QimenMind casts these hour charts in Beijing time (UTC+8) with the Chaibu bureau method, a rotating plate and the centre palace lodged in Kun; the day pillar changes at 23:00, and the nine palaces map to eight directions through the Later Heaven trigrams.
How to use the direction table
Start with the moment that matters: when you leave, when you arrive, or when the meeting begins. Find that hour in the table and note which directions hold the Open Gate (Kai Men), Rest Gate (Xiu Men) and Life Gate (Sheng Men). Then open the row to check whether those directions carry a Void, a gate clash or a tomb mark, and whether the star and deity suit what you are doing.
Compare two or three workable options—times or destinations—rather than hunting for one perfect direction. When you need a reading on a specific matter, open that hour in the full chart and ask Dunyuan. Some teachers call this kind of practice Qi Men mobility or direction activation; here it is simply the hour chart read by direction.
How the nine palaces map to directions
Qi Men uses the Later Heaven arrangement: Kan is north, Gen northeast, Zhen east, Xun southeast, Li south, Kun southwest, Dui west and Qian northwest. The centre palace has no travel direction; on this site its stem is lodged in Kun.
Measure from where you are when you set out. Each direction covers about 45°—east, for example, runs from 67.5° to 112.5°. A phone map compass, or a straight line from start to destination, tells you which sector you are heading into.
Open, Rest and Life Gates
Traditionally the Open Gate suits starting things, job hunting, meeting superiors and formal negotiation; the Rest Gate suits rest, repairing relationships and asking for help; the Life Gate suits money, business, property and anything about returns. These three are the first thing to check when you compare directions.
The other five have narrower uses: Injury for competition or recovering debts, Obstruction for hiding, avoiding or focused technical work, Scenery for documents, publicity and exams. Death and Fear are not used for auspicious travel. The gate is only the first filter; it still has to fit the matter.
What the marks mean
Void (Kong Wang): the direction falls in the hour’s empty branches, so a good gate there tends to promise more than it delivers. Gate Pressures Palace: the gate’s element controls the palace, which spoils an auspicious gate. Palace Restrains Gate: the palace controls the gate and limits what it can do. Gate in Tomb: the gate’s element sits in its tomb palace. Stem in Tomb and Punishment: the heaven stem is entombed or punished, which points to delays or losses. Travel Horse (Yi Ma): movement and quick change, often used as a travel reference.
Void, Gate Pressures Palace and Gate in Tomb directly undercut a gate, so the table shows them; the secondary marks appear only on the compass, in grey. None of these is a ban. They are points against a direction when you compare: if the Life Gate is clean in one direction and void in another, prefer the clean one; if all three gates are marked, try another hour.
Time zones
Charts are cast in Beijing time (UTC+8), the same as the hour charts elsewhere on this site, with no longitude or true-solar-time correction. Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and Perth share UTC+8, so the Beijing column is already your clock. Elsewhere, the second column converts each window to the time zone set on your device.
The day pillar changes at 23:00, so 00:00–00:59 and 23:00–23:59 are both the Zi hour but belong to different charts. Windows in which the solar term changes are marked.
Hour directions versus annual direction lists
Lists such as “2026 Life Gate direction” usually come from year-based Qi Men charts and describe a whole year. Flying Star Feng Shui and personal Kua numbers are different systems again. This page is the hour chart: it changes every two hours and is meant for timing one trip, visit, signing or interview.
The two scales do not replace each other—annual directions describe the background, hour directions describe this trip. QimenMind currently offers hour charts only.
Practical limits
Treat directions as a way to compare options you could already take. Traffic, weather, safety, budget and other people’s schedules come first; do not take a detour, travel at night or take risks just to catch an auspicious direction.
Frequently asked questions
Which direction is the Life Gate in today?
The Life Gate moves every two-hour window, so there is no single direction for the whole day. Check the Life Gate column in the table above; the current hour is highlighted, and opening the row shows whether that direction is void or clashing.
Do I use my departure time or arrival time?
Normally the time you actually set out or begin. If the time is still open, compare a few candidate hours and choose one where the gate direction is clean and matches your destination.
Is every Open, Rest or Life Gate direction auspicious?
No. Check for Void, gate clashes and tomb marks, and whether the star, deity and stems suit the matter. The auspicious gate is only the first filter.
Where do I measure the direction from?
From where you are when you set out. See which 45° sector the destination falls in; a phone map compass is enough, and your home need not be the fixed origin.
I am not in China. Which time should I use?
The table is in Beijing time (UTC+8), with your device time shown beside it. Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan use the same clock as Beijing.