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Qi Men Dun Jia Calculator · 3D chart

Generate a Qimen Dunjia hour chart. Explore each palace’s symbols and meanings, with optional AI readings.

Create your free chart Free chart and palace meanings. No sign-in or download.
Qi Men Dun Jia 3D chart: nine stars, eight doors, eight deities and heaven/earth stems across the nine palaces Learn more ↓

How to generate a Qi Men Dun Jia chart
  1. Open the free chart calculator. It starts with the current time; tap the time and place control to change it.
  2. Enter a longitude for true solar time correction, or leave it blank to use clock time. You can enter it manually without sharing your location.
  3. Tap a palace to see its symbols, meanings and patterns. New to the chart? Follow the beginner’s guide to the nine palaces.

Chart casting and palace meanings need no account. AI readings are optional, require sign-in, and use reading credits; the free allowance and prices are shown in the app.

Qimen Dunjia is the most structurally intricate of the Chinese divinatory arts: the moment is converted to stems and branches, the yin/yang cycle and the chart number are fixed, and then the nine stars, eight gates, eight deities, and the heaven/earth stems are laid into the nine palaces by rule. The whole derivation is deterministic — same moment, same longitude, same chart, for anyone.

This site uses the Hour-based · Rotating Plate · Chai-bu school, rolls the day at 23:00, and corrects clock time to true solar time by longitude (the clock face only — solar-term boundaries are untouched). Flying Plate, Yin Plate, and intercalation rules from other schools are deliberately kept out: mixing schools is the single most common error here, and once mixed, charts can no longer be compared against each other.

We check the casting cell by cell
14,308 cellscompared cell by cell against 358 charts printed in published casebooks — 100% agreement
1,080 layoutsevery possible layout checked, plus a sample of 2,600 charts — 0 discrepancies

Cells are compared on the book's own Ju. Given only the time, our calculation reaches the same Ju as the book for 296 of the 358 charts; by our research the other 62 were set with the Zhi Run method. Method, limits and a breakdown are in the chart accuracy report.

Casting is either right or wrong; there is no “close enough.” So every update is checked against these published charts, cell by cell, before it is released; if a single cell is off, it is not published.

The reading is a perspective, not a prediction

Once the chart is cast, there is still one judgment to make: which palace speaks to your question. Get that wrong and the rest of the reading is about something else.

We publish how often we get this right. Across 330 casebook examples, the main significator we pick is the same symbol the author first used for the matter asked about in 37.0% of cases, and it is one of the symbols the author read for that matter in 61.2%. So most of the time we are looking at something the author also looked at, but we match the author's first choice less than half the time. We are working to raise both.

How these are measured: for each example, two annotators read the author's text independently and marked which symbol the author used for the matter asked about; where they disagreed, each case was settled one by one, and the 9 cases that could not be settled are left out. An older reference figure: our pick matches the first palace the author mentions in 35.7% of 277 examples. The two are measured differently: authors often locate the person asking first and only then the matter, and the older measure counted “found you” as a match, while the newer one only counts the symbol the author used for the matter itself. We use these numbers to track our own progress.

The reading text is generated by an AI from the cast chart. It is for reflection only and is not medical, financial, legal, or psychological advice, nor a substitute for a doctor, a lawyer, or a financial adviser. For important decisions, think it through and talk to a qualified professional. Any divination or reading reflects only where you are at the moment you ask, and that can always change. A result can't make your decisions for you, and it never replaces your own power to change your reality.

An example reading

Here is one reading exactly as the model wrote it, unedited. The chart was cast for the moment it was asked, and the question is a demo question we wrote ourselves. It is here to show what a reading looks like, not to advise you; a different chart or question will get a different answer.

Cast 2026-10-13 13:00 (UTC+8) · Gēng-Shēn day, Guǐ-Wèi hour · Yin Dun, chart 3

Q: Should I take the job offer I received this week?

You should take the offer, though you ought to go into the role with clear eyes about a slow start and some awkward internal dynamics.

The domain governing new employment sits in the northwest, and right now that section is naturally strong, clear, and open. That means the position itself is genuine, well-funded, and carries real weight. However, the indicator for your own current state rests in the northeast, where your stamina is somewhat drained at the moment. You will be putting a lot of personal effort into lifting this job off the ground initially, rather than the job immediately carrying you.

The main obstacle you will face isn't the work itself, but the surrounding team environment. The area representing future peers and colleagues in the southeast shows a rigid, slightly hostile atmosphere that actively creates friction for you. Meanwhile, the space representing management in the west is currently suspended and hollow, suggesting your immediate supervisor might be indecisive, frequently absent, or pulled in other directions during your first few weeks.

