequence; check all nine palaces exactly once.
Check each moving layer
Record earth stems, stars and gates separately; retain both home and lodged positions.
Retain variants and locators
Trace differing results to specific rules and preserve unresolved assumptions.
WORKED EXAMPLE
From material to claim
Original exercise: keep Yang configuration 1 and compare the star and gate positions listed for Jia-Zi, Yi-Chou and Bing-Yin in volume one. The earth plate remains fixed, with Yi in 9, Bing in 8 and Ding in 7.
Tianpeng occupies 1, 9, 8 while the Rest gate occupies 1, 2, 3. They coincide initially and then separate. The example demonstrates different moving layers above a fixed earth plate, without calculating a complete heaven or spirit plate or any prognostication.
- Is Yang configuration 1 unchanged throughout?
- Are star and gate positions in separate columns?
- Is the particular passage in volume one identified?
Review questions
Is forward palace order a clockwise perimeter circuit?
Numerical order cycles through 1–9, including the centre. The experiment displays each step; a perimeter rotation follows a different relation.
Where are the Three Wonders in Yin configuration 9?
Ding is in 3, Bing in 2 and Yi in 1. Trace the placements or compare the explicit hourly-method passage in volume one.
Do three juan, two volumes and a Song author establish a copy date?
Three juan describes textual divisions; two volumes describes binding; Song belongs to the catalogue attribution. The physical copy needs its own dating evidence.
Why does the earth-plate experiment omit the full moving layers?
Yin or Yang and configuration determine this earth plate. A complete chart also needs hour, sequence head, centre treatment and method-specific rules, which must be supplied explicitly.
STUDY / Qímén Dùnjiǎ
Auditing Qimen board selection
- Materials and inputs
- Time, solar term, dun mode, board convention and arrangement method
Research question
Where do board selection and interpretation diverge?
Practical exercise
For one fictional time, name the intercalation/selection convention before auditing palaces, gates, stars and stems. Keep complete logs for two procedural variants.
Close readingThe Liuren earth plate: reading an incomplete objectStudy pathCalendars: cycles, terms and boundariesStudy pathCosmic boards: objects and procedures03Evidence limits and research debates
Evidence limits and research debates
Distinguish traditional interpretations, documented material and claims requiring testing.
Lineages involving Feng Hou, 1,080 original configurations, Zhuge Liang or Liu Bowen are later narratives. Competing calendrical rules produce different charts; no universally accepted single algorithm exists.
This dossier supports historical, textual and methodological study. Internal traditional explanations are not modern empirical validation and do not replace medical, legal, financial or other professional advice.
04Core texts and materials
Core texts and materials
- 01Dunjia Fuying Jing
- 02Dunjia Yanyi
- 03Imperially Commissioned Qimen Baojian
- 04Dunhuang Dunjia materials