BaZi basics
The Ten Gods of BaZi
Every character in your chart plays a role relative to you. These ten roles, the Ten Gods (十神), are the language of every BaZi reading.
What are the Ten Gods?
In BaZi, your Day Master is the stem of the day you were born, and it stands for you. Every other stem in the chart, including the stems hidden inside the branches, is named by how it relates to your Day Master.
There are only five ways one element can relate to another: it can be the same as yours, it can be produced by you, controlled by you, it can control you, or it can produce you. Each relationship comes in two versions, depending on whether the other stem has the same Yin or Yang polarity as you. Five times two gives the Ten Gods.
Despite the name, they are not deities. 神 here means something closer to “spirit” or “influence”: ten kinds of energy that shape how a life unfolds.
How each Ten God is found
| Group | Element, relative to you | Same polarity | Opposite polarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Companion | The same element as you | Friend 比肩 | Rob Wealth 劫财 |
| Output | The element you produce | Eating God 食神 | Hurting Officer 伤官 |
| Wealth | The element you control | Indirect Wealth 偏财 | Direct Wealth 正财 |
| Officer | The element that controls you | Seven Killings 七杀 | Direct Officer 正官 |
| Resource | The element that produces you | Indirect Resource 偏印 | Direct Resource 正印 |
Same polarity means Yang with Yang or Yin with Yin; opposite polarity means Yang with Yin. For Wealth, Officer and Resource, the opposite-polarity star is called “direct” (正) and is read as the steadier, more conventional version. The same-polarity star is “indirect” (偏), more one-sided and less predictable. Companion and Output use older names, but the logic is the same.
- Friend · Bi Jian The Peer Your own element, mirrored. Independence, self-belief and the equals who stand beside you.
- Rob Wealth · Jie Cai The Rival Your element in its opposite polarity. Drive, daring, generosity and a strong competitive streak.
- Eating God · Shi Shen The Creator What you produce, at ease. Talent, enjoyment and a gentle, generous way of expressing yourself.
- Hurting Officer · Shang Guan The Rebel Genius Output in its sharpest form. Brilliance, wit, ambition and a strong dislike of pointless rules.
- Indirect Wealth · Pian Cai The Dealmaker The element you control, same polarity. Opportunity, generosity and money from many sources.
- Direct Wealth · Zheng Cai The Steward The element you control, opposite polarity. Earned income, careful planning and steady results.
- Seven Killings · Qi Sha The Warrior The element that controls you, same polarity. Pressure, courage and the drive to take charge.
- Direct Officer · Zheng Guan The Upright Official The element that controls you, opposite polarity. Order, responsibility, reputation and earned respect.
- Indirect Resource · Pian Yin The Unconventional Thinker The element that produces you, same polarity. Intuition, unusual learning and independent insight.
- Direct Resource · Zheng Yin The Nurturer The element that produces you, opposite polarity. Support, learning, kindness and protection.
Ten Gods chart for every Day Master
Find your Day Master in the first column, then read across to see which stem plays each Ten God for you. For a Jia Wood Day Master, for example, Ding Fire is the Hurting Officer and Geng Metal is Seven Killings.