Plan to step into the role calmly without rushing to prove everything on day one. Expect things to feel somewhat stalled or repetitive until mid-to-late autumn, or until days tied to early autumn bring a natural shift in authority and momentum. Focus purely on the core duties of the job in the northwest rather than getting drawn into team politics in the southeast.

If this position involves a physical contract or binding agreement, have a qualified legal professional review the exact terms regarding termination and daily responsibilities before you sign.

After a reading, one follow-up question on the same chart is free.

How to ask a useful question
  • Ask about one concrete thing. “How am I doing lately” cannot be read; “should I take this job next month” can.
  • One matter, one casting. Asking the same thing again and again won't make the chart more accurate; it will only leave you more unsettled. This rule is as old as the practice itself.
  • No question, no casting. If nothing is actually being decided, the chart has nowhere to land.

First time looking at one of these? Start with How to read a chart: the nine palaces, the five symbols in each cell, and which cell is “you”. The app has a one-minute version too.

What is free and what is not

Casting, the 3D nine palaces, palace-by-palace meanings, pattern analysis, and multi-palace combinations — free forever, no account needed.

Only the AI reading is metered. Signing in gives you 2 free readings (limited per day; the app says so when they run out); after that:

$0.993 readings
$2.9910 readings

Readings are saved to your account, never expire, and carry over when you switch devices or browsers. Payments are handled by Stripe; we never see your card number. You are never charged for crisis responses, safety messages, or attempts where the AI fails to respond.

Frequently asked questions

How is a Qimen Dunjia chart cast?
The moment of asking is converted into stems and branches; the solar term and its three periods fix the yin/yang cycle and the chart number; then the nine stars, eight gates, eight deities, and the heaven/earth stems are laid into the nine palaces by rule. The whole derivation is deterministic — same moment, same longitude, same chart for everyone. This calculator does the entire conversion from your time and longitude.

Which Qimen school does this site use?
Hour-based, Rotating Plate, Chai-bu method, with the day rolling at 23:00. Rules from other schools — Flying Plate, Yin Plate, day/month/year charts, the Zhi-run intercalation — are never mixed in: once schools are mixed, charts can no longer be compared against each other.

What is the difference between Chai-bu and Zhi-run?
Both answer the same question: how to assign the chart number when the leader day and the solar term fall out of step. Chai-bu splits and patches at the nearest leader day; Zhi-run inserts a leap chart number around certain solar terms. This site uses Chai-bu only, with no toggle.

Do I need true solar time?
Yes. Clock time in a unified time zone can differ from the actual solar time at your longitude by more than an hour — enough to cross an hour boundary and change the whole chart. This site corrects the clock face by longitude; solar terms are still judged by the real astronomical moment, unaffected by that shift.

Can I cast repeatedly for the same question?
Not recommended. One matter, one casting is this discipline's own rule: asking the same thing again does not make the chart more accurate, only the decision harder.

Is the chart casting verified?
Yes. The casting is compared cell by cell, on each book's own Ju, against 358 charts printed in classical masters' books — 14,308 cells, 100% match (charts that failed the cell-by-cell check on entry were left out) — plus an exhaustive check of all 1,080 possible layouts and a separate 2,600-chart sample check, with zero mismatches. Every update is re-checked against them before release; if a single cell disagrees, it is not published.

Is this a Qimen Dunjia chart generator I can use online for free?
Yes. Casting the chart, the 3D nine palaces, palace-by-palace meanings and pattern analysis are free and need no account; only the AI reading is paid per use. It runs in the browser on a phone or a desktop — there is no software to install.

New to Qimen Dunjia — where should a beginner start?
Start with the one-minute guide: the nine palaces and their directions, the five symbols in a cell, and which cell is you. Once those three make sense, come back and cast; every cell on the chart will make sense.

Is it free?
Casting, the 3D nine palaces, palace-by-palace meanings, pattern analysis, and multi-palace combinations are free forever, no account needed. Only the AI reading is metered, because each one is a real call to a language model; signing in gives you 2 free readings (limited per day; the app says so when they run out). You are never charged for crisis responses, safety messages, or attempts where the AI fails to respond.

About your data

Location is used only to compute true solar time and to show your city name. Casting happens entirely on your device and works offline. Only when you tap Get reading do your question and a summary of the chart go to the reading service, to write that one reply — not stored, not tied to your identity (unless you turn on “Save my reading history to my account” in Settings). A safety check runs first, even when no reading is produced. Signing in uses your email solely to remember your reading balance: no ads, never shared. See the Privacy Policy.

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