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Chapter 3 of 11
御定奇门宝鉴
Explanatory Notes to the Imperially Commissioned Treasure Mirror of the Hidden Door (Yuding Qimen Baojian)
The learning of Qimen (Hidden Door) has been lost for a long time. Various schools have established their own independent traditions, each holding to their own views and cherishing their own approaches as if they were treasures, leaving people with no way to distinguish the true from the false. Now, wherever a single character or a single meaning has two or three different interpretations, all are preserved side by side for the reader's reference.
The various schools of Qimen present a bewildering array of explanations, complex and intermingled. Those whose principles are the most upright are listed first as the primary choice; those of a lower order are placed afterward or as sub-annotations. I dare not make arbitrary selections out of personal bias—yet the relative superiority and inferiority, excellence and inadequacy, can nevertheless be perceived clearly therefrom.
When Qimen is applied to military affairs, there are extremely many points of avoidance and prohibition. Aside from the Three Victorious Positions and the Five Directions Not to Strike, there are also the Grand Duke Tai Sui and the Monthly Commander Yue Jian, neither of which may be attacked. Directions where the Flourishing Qi is located should also be avoided. The saying, "Do not campaign eastward in spring; do not march westward in autumn," speaks precisely to this principle. As for things such as the Tingting Baijian, Three Gates and Four Households, and the Heavenly Horse Direction, these must be calculated according to the yearly, monthly, and solar movements, and the text cannot record them in advance.
Qimen places the greatest importance on Patterns of Configuration. For example, Dragon Turning Its Head and Bird Falling into Its Cave are auspicious patterns. But if Jia (Geng) meets the Direct Talisman as the current star, a Ge or Bo pattern forms, and Bo-Ge configurations cannot be used. Dragon Running Away and Sparrow Throwing Itself are inauspicious patterns—yet if one takes the role of host (primary side), one is not harmed. Tiger Raging and Serpent Coiling are also inauspicious—yet if one takes the role of guest, one is not harmed. Within all these there are flexible secrets and expedient tricks; they must not be judged uniformly.
Qimen selection places the greatest weight on Flourishing, Declining, Resting, and Imprisoned states. Consider, for example, the Opening Door: it is inherently an auspicious gate, but its Five Element nature is Metal. If it lands in the Earth Palace or a Metal position, and moreover encounters the last month of summer or the three autumn months, this is what is called "attaining the time and attaining the place"—the most auspicious of circumstances. If it falls in the spring or summer seasons and is positioned over Wood or Fire palaces, then the Metal Qi severely declines—how could this be considered auspicious? All Eight Gates follow this same principle, and the Three Marvels are likewise.🌱
In selection, the convergence of gate and marvel is considered supremely auspicious. If there is a gate but no marvel, it may still be used; if there is a marvel but no gate, then another time should be chosen. However, for matters such as using the Wounding Gate for hunting, the Opening and Hiding Gate for escapes, and the Death Gate for matters of mourning, one should select the time when it attains its season and position—that alone is supremely auspicious. In such cases there is no need to emphasize exclusively the convergence of marvel and gate.🔥
In the selection of yin and yang residences—that is, of houses and graves—crude artisans know only that the convergence of Qimen marvels is auspicious. They fail to understand that the yang residence must be coordinated with the life-element of the householder himself (the natal Eight Characters), so that the gate and marvel respond in harmony with the prosperity and flourishing of the life-element. Likewise, the yin residence must be coordinated with the transformation-destiny of the mountain head, so that the gate and marvel respond to the flourishing of that destiny. As for such principles as Virtue, Emolument, Noble Person, and Horse of Official Dispatch, and the Three Harmonies and Six Combinations, these too should be taken into reference.
If selection employed Qimen as the sole method, then all other schools could be discarded entirely. Yet one must still verify and cross-check: one must harmonize with the Five Elements of Dou Shou, the sun's position, the auspicious and inauspicious star-sha those of fortune, so that nothing whatsoever remaining that offends taboo, and moreover accord with Qimen—this alone constitutes a hundred-percent-complete auspiciousness. Therefore families undertaking home construction or ancestral burial often spend more than ten years investigating before obtaining an auspicious day. This is because the difficulty of seeking a day-course pure in auspiciousness with no taint of inauspiciousness is truly extreme.⛰️
The Qimen method of divination requires distinguishing between the functions of stillness and motion. In stillness, one investigates only the Direct Talisman, the Direct Envoy, and the Hour Stalk, examining their interactions of generating and overcoming, flourish and decline. In motion, one focuses exclusively on direction. For the moving is where the first emergent traces of an affair disclose themselves. For example, if one hears events concerning the south, divine upon the Li position; hear of matters from the north, divine upon the Kan position. As for the cries of crows or the chattering of magpies—if they cry in the east, one examines the Zhen position; crying in the west, inspect the Dui. In all these matters one cannot be rigid and opinionated, nor trace marks upon one's sword while navigating—all styles of divination follow this same principle.
The methods of Qimen divination differ among the various schools. For example, the method for divining on celestial and seasonal weather: some look exclusively to the Direct Talisman, some purely to the configurations, some look to the Metal Seam and Fire Hidden stars of Heaven's Canopy and the Canopy Aflame, representing the two stars of water and fire, some consider the Water-Marsh Timely Rains Office and the Directorate of Prolonged Clouds of the celestial offices alongside the cyclical characters of Ren, Gui, Bing, and Dmos, viewing them as the stations in charge of seasonal rain, and others examine Rain Master, Wind Earl, Lord Thunder, Mother Lightning, and other auspicious emissaries. These explanations can neither be wholly rejected nor put entirely to one side—their principle should not be overbalanced or ignored either. When the moment calls, one relies on spontaneous comprehension; the headworks are bewilderingly many, and wherever the living impulses of an inspiration touch on — all this cannot be prognosticated by set rules in advance—other divination areas follow the same pattern.