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Chapter 1 of 15
奇门遁甲元灵经
The doctrine of Qimen Dunjia, according to some scholars, originated with the Yellow Emperor and was later revised and organized by Lü Wang (Jiang Taigong) and Zhang Liang. Before the Han Dynasty, related content was often scattered among other classics; it was not until the "Book of Sui: Bibliography" that thirteen volumes of dedicated works were first recorded, and by the Tang Dynasty the number had multiplied. The "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Zhang Heng" records that Zheng Xuan once annotated the theory of the Nine Palaces, while the "Book of Southern Qi: Annals of Emperor Gao" explicitly states: "The Nine Palaces are: 1 Feng, 2 Nei, 3 Chong, 4 Fu, 5 Qin, 6 Xin, 7 Zhu, 8 Ren, 9 Ying, each with divinations regarding excess and deficiency." The "Tang Huiyao" records that in the third year of the Kaiyuan reign of Emperor Xuanzong (actually the third year of Tianbao), in the tenth month, the diviner Su Jiaqing submitted a memorial requesting the establishment of a Nine Palace Altar in the capital: the number five residing at the center, with nine above the head, one beneath the feet, seven on the right, three on the left, two and four above, six and eight below—conforming to the method of Dunjia. In the second year of the Huichang reign of Emperor Wuzong, in the first month, the Left Chancellor Wang Qi and others submitted a memorial stating that according to the Yellow Emperor's "Classic of the Nine Palaces" and Xiao Ji's "Great Meaning of the Five Phases": "The first palace is Tianpeng, trigram Kan, element Water, directional color white"—showing no difference from the Nine Stars as spoken of in contemporary Qimen.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Yang Weide, the Crown Prince's Horse Washer, compiled the "Qimen Fu Ying Jing" (Classic of Qimen Correspondences), which is rarely seen today. In the Ming Dynasty, Lord Xiaocheng authored the book "Qimen Zhenchuan" (True Transmission of Qimen), which is what contemporary people call the "Li Family Qimen." Under the command of Qiu Luan, there was a certain Scholar Lin who achieved repeated remarkable results using Qimen military divination. Lu Bing, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, wrote a preface to his book, calling it the "Lin Family Qimen." As for Tao Zhenren's "Dunjia Shenshu" (Divine Book of Dunjia), it is a compilation that mixed the works of the Li and Lin families with other theories, resulting in errors and confusion. In recent times, no fewer than a dozen types of Qimen texts have circulated. However, opinions differ widely, with each school erecting its own flag, each cherishing its own broom as treasure, making it impossible for people to distinguish good from bad: some are bizarre and grotesque without adhering to proper principles, some are absurd and difficult to trust, some employ excessively cryptic language, and some lack flexibility in methodology. Works that come close to reason and do not contradict the teachings of the sages are extremely rare. The purpose of this printing is to return to correct principles, selecting content that can illuminate the principles of movement and stillness, auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, generation and overcoming, and suppression—all sufficient to guide practical use and supplement what the Book of Changes does not fully cover. Wherever a single word or meaning has two or three interpretations, all have been preserved. As for techniques such as writing talismans and reciting incantations, these do not seem to follow the correct Way and have been omitted entirely.
Written in the tenth month of the winter of the Guiwei year, ninth year of the Guangxu reign (1883), by the Hermit of the Hidden Creek
The core of this preface lies in establishing two criteria for the compilation of the Qimen Dunjia Yuanling Jing (Original Spirit Classic of Qimen Dunjia): academic orthodoxy and practical rationality:
| Dimension | What the Preface Argues |
|---|---|
| Historical Lineage | Qimen Dunjia is not a rootless art; it can be traced back to the Yellow Emperor, Lü Wang, and Zhang Liang, developing through Han and Tang into a comprehensive system by Song and Ming |
| Textual Examination | From the bibliographic records in the Book of Sui to the Li Family Qimen and Lin Family Qimen, the tradition of transmission is verifiable through historical documents |
| Critical Spirit | Criticism of Tao Zhenren's Dunjia Shenshu as "erroneous and confused," and wariness toward the "grotesque and absurd" nature of the dozen-plus circulating texts |
| Distinguishing the True from the False | Explicitly excluding non-orthodox content such as "writing talismans and reciting incantations," preserving only the rational deductions of movement/stillness, auspiciousness/inauspiciousness, generation/overcoming, and suppression |
| Eclectic Inclusiveness | "Wherever a single word or meaning has two or three interpretations, all have been preserved"—not exalting any single school as the sole authority |
The preface effectively constructs a three-layer argumentative framework of textual examination → school differentiation → selection criteria: confirming Qimen's orthodoxy through historical documents, distinguishing the quality of different schools through practical efficacy, and using correct principles and utility as the guiding standards for compilation.
The core problem faced by the Hermit of the Hidden Creek in 1883 bears striking resemblance to today's knowledge dissemination environment: distinguishing truth from falsehood amidst information overload.
The Nature of School Conflicts: The preface's description of "diverse opinions, each erecting his own flag" mirrors the current state of schools competing in contemporary metaphysics, feng shui, and divination studies. Different transmission lineages lack unified verification standards, leaving beginners at a loss.
The Dual Standard of "Verification" and "Reason": The preface acknowledges the practical value of Scholar Lin's "repeated remarkable results" while emphasizing the academic threshold of "approaching reason without contradicting the sages." This suggests that an effective divination system requires both a logically coherent theoretical framework and repeatable, verifiable practical results.
Conscious Rejection of Mystification: The preface explicitly states that "writing talismans and reciting incantations do not follow the correct Way, and have been omitted entirely," demonstrating a proactive stripping away of irrational elements from divination studies as early as the late Qing Dynasty. This attitude aligns seamlessly with contemporary rational, de-mystified approaches.
Textual Critical Awareness: The preface's criticism of Tao Zhenren's Dunjia Shenshu—"mixed with other theories resulting in errors and confusion"—reveals an important phenomenon: divination texts are often contaminated during transmission by later editors who inject personal opinions or content from other schools, distorting the original form. Maintaining vigilance against this is an essential quality for modern practitioners.
This preface provides clear methodological guidance for modern Qimen Dunjia learners:
Trace Origins, Don't Be Enchanted by Late Developments Students of Qimen should trace back to early texts (such as the Classic of the Nine Palaces and the Great Meaning of the Five Phases) to understand the original forms of its fundamental principles, rather than relying solely on secondhand or thirdhand modern compilations. The preface's comparison of "Tianpeng, trigram Kan, conduct water, color white" with "the Nine Stars as spoken of in contemporary Qimen" is itself a demonstration of textual collation.
Establish Verification Awareness The preface's acknowledgment of Scholar Lin's "remarkable results in military divination" suggests that learners should use real case studies as the standard for testing. A recommended approach is the "hypothesis—action—review" method: record the basis for judgment when casting a chart, verify against actual outcomes afterward, and accumulate a personal database of verified cases.
Abandon Ritual Dependency The preface's rejection of talismans and incantations indicates: the core value of Qimen Dunjia lies in its spatiotemporal reasoning model, not in ritualistic operations. Modern practitioners should focus more on analyzable elements such as chart structures, generation/overcoming relationships, and waxing/waning dynamics—not mystified procedures.
Embrace Multiple Lineages The practice of "preserving statements where two or three interpretations exist" reminds learners that when faced with disagreements, rather than forcibly unifying them or arbitrarily rejecting them, one should understand the applicable conditions and historical backgrounds of each interpretation, discerning through practice the boundaries of their validity.
The preface embodies a profound philosophical stance regarding the relationship between "technique" (shu) and the "Way" (dao):
Divination as Supplementing the Book of Changes: The preface describes Qimen as supplementing "what the Book of Changes does not fully cover," situating Qimen Dunjia within the extended framework of I Ching philosophy. This means Qimen is not an independent mystical system, but rather the operational unfolding of the Yijing's cosmological vision in concrete spatiotemporal terms. The "Yijing's Way" provides the philosophical principles of change, yin-yang, and thesis-antithesis; Qimen provides the operational techniques for embodying these principles in practice.
"Correct Principles" as the Ultimate Yardstick: The preface's stated purpose of "returning to correct principles" implies a judgment: the legitimacy of divination techniques rests on whether they conform to universal principle, not whether they are "efficacious" or "ancient." This echoes the I Ching's (Xici Zhuan) cognitive sequence of "exhausting principle, fully comprehending nature, thereby reaching destiny"—first clarify principle, then apply.
Critique of Secrecy: The preface's rejection of works that are "overly cryptic" essentially touches upon the ethics of knowledge: true knowledge should be open, discussable, and verifiable, rather than maintaining authority through secret transmission, oral formulas, and lineage monopolization. This position is particularly illuminating in the contemporary context of open knowledge.
Historical Consciousness in Temporal Perspective: The preface's tracing of Qimen history is not a simplistic "the older the better" ancestor worship, but rather treats texts from different periods as objects available for critique, discernment, and selection. This attitude toward tradition—neither blindly rejecting nor uncritically inheriting—embodies mature cultural self-awareness.
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