Origins of Dunjia & Daily/Hourly Qimen Methods

Your servants respectfully note: the Dunjia Yanyi in four juan was compiled by Cheng Daosheng of the Ming dynasty. Daosheng, courtesy name Kesheng, was a native of Haining. Those who speak of Dunjia all trace it to the Luo Shu. However, the Hetu (River Diagram) takes its name from 'diagram' and should contain images of odd and even numbers, while the Luo Shu (Luo Document) takes its name from 'document' and should contain the form of written characters. Thus Ban Gu considered it sixty-five characters (as seen in the History of Han), Liu Xiang considered it thirty-eight characters, and Liu Xin considered it twenty characters — both noted in the Hongfan chapter. These are all clear proofs from before the Han that the Luo Shu had no diagram. If one follows the forty-five-dot pattern transmitted after the Song dynasty, which does not differ from the Hetu, then it should be called the 'Luo Diagram,' not the 'Luo Document.' Examining the Da Dai Liji's record of the ancient Mingtang system, we find the arrangement 2-9-4, 7-5-3, 6-1-8 — this is the origin of the Nine Palace method. The Yiwei Qianzaodu's account of Taiyi traversing the Nine Palaces is particularly detailed. The method of Dunjia actually arose from this; the fangji specialists did not know to seek its source and therefore falsely attributed it.

Its method takes the Nine Palaces (Jiugong) as its foundation, interwoven with the Three Wonders (Sanqi: Yi/Bing/Ding), Six Instruments (Liuyi), Eight Gates (Bamen), and Nine Stars (Jiuxing), examining the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of their superimpositions to determine what to seek or avoid. Since the sun is born at Yi, and the moon shines at Bing and Ding — being the essence of the South Pole Star — Yi, Bing, and Ding are all called 'Wonders' (Qi). Jia, being the head of all yang stems, hides beneath the six instruments Wu through Gui, distributed to match the Nine Palaces and give rise to the Directing Talisman and Directing Envoy — hence the name 'Hidden Jia' (Dunjia). Its Li-Kan palace division, zheng-shou and chao-shen intercalary wonders, and the linking of qi connect with the calendar and pitch-pipes. Its methods of opening, generating, seeking, and halting in the directional triad connect with Taiyi. The principles of Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Sparrow, punishment, imprisonment, flourishing, and tomb do not go beyond mounting, bearing, generating, and overcoming — connecting with Liuren and astrology. From wind and cloud to weft-text prognostication, nothing is left uncovered. Therefore those who glorify it claim it originated with the Yellow Emperor, Feng Hou, and the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens. These attributions need no refutation, yet among all the fangji arts, it is the most rationally structured.

Examining the Han dynastic bibliography, we find listed only the Fenggu Liujia and Fenghou Guxu — for Qi Dunjia there is still no explicit mention. Not until Emperor Jianwen of Liang's yuefu poetry do we first find the phrase 'Three Gates matching Dunjia.' In the Chen Shu's 'Annals of Emperor Wu,' the name Dunjia finally appears in the official histories — suggesting the art flourished during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The Sui bibliography records thirteen works including the Wuzixu Dunjia Wen, Xindu Fang's Dunjia Jing, and the Wanbi Sanyuan Dunjia Tu, though their texts are not all extant. In the Tang, Li Jing had his Dunjia Wanyi Jue and Hu Qian his Dunjia Jing, both recorded in historical bibliographies. By the Song, transmitters of the art grew ever more numerous. Emperor Renzong once ordered the compilation of the Jingyou Yuesui Xinjing, which discussed seven modes and two modulations combining ancient and modern music, cross-referencing Liuren and Dunjia. Yang Weide, then Superintendent of the Celestial Bureau, compiled the Dunjia Yuhan Fuying Jing and personally wrote its preface. Thus at that time the study of the Kingly Way was at its height, and numerological discussants to this day frequently cite it. When adventurers used it to discuss military strategy, it produced figures like Guo Jing during the Jingkang era, who through occult delusion brought disaster to the state. Later scholars further mixed in Daoist talismanic methods, making it increasingly bizarre and inscrutable. Thus Liuren flourished while the study of Dunjia nearly died out.

Upon investigation, Liuren is oriented toward the king and human affairs, making it more immediately practical; Dunjia communicates with celestial patterns, giving it the advantage in that domain — in truth neither can be ranked above the other. The transmitted works Wuzonggui and the Yanbo Diaosou Jue preserve only the general outline, whereas this compilation is concise in purpose yet comprehensive in expression. On the essentials of deploying the Wonders and establishing the Kun threshold, it is quite detailed. Its discussion of natal destiny and current year — stating that one should ride the auspicious stars' generation and flourishing within the current layout — is a theory not found in other texts. We preserve it as one of the Three Cosmic Boards (Sanshi), which the Five-Phase specialists have never ceased to practice. Respectfully collated and submitted in the tenth month of the forty-sixth year of Qianlong [1781].