How to Read a Qimen Dunjia Hour Chart: Palaces, Doors, Useful Gods and Verdict
27 October 2026
Qimen Dunjia is a Chinese system for answering questions about timing and action. Like Prashna in Jyotish, it casts a chart for the moment a question is asked rather than for a birth. The chart is a 3 x 3 board of nine palaces, and each palace holds a layer of stems, a star, a door and a deity. This guide explains how an hour chart is built, what each layer means and how to read the verdict, timing and best direction in Astrometry Qimen Dunjia Software.
What Qimen Dunjia is used for
Qimen Dunjia has traditionally been used for strategy: when to act, which direction to move and whether the conditions around a matter favour the person asking. In modern practice it is most often used for single, clearly framed questions - a job offer, a business deal, a journey, an exam, a dispute or a lost item.
If you already use horary astrology, the logic will feel familiar. The person asking is located in the chart, the matter is located in the chart, and the relationship between them describes the likely direction of the outcome. The birth chart vs horary guide explains when a question chart is the right tool.
The method the software uses
There are several schools of Qimen Dunjia. Astrometry's engine states its method openly so readings are reproducible:
| Setting | Choice |
|---|---|
| Chart type | Hour chart |
| Plate | Rotating plate |
| Yuan method | Chai Bu (split and fill) |
| Centre palace | The Tian Qin star is lodged in Kun, palace 2 |
| Day boundary | 23:00 local time starts the next day's Zi hour |
Two charts cast for the same moment by different schools can differ, so if you compare a reading with another source, check these settings first.
How an hour chart is built, step by step
You only enter the date, time and place of the question. The engine then works through a fixed sequence:
- Time conversion. The local clock time is converted to UTC and a Julian Day.
- Solar term. The Sun's apparent longitude gives one of the 24 solar terms, each 15 degrees wide.
- Four pillars. Year, month, day and hour pillars are built from the stems and branches. The year changes at Li Chun, the start of spring.
- Yuan. The most recent Jia or Ji day sets whether the chart uses the upper, middle or lower yuan.
- Ju number and polarity. The solar term and yuan give the ju number. Terms from the Winter Solstice to Grain in Ear are Yang Dun; terms from the Summer Solstice to Major Snow are Yin Dun.
- Earth plate. The stems are laid through palaces 1 to 9, forward in Yang Dun and backward in Yin Dun.
- Heaven plate. The duty star moves to the palace of the hour stem, and the other stars rotate with it.
- Doors. The duty door steps one palace per hour from the start of the hour's decade, and the other doors rotate with it.
- Deities. The eight deities follow the duty star, clockwise in Yang Dun and counter-clockwise in Yin Dun.
- Markers. Void branches, the travelling horse, door pressure and control, stem punishment, stem patterns and whole-chart Fu Yin or Fan Yin are flagged.
Every step is deterministic, so the same question time and place always produce the same board.
Reading the nine-palace board
Each palace on the interactive board carries four main layers:
- Stems - the heaven and earth stems, which identify the people and resources involved.
- Nine stars - the character or quality of the situation in that palace.
- Eight doors - the human action or activity, such as opening, rest, life, injury, fear or view. Doors are usually the most practical layer for questions about what to do.
- Eight deities - the hidden support or interference behind the situation.
The palaces also map to directions, which is why Qimen readings can suggest a direction to face or travel. If you are interested in directional work for buildings rather than questions, see Feng Shui Software and the Vastu, Astro Vastu and Feng Shui comparison.
Choosing the right question topic
The software reads the chart through "useful gods" - specific stars, doors, deities or stems that stand for the matter. Choosing the right topic tells the engine which ones to locate:
| Topic | Useful gods located |
|---|---|
| General matter | The hour stem as the matter itself |
| Career and job | Open door for work and position; the Chief deity for the boss or authority |
| Wealth and business | Life door for profit; the Wu stem for capital |
| Love and marriage | The Yi stem and Geng stem for the two partners; the Harmony deity for union |
| Health and illness | Tian Rui for the illness; Tian Xin for the doctor; the Yi stem for the medicine |
| Exams and study | View door for the paper; the Ding stem for results; Tian Fu for teacher and learning |
| Legal dispute | Fear door for the case; the Xin stem for the fault; the Chief deity for the judge |
| Travel and moving | Open door for setting out; the travelling horse for movement |
| Lost item or theft | The Harmony deity for the item; the Tortoise deity for the thief |
The querent is always the day stem on the heaven plate, and the matter is the hour stem. A health reading is a traditional symbolic reading only and never a substitute for medical advice.
Understanding the verdict
Once the useful gods are found, each one is scored by its palace condition and by the five-element relationship between the querent's palace and the useful god's palace. The querent's own palace strength is added, and a whole-chart Fu Yin or Fan Yin pattern reduces the total. The result falls on a five-step scale:
- Very favourable
- Favourable
- Mixed - the outcome depends on timing and effort
- Unfavourable
- Strongly unfavourable
Read the verdict together with the individual useful-god rows. A "Mixed" verdict with a strong querent palace and one weak useful god tells a very different story from "Mixed" with everything middling.
Timing, action and best direction
The "Timing and action" section turns the board into practical guidance. It highlights markers such as void branches, which often suggest delay until the void is filled, and the travelling horse, which points to movement. The report also identifies the strongest outer palace as the best direction for the question. Use it as a traditional pointer for where to focus effort, not as a rule to override common sense.
Framing a good question
- Ask one question at a time. "Should I accept this offer?" works better than "What about my career, money and move?"
- Use the real moment. Cast the chart for when the question was sincerely asked or received, with the correct place.
- Pick the closest topic. If none fits, use General matter.
- Do not recast repeatedly. Asking the same question every hour until the verdict changes defeats the method.
Qimen Dunjia alongside Indian question systems
Many practitioners like to compare a Qimen reading with a second question system. Astrometry offers several:
- Vedic Prashna Software for a classical Jyotish question chart.
- Nadi/KP Astrology/Horary for KP horary with ruling planets and sub-lords.
- Jamakkol Prasanam, the Tamil question method, explained in the Jamakkol guide.
- Western Lilly Horary for traditional Western horary.
- Ramal Jyotish for geomantic figures.
When two different systems point the same way, you can be more confident in the reading. The Prashna horary introduction covers the shared principles.
Online and Desktop access
You can cast and read a chart online and download the full report as a PDF. Qimen Dunjia is also available as a lifetime Desktop Edition that runs the same engine on your own device and works offline once installed. For a short summary of the software's features, see the Qimen Dunjia software overview. The Desktop installation and activation guide covers setup, and the pricing page lists current options.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a birth time for Qimen Dunjia?
No. An hour chart is cast for the moment of the question, so you only need the time and place the question was asked.
Why does my chart differ from another website?
Schools differ on the plate type, the yuan method, where Tian Qin is lodged and when the day begins. Astrometry uses a rotating plate, the Chai Bu method, Tian Qin lodged in Kun 2 and a 23:00 day boundary.
What does Yang Dun or Yin Dun mean?
It is the direction the stems and doors move through the palaces. Yang Dun runs from the Winter Solstice towards summer; Yin Dun runs from the Summer Solstice towards winter.
Can Qimen Dunjia predict exact dates?
It gives timing indications, such as delay while a branch is void, rather than calendar dates. For dated timelines, use dasha and transit tools in Jyotish.
Have a question in mind? Open Qimen Dunjia Software, choose the closest topic, and read the board palace by palace before you look at the verdict.