Qi Men Dun Jia Beginner — The Three Mysteries, Six Yi, and Nine Palaces

💡 Reading time: ~9 minutes ｜ Series: Qi Men Dun Jia Series (Article 16/20)

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Qi Men Dun Jia is hailed as the “scholarship of emperors” — an advanced metaphysical system historically used in military strategy. It combines astronomy, calendar systems, the Bagua, and the five elements into a kind of “time-space selection system” — choose the right time, the right direction, and do the right thing.

The core structure of Qi Men Dun Jia:

“Mysteries” (Qi): the Three Mysteries — Yi (Sun Mystery), Bing (Moon Mystery), Ding (Star Mystery) — representing noble helpers and support

“Doors” (Men): the Eight Doors — Open, Rest, Life, Injury, Close, View, Death, Fear — representing human situations

“Concealment” (Dun): hidden — the Six Jia are hidden beneath the Six Yi

“Jia” (Jia): the commander — Jia Zi, Jia Xu, Jia Shen, Jia Wu, Jia Chen, Jia Yin

Six Yi: Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui

The Qi Men chart has three layers:

• Heaven’s plate: the Nine Stars (Tian Peng, Tian Ren, Tian Chong, Tian Fu, Tian Ying, Tian Rui, Tian Zhu, Tian Xin, Tian Qin)

• Human’s plate: the Eight Doors (Open, Rest, Life, Injury, Close, View, Death, Fear)

• Earth’s plate: the Nine Palaces, Eight Spirits, Three Mysteries, Six Yi

Learning Qi Men Dun Jia is learning how, at the right time, to choose the right direction and do the right thing. That’s what “趋吉避凶 (move toward auspiciousness, avoid danger)” really means.