Reading a Qimen Dunjia Chart: Chief, Envoy, Cycle Head, Void and Horse
Casting the chart is half the work; reading it is the skill. The five pieces cited most — the cycle head, the Chief, the Chief Envoy, Void, the Horse — each answer one question: who leads, how it runs, what is hollow, what moves.
The cycle head: the sixty Jiazi split into six cycles
The sixty Jiazi (the sixty stem-branch combinations) are divided into six cycles of ten. Each cycle opens with Jia, and Jia is hidden beneath one of the Six Rites (六儀), so every cycle pairs with one of the Six Rites:
| Cycle | Six Rite | Cycle void |
|---|---|---|
| Jiazi cycle | Wu | Xu, Hai |
| Jiaxu cycle | Ji | Shen, You |
| Jiashen cycle | Geng | Wu, Wei |
| Jiawu cycle | Xin | Chen, Si |
| Jiachen cycle | Ren | Yin, Mao |
| Jiayin cycle | Gui | Zi, Chou |
In hour-based Qimen the cycle head (旬首) is set by the hour pillar. It decides who the "leader" of the whole chart is; the Chief, the Chief Envoy and Void are all then derived from the cycle head.
The Chief (值符): the commander of the operation
Whichever palace the cycle head's Six Rite lands in on the earth plate, that palace's home star becomes the Chief Star, and that palace is the Chief palace — you can read it as "the commander of this matter." The first of the Eight Spirits (the Chief spirit) always lands in this palace as well.
How to read it: the state of the Chief palace shows whether the leading force is running smoothly. If the gate in the commander's palace is auspicious and the star strong, the matter has enough backing; if the commander's palace itself holds the Death gate or is controlled, the process will be a struggle even when the other palaces look good.
The Chief Envoy (值使): the route of execution
The Chief Star is the "commander"; the Chief Envoy gate is the "general." The gate corresponding to the cycle head is the Chief Envoy gate, and the whole rotation of the Eight Gates is led by it.
How to read it: the Chief speaks to the essence, the Chief Envoy to how it will play out. If the Chief Envoy is the Rest gate, the matter trends low-key, gentle and slow; if it is the Fear gate, expect alarm, disputes and mixed messages; if it is the Life gate, there is usually real benefit to be gained.
Void (空亡): when a palace "falls empty"
Void is set by the cycle head; two branches fall empty in every cycle (see the table above). Note that it is the branches that fall empty, and you have to convert them into palaces to read them: Zi = Kan Palace 1, Chou and Yin = Gen Palace 8, Mao = Zhen Palace 3, Chen and Si = Xun Palace 4, Wu = Li Palace 9, Wei and Shen = Kun Palace 2, You = Dui Palace 7, Xu and Hai = Qian Palace 6.
How to read it: a void palace is "present in form but not yet realized" — a good matter in void loses force and stalls; a bad matter in void is actually lightened. Void is not simply good or bad; it is about whether something is hollow or solid.
The Horse (馬星): movement, travel, a change of scene
The Horse is taken from the position opposite the three-harmony group (this site takes the Horse from the hour branch):
| Hour-branch group | Horse | Palace and direction |
|---|---|---|
| Shen, Zi, Chen | Yin | Gen Palace 8 (northeast) |
| Yin, Wu, Xu | Shen | Kun Palace 2 (southwest) |
| Si, You, Chou | Hai | Qian Palace 6 (northwest) |
| Hai, Mao, Wei | Si | Xun Palace 4 (southeast) |
The Horse governs change, going out, leaving the current place, a change of scene. For questions like "should I go?", "should I move?", "will this drag on?", the Horse is a key parameter: if the Horse is strong and active, the matter trends toward movement and change; if it is controlled or in void, nothing moves even when you want it to.
The five together: a worked example
Take 2026-09-12 at 22:00 (Hong Kong time): Jichou day, Yihai hour, cycle head Jiaxu, Yin Dun, ju six, Chief Star Celestial Bird (天禽), Chief Envoy the Death gate, void at Shen and You, Horse at Si. Read together:
- The Chief (commander) sits in Dui Palace 7 (west), holding the Rest gate — the main line is gentle, low-key and slow, not a head-on clash.
- The Chief Envoy, the Death gate, sits in Xun Palace 4 (southeast) — the execution route carries a "stop, hold, close" character; as things advance, watch the ending and the stop-loss point.
- Void at Shen and You: Shen is in Kun Palace 2 (southwest), You in Dui Palace 7 (west), so the force of these two directions is discounted — and the Chief palace falls exactly in void, meaning the leading force is not yet fully realized.
- Horse at Si: Si is in Xun Palace 4 (southeast), the same palace that holds the Chief Envoy, the Death gate — the movement signal lands on the execution palace, meaning "movement is coming, but it must close before it moves."
The reading order (follow it and you won't get lost)
- Fix the question and the significator, and find the significator's palace.
- Look at the Chief palace and the Chief Envoy gate to set the matter's main line and direction.
- Read the gate, star and spirit in the significator palace, layer by layer — the layers are described in Chart Explained.
- Use Void and the Horse as adjustments (hollow or solid, still or moving).
- Look at the generating and controlling relationships between palaces, and settle the conclusion and the timing.