Find Your Qimen Birth Palaces

Step 1 of 5

Set up M.Qimen

Install the free M.Qimen app and match these settings once. Every chart you plot after that will look like the examples on this page.

1Install M.Qimen on your phone

Free. Choose the store for your phone. The link opens in a new tab.

Android phoneGet it on Google Play iPhone or iPadDownload on the App Store

Look for mQimen 奇门排盘 with the blue 奇 icon. On Google Play the developer is Stapplers; on the App Store the seller is listed as Samuel Tan.

2Set up M.Qimen

The mQimen 奇门排盘 app by Stapplers in the Google Play store, with a blue 奇 icon — The app as it appears in the store: **mQimen 奇门排盘**, with the blue 奇 icon.

M.Qimen Settings screen with English, ChaiBu, Gate above Star, and coloured Partner and B Tortoise labels selected — The Settings screen, with the four settings to choose marked 1 to 4.

✓Check your settings

Open Settings from the app's menu (☰), then tick each item once it matches.

M.Qimen is installedmQimen 奇门排盘, the blue 奇 icon.
1Language: EnglishNot 简体中文 or 繁体中文.
2System: ChaiBuNot ZhiRun or Yin.
3Display: 开门 Gate above 天心 StarThe option with the Gate on the top line.
4Display: coloured 六合玄武 with English labelsThe last option, with "Partner" and "B Tortoise" underneath.
5Chart type: Hour Qimen (Rotate)Shown under the Chart button on the date screen (picture below).

M.Qimen date screen showing the label Hour Qimen (Rotate) under the Chart button — The date screen. "Hour Qimen (Rotate)" sits under the Chart button.

Newer app version? If a label looks different, choose the option that means the same thing (for example "Chai Bu" or 拆补 for ChaiBu). If you can't tell which option is the same, don't guess. Ask Patrick before you continue.

Step 2 of 5

Check your birth time

Use the time written on your birth record. Clocks in some places, including Singapore, have changed over the years, so we check what the clock meant on your birth date. Your details stay in this browser and are not sent anywhere.

Birth date

Day Month Year

Recorded local birth time (24-hour clock, as on the record)

Hour Minute

How sure is this time?

ExactFrom a birth certificate or hospital record. ApproximateFrom memory or "around" a time. Not sure at allAsk a close family member if you can.

Birth country

SingaporeUses Singapore's historical clock table. MalaysiaPeninsular Malaysia or East Malaysia. PhilippinesUses the Philippines' historical clock table. IndonesiaWestern, Central or Eastern Indonesia. Another countryYou'll check that place's historical time zone.

How will you enter the time in M.Qimen? Choose one only.

Use this calculator (Zone GMT+8)Recommended. Converts your recorded clock time to the equivalent GMT+8 time. Set the historical zone in the appEnter your recorded time unchanged and pick the historical zone in M.Qimen.

See the historical clock table

Period	Time offset	What happened

Step 3 of 5

Create your birth chart

Open M.Qimen and enter exactly these values on the date screen.

1Enter this in M.Qimen

2Tap Chart

Your chart opens. Keep it open for the rest of this page.

"For Qimen Destiny, there is no need to clean the chart."

M.Qimen date screen with Date, Time, Zone GMT+8, System ChaiBu, a Chart button and the label Hour Qimen (Rotate) — A Date · B Time · C Zone · D System ChaiBu · E Chart. Check that "Hour Qimen (Rotate)" shows underneath.

3Find your Day Stem

Look at the small table at the top left of your chart. It has four columns: Hr, Day, Mth and Yr. Your Day Stem is the large character in the top row of the Day column.

Day Stem: top row of the Day column. In this example it is 壬 Ren.
Not this: the character below it (辰 Chen) is the Day branch.
Not these: the Hr, Mth and Yr columns hold the Hour, Month and Year stems.

Which character is in the top row of your Day column?

Step 4 of 5

Find your two birth palaces

Each palace has a top stem and a bottom stem in its right-hand column. Your Day Stem appears once as a bottom stem and once as a top stem. Those two palaces are your birth palaces.

Where do I look? Top stem and bottom stem

Top stem: middle row, right-hand side (here 戊 Wu).
Bottom stem: bottom row, right-hand side (here 壬 Ren).
Ignore the grey stem at the bottom left. It is the hidden stem, even when it is the same character.
Palace 5 (centre) shows only a bottom stem. In ChaiBu its stem lodges in Palace 2 坤 Kun.
Now and then a palace shows a second stem at the left of the middle row (like 己 in Palace 4 of the example). It travels with the centre's star 天禽 and also counts as a top stem.

iExample: Day Stem 壬 Ren

First stage, Palace 2 坤 Kun. 壬 sits in the bottom-right corner, so it is the bottom stem. This is the early-life palace.
Second stage, Palace 4 巽 Xun. 壬 sits in the middle row on the right, so it is the top stem. This is the later-life palace.
Careful in Palace 2: a grey 壬 also sits bottom left. That is the hidden stem, so it doesn't count. Always read the right-hand column.
The two stages change over gradually, roughly between age 30 and 40. There is no need to pick an exact birthday when one stage ends.

✎Now tap your own palaces

Early-life palace Roughly birth to age 30–40

Tap the palace where is the bottom stem.

Later-life palace Roughly age 30–40 onward

Tap the palace where is the top stem.

This page doesn't calculate your chart. It helps you read two things from the chart M.Qimen plotted for you.

Step 5 of 5

Check for emptiness

Does either selected palace show the emptiness mark, such as 空 or the empty-circle symbol shown in M.Qimen?

Where do I look? The emptiness mark

Look at the top-right corner of the palace, next to the deity's name.
M.Qimen shows emptiness as 空○. In the example chart, Palaces 3 and 8 are empty.
A small 马 with a horse picture in the same corner is the Horse, not emptiness.

1 ↔ 92 ↔ 83 ↔ 74 ↔ 6

Learn a little more: Fuyin, Fanyin and Horse

Optional notes. They don't change your two palaces. They describe tendencies to explore with a trained reader, not fixed verdicts about anyone.

伏吟

Fuyin

How to spot it: in every palace, the top stem and the bottom stem are the same character. Your early-life and later-life palaces will then be the same palace.

In Destiny lessons: often linked with a very focused, steady character that holds its course. Change tends to come from the person's own experience rather than from outside pressure.

反吟

Fanyin

How to spot it: the stems are reversed into the opposite palace. Each palace's top stem matches the bottom stem of the palace opposite it.

In Destiny lessons: often linked with enjoying change and new directions, which can feel motivating. Others may see this as changing course often.

马

Horse

How to spot it: a small 马 with a horse picture in a palace's top-right corner (Palace 2 in the example chart).

In Destiny lessons: often linked with an active person who prefers to keep moving rather than stay still.

Find Your Qimen Birth Palaces (for learning purposes)