| Day Master | Friend | Rob Wealth | Eating God | Hurting Officer | Indirect Wealth | Direct Wealth | Seven Killings | Direct Officer | Indirect Resource | Direct Resource |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 甲 Jia Wood | 甲 Jia | 乙 Yi | 丙 Bing | 丁 Ding | 戊 Wu | 己 Ji | 庚 Geng | 辛 Xin | 壬 Ren | 癸 Gui |
| 乙 Yi Wood | 乙 Yi | 甲 Jia | 丁 Ding | 丙 Bing | 己 Ji | 戊 Wu | 辛 Xin | 庚 Geng | 癸 Gui | 壬 Ren |
| 丙 Bing Fire | 丙 Bing | 丁 Ding | 戊 Wu | 己 Ji | 庚 Geng | 辛 Xin | 壬 Ren | 癸 Gui | 甲 Jia | 乙 Yi |
| 丁 Ding Fire | 丁 Ding | 丙 Bing | 己 Ji | 戊 Wu | 辛 Xin | 庚 Geng | 癸 Gui | 壬 Ren | 乙 Yi | 甲 Jia |
| 戊 Wu Earth | 戊 Wu | 己 Ji | 庚 Geng | 辛 Xin | 壬 Ren | 癸 Gui | 甲 Jia | 乙 Yi | 丙 Bing | 丁 Ding |
| 己 Ji Earth | 己 Ji | 戊 Wu | 辛 Xin | 庚 Geng | 癸 Gui | 壬 Ren | 乙 Yi | 甲 Jia | 丁 Ding | 丙 Bing |
| 庚 Geng Metal | 庚 Geng | 辛 Xin | 壬 Ren | 癸 Gui | 甲 Jia | 乙 Yi | 丙 Bing | 丁 Ding | 戊 Wu | 己 Ji |
| 辛 Xin Metal | 辛 Xin | 庚 Geng | 癸 Gui | 壬 Ren | 乙 Yi | 甲 Jia | 丁 Ding | 丙 Bing | 己 Ji | 戊 Wu |
| 壬 Ren Water | 壬 Ren | 癸 Gui | 甲 Jia | 乙 Yi | 丙 Bing | 丁 Ding | 戊 Wu | 己 Ji | 庚 Geng | 辛 Xin |
| 癸 Gui Water | 癸 Gui | 壬 Ren | 乙 Yi | 甲 Jia | 丁 Ding | 丙 Bing | 己 Ji | 戊 Wu | 辛 Xin | 庚 Geng |
How to read the Ten Gods in your chart
Look at which Ten Gods appear and how often. A star that appears several times, sits in the month pillar, or is rooted in the branches shapes your personality far more than one that appears once in a hidden stem. The month pillar matters most, because it holds your birth season.
Then look at balance. A weak Day Master usually welcomes Resource and Companion stars, which support it. A strong Day Master usually welcomes Output, Wealth and Officer stars, which give its strength somewhere to go. The same star can be your greatest asset in one chart and your main challenge in another.
The Ten Gods also explain timing. Every 10-year luck pillar and every year carries a stem, and that stem plays one of the Ten Gods for you. A Direct Officer year tends to bring responsibility; a Hurting Officer year tends to bring change and self-expression.
Are some Ten Gods bad?
Classical texts call the Wealth stars, the Direct Officer, Direct Resource and the Eating God auspicious, and they treat Seven Killings, the Hurting Officer, Indirect Resource and Rob Wealth with more caution. But the same classics stress that a “harsh” star handled well is often the mark of exceptional people, and that a “good” star in excess causes its own problems. In BaZi, balance matters more than any single star.
See the Ten Gods in your own chart
Enter your birth date, time and city. We calculate your Four Pillars to the minute, corrected for daylight saving and true solar time, and label the Ten God of every stem.
Questions
What are the Ten Gods in BaZi?
The Ten Gods (十神) are the ten roles that every stem in a BaZi chart can play relative to your Day Master: Friend, Rob Wealth, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Indirect Wealth, Direct Wealth, Seven Killings, Direct Officer, Indirect Resource and Direct Resource. They describe how each part of your chart relates to you.
Are the Ten Gods actual gods?
No. 神 here means something closer to “spirit” or “influence” than a deity. The Ten Gods are labels for relationships between elements, used to describe personality, career, money and relationships.
How many Ten Gods are in my chart?
Your chart has up to three other visible stems (on the year, month and hour pillars) plus one to three hidden stems inside each branch. Some Ten Gods appear several times and others not at all. That pattern of presence and absence is part of what makes each chart unique.
Do the Ten Gods mean the same for men and women?
The personality and career meanings are the same. Traditional texts read family roles differently: in a man’s chart Direct Wealth stands for the wife and the Officer stars for children; in a woman’s chart the Direct Officer stands for the husband and the Output stars for children. Many modern readers apply both readings to everyone.
Is “Shi Shen” the Ten Gods or the Eating God?
Both, which causes confusion. 十神 (the Ten Gods) and 食神 (the Eating God) are pronounced the same in Mandarin: Shi Shen. The Eating God is one of the Ten Gods.