What information is needed to cast a Qi Men chart?

What you must provide to get an exact chart

Information is the nonnegotiable currency here. Give me precise temporal and spatial data, and the rest is deterministic.

Minimum inputs, stated plainly

Every Qi Men chart requires a base of hard facts before any classical layer is applied. Every calculation depends on the same three categories: date, time, and place. Without these the Heaven and Earth panels cannot be constructed and the 8 Doors, 9 Stars, and 8 Gods cannot be placed with certainty.

Date to the day, not the intention

Provide the Gregorian calendar date of the event or the moment you want read. Provide the full year, month, and day. Provide the calendar date as understood locally at the moment of the event, not the perceived day in another time zone. Provide related notes if the moment lies on or near a solar term, because some practitioners prefer solar term adjustments when converting to stem and branch positions.

Time to the minute

Provide the hour and minute in local time, and be explicit about whether the time is exact, approximate, or a range. Provide the local daylight saving status for that date, because an hour of error destroys the stem branch alignment. Provide the clock source when precision matters, for example server logs, camera metadata, or witnessed times.

Location coordinates and time zone

Provide the city, and if available provide latitude and longitude to the nearest minute or better. Provide the time zone offset from UTC that was in effect at that location on the given date. Provide whether the location is the point of departure, the point of action, or the point of outcome, because Qi Men can be cast for different geographic references and the result changes when the event is mobile.

Why these pieces matter to the mechanics

Qi Men charts are not mystical guesswork, they are calendrical placements. The Heaven and Earth panels are constructed from the Chinese stem and branch sequence which is anchored to precise solar and terrestrial positions. The 8 Doors, 9 Stars, and 8 Gods are then assigned into the panels according to fixed algorithms that depend on the stem branch positions and the 24 Mountains orientation. Mistakes in date, time, or coordinates propagate into every interpretive layer.

Briefly, what those classical labels mean

Explain each briefly when you see it in the chart. The 8 Doors are functional modalities for action, describing how a situation can be entered or blocked. The 9 Stars are quality markers that indicate resource, danger, opportunity, or timing in a sector. The 8 Gods are signatures that color behaviour or intention. The Heaven and Earth panels are the two-level grid that places these elements, with Heaven representing stems and authority and Earth representing branches and terrain. The Three Wonders is the rule set that aligns Heaven, Earth, and Man, and the Six Instruments are the analytical tools applied to resolve ambiguity.

Contextual and question framing

State the precise question you want answered. State whether the chart is for timing, tactical choice, negotiation, health, hiring, or conflict. State who the chart is about, if it is about a person, by name and relation to the question. State whether the chart is a point-in-time snapshot or a projected time window, and whether you want only the primary recommendation or alternative actions keyed to different outcomes.

Personal data that matters

Provide the querent name and birth sex if the reading is interpersonal or medical, because some interpretive rules use sex-specific markers. Provide the subject’s role, authority, and any relevant hierarchy, because position in a chain of command will alter the weight of certain 9 Stars and 8 Gods. Provide known constraints, such as legal deadlines, budget limits, or immovable dependents, because these convert abstract options into actionable choices.

Optional but powerful inputs

• Provide the original recording device time stamp, forensic logs, or CCTV metadata when the event time is disputed.
• Provide witness statements tied to times, because secondary timestamps can help triangulate inconsistencies.
• Provide previous charts or known decisions and their outcomes, because pattern recognition across charts refines interpretation with the Six Instruments.
• Provide directional data, for example which direction a person was facing when an event began, because Qi Men frequently assigns sectors by orientation.

How I convert your inputs into a cast

Provide clean inputs and I will convert the Gregorian date and local time into the Chinese stem and branch sequence, place the Heaven and Earth panels, fix the 24 Mountains, and allocate the 8 Doors, 9 Stars, and 8 Gods to their sectors. Provide endurance for iterative work, because complex problems require applying the Three Wonders and recalculating scenario branches with the Six Instruments. Provide a decision deadline to focus the reading on tactical closure instead of endless options analysis.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Do not give approximate times when you can get exact times. Do not omit the location or assume time zone conversion is trivial. Do not ask a general question and expect a specific plan. Do not assume the same chart applies to different locations unless you specify moving points. Do not expect identical results from charts cast at different minutes of the same hour.

Exact inputs produce exact allocations. Sloppy inputs produce plausible stories that fail in action.

When to choose a different casting method

Specify whether you want an event cast, a natal-based overlay, or a composite read. Specify whether you want the current moment chart for situational decisions or a future time chart for timing. Specify if you want a directional chart where sitting and facing are important. Specify if you want the reading cross-checked using alternate conventions, for example solar term adjusted stem branch conversion, to test sensitivity to calendar variants.

Deliverables I will produce given correct inputs

Request the raw panel grid, the sector-by-sector placement of the 8 Doors, 9 Stars, and 8 Gods, and a prioritized action plan that maps each recommended action to a Door and a Star. Request scenario branches with contingency triggers defined in the Six Instruments. Request timing windows derived from the Three Wonders alignment, and request explicit risk flags when conflicting signatures appear in the same sector.

Provide exact date, exact time to the minute, and exact location, and the decision becomes resolvable.