Qi Men Dun Jia or Da Liu Ren: which should you read?
They answer different questions. Qi Men Dun Jia is strongest on one specific decision, right now. Da Liu Ren is strongest on one specific event and how it resolves. Run on one identical birth they do not contradict each other so much as describe different things.
The same person, both ways
One birth, 15 June 1990, 07:30, Hong Kong, run through both systems:
| Qi Men Dun Jia 奇門遁甲 | Da Liu Ren 大六壬 | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads | The moment a question is asked, not the birth | The moment a question is asked, not the birth |
| Says | An hour plate in the 陽盤 rotating-plate tradition | A 三傳 sequence derived by the 《六壬大全》 method |
| Works in | A nine-palace plate for the hour of the question | A three-stage sequence for the question |
| Best at | One specific decision, right now | One specific event and how it resolves |
The real difference
The only pair here that both read the moment rather than the birth. Qi Men lays the hour out as a nine-palace plate and is read spatially. Da Liu Ren produces a three stage sequence and is read as an unfolding. Same input, different shape of answer.
Both read the moment a question is asked rather than your birth. Neither describes your character, and neither needs your birth data.
Which should you use
- Qi Men Dun Jia if your question is about one specific decision, right now.
- Da Liu Ren if your question is about one specific event and how it resolves.
- Both if you want to know whether a theme holds up when the machinery changes. That is the only thing reading two systems buys you, and it is worth more than it sounds.
Meridian casts both from one set of birth details, so you can see where they agree and where they part company without entering your data twice or trusting anyone's summary.
Recurrence across unrelated systems is not proof that either is true. It does tell you a reading is not an artefact of one method's machinery, which is the honest version of what comparing traditions is good for.
Both headline results computed by Meridian's engines on 2 August 2026 from one identical birth: 15 June 1990, 07:30, Hong Kong. The engines are deterministic, so the same input returns the same chart.
This page compares how two systems calculate. It does not interpret a chart and is not advice.