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Chapter 2 of 11
御定奇门宝鉴
From the Imperial Authoritative Edition of the Qimen Dunjia Treasure Mirror: General Treatise on Dun Jia
Dun Jia (The Hidden Stem) was created for the purpose of military strategy. 🌑 The art of warfare belongs to the yin category, emphasizing deceptive tactics, hence the adoption of the character "dun" (to conceal) for its name. What is meant by "dun" is that Jia (the Supreme Stem) conceals itself beneath the Six Yi (six ceremonial stems), never revealing its manifest traces.
Jia is the sovereign and most honored spirit, fitting to remain hidden rather than exposed, fitting to remain harmonious rather than perverse, fitting to receive support rather than suffer constraint. What Jia delights in is Earth, and what Jia abhors is Metal. It is precisely because of this fondness for Earth that the palace positions established in a Qimen chart conventionally place Wu (戊) in immediate succession—when Jia moves in reverse, Wu moves in reverse; when Jia moves forward, Wu moves forward—like form and shadow, mutually attached and never separated. 🔥 It is precisely because of this abhorrence of Metal that Yi (乙) is employed in union with Jia, providing response from within; and that the imposing power of Bing and Ding's fire is employed to counterbalance from without. Yi is Jia's kindred spirit; Bing and Ding are Jia's offspring. This is akin to hands and feet guarding the chest and heart, ministers guarding the sovereign father. Once the tripod-foot stance is formed, Jia achieves the stability of entangled mulberry roots—firmly interwoven and deeply anchored.
When the ancient kings established the myriad states and maintained kinship among the feudal lords, their governing principles also drew from this model. Therefore:
Each solar term governs three yuan, and the twenty-four solar terms thereby become complete and flawless. Using the sixty hour-stems as the warp and the four seasons and eight nodal periods as the weft. ⛰️ Two-nine-four, seven-five-three, six-one-eight—the nine-palace numerical configuration interpenetrates, and thus the 4,320 situations (ju) are established upon this foundation. 🌊 On the grand scale, one may extrapolate the incipient movements of wind, cloud, dragon, and tiger; on the minute scale, one may determine the appropriate choice between movement and stillness, advance and retreat. It encompasses Heaven and Earth without exceeding their bounds, and adapts to the myriad things without omission, yet the common people employ it daily without comprehending its underlying principles.
Although it is not without elements that are deceptive and absurd, deviating from the teachings of the sages, what is here retained is but the portions concerning generation and control, restraint and subjugation that approximate the principles of reason, recorded in this text to serve the needs of the people and to supplement what the Dao of the Changes (I Ching) has not fully addressed. Wherever one seeks to teach sons to think of filial piety and ministers to think of loyalty, so that they do not end up "facing slander without recognition and behind them traitors without perception," this may well serve as an aid to self-cultivation, family governance, state administration, and the pacification of the world. As for such matters as talisman-writing and incantation-chanting, these appear to be unsanctioned and are uniformly excluded from this compilation.
This text reveals the philosophical foundations and structural principles of Qimen Dunjia:
Viewed from a contemporary standpoint, the General Treatise of Dun Jia reveals not mysticism but a framework for strategic decision-making:
In modern life, the wisdom of the Dun Jia General Treatise translates into these applications:
| Ancient Principle | Modern Application Context |
|---|---|
| Jia concealed in Six Yi | Core strategy hidden within routine operations, not readily revealed |
| Yi uniting to restrain Geng | Establishing strategic alliances to mitigate external threats |
| Bing/Ding Fire overcoming Metal | Maintaining deterrent and response capabilities to prevent adversary action |
| Tripod-foot configuration | Building multi-layered defense systems, avoiding single-point dependency |
| Yin-yang forward and reverse movements | Aligning with trends while positioning counter-cyclically, managing momentum |
| Hour accumulation and intercalation | Adjusting plans according to temporal cycles while budgeting operational slack within schedules |
Decision-Making Methodology: A "hypothesis–action–review" cycle: formulate a situational hypothesis (what constrains "Jia"), design countermeasures (via Yi-alliance and Bing/Ding-control), execute, then reassess effectiveness. ⚡
The philosophical implications of "Dun" (concealment) are profound. The highest mode of existence is not manifestation but concealment—a notion directly inherited from Daoist thought: "The great sound is barely audible; the great image has no form. " Jia Wood, as the "supreme sovereign spirit," exercises its power precisely through not appearing in explicitly discernible form.
Furthermore, "Only after the tripod-foot stance is formed can there be the security of the entwined mulberry roots" reveals a fundamental principle in systems theory: stable structures require at least three counterbalanced points of support. This resonates with the "Three Extremes Doctrine" (Heaven-Earth-Humanity) in the Changes and with the separation-and-balance of powers in modern political philosophy. The potency of being lies not in domination but in the value of being safeguarded—as limbs shield the heart and ministers shield the monarch, core value persists by virtue of being protected.
This further extends to the level of personal cultivation: the spiritual core ("Jia") of an individual must be properly guarded—neither excessively depleted nor needlessly exposed—and preserved through appropriate tempos ("concealment") for the sake of inner
integrity and clarity. 🤔
ful? No: 休 生 伤 杜 警 死
actually Jing appears twice incorrectly; the standard set is 休(休) 生(生) 伤(伤) 杜(杜) 景(景) 死(死) 惊(惊) 开(开)) — mapped against the Eight Trigrams and their directional fields.
Three Plates (San Pan) : Heaven Plate, Earth Plate, Human Plate (in some versions: Heaven, Earth, Spirit Plate).
Hetu-Luoshu Refined Essence: "Carrying Nine atop, treading One beneath" refers to the arrangement of the Luoshu Nine-Palace grid: top row Nine, bottom One; left Three, right Seven; Two and Four at the shoulders; Six and Eight at the feet; with Five at the center.
Tangled Mulberry (baosang zhi g）：出自《易经·否卦》九五爻辞 “其亡其亡，系于苞桑”, metaphoric for deep-rooted stability-之固。
Further Reading:
Modern Academic Research:
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