SuperBazi 超级八字 - The Ten Gods: A Practical Map of Your Chart's Relationships 十神

What the Ten Gods Actually Are

In Bazi (八字), your chart is built around the Day Master (日主) — the element that represents you at the centre of the picture. Everything else in the chart is defined by its relationship to that element. The Ten Gods (十神) are the names for those relationships.

Think of it like a family system. Once you know who "you" are, every other person in the room has a role relative to you: parent, sibling, child, partner, rival. The Ten Gods work the same way. They describe how each element in your chart relates to your Day Master, and by extension, how different energies show up in your life.

These are not literal deities or mystical beings. They are practical labels for the five types of elemental interaction — producing, being produced by, controlling, being controlled by, and matching — each expressed through Yin (阴) and Yang (阳) polarity. That gives ten distinct roles, each with its own character.

The Ten Roles

Here is the full reference, grouped by function:

Chinese	Pinyin	English	Abbrev.	Relationship	Polarity
比肩	bǐ jiān	Friend	F	Same element	Same polarity
劫财	jié cái	Rob Wealth	RW	Same element	Opposite polarity
食神	shí shén	Eating God	EG	Day Master produces	Same polarity
伤官	shāng guān	Hurting Officer	HO	Day Master produces	Opposite polarity
偏财	piān cái	Indirect Wealth	IW	Day Master controls	Same polarity
正财	zhèng cái	Direct Wealth	DW	Day Master controls	Opposite polarity
七杀	qī shā	Seven Killings	7K	Controls Day Master	Same polarity
正官	zhèng guān	Direct Officer	DO	Controls Day Master	Opposite polarity
偏印	piān yìn	Indirect Resource	IR	Produces Day Master	Same polarity
正印	zhèng yìn	Direct