What is Qi Men Dun Jia?

Qi Men Dun Jia (奇门遁甲) was the divination system of classical Chinese strategy. Generals consulted it before battle. Emperors consulted it before edicts. It answers a different question than Yi Jing: not "what is happening?" but "where and when should I act?"

A Qi Men chart layers four plates onto a nine-palace grid: the Heaven plate (9 Stars), the Human plate (8 Gates), the Spirit plate (8 Spirits), and the Earth plate (fixed). Each palace - North, Northeast, East, and so on - is occupied by one of each plate's elements at the time the chart is cast.

The interactions between plates produce 1,080 possible configurations. Each configuration tells you which directions are open, which are closed, when to move, and what kind of action the moment supports.

The 8 Gates are the most directly read layer: Open Gate, Rest Gate, Birth Gate (the three most auspicious), Scenery Gate (mixed), Wound Gate, Fear Gate, Astonishment Gate, and Death Gate (the inauspicious). Where the Gates land in the chart, in relation to your intended direction of action, is the first question to ask.

Qi Men is the right tool when the question is tactical: launching a product, negotiating a deal, choosing a meeting venue, picking a route, scheduling a major event. If the question is reflective ("what kind of person should I be in this situation?") - Yi Jing is the better tool. If the question is strategic ("what is the move?") - Qi Men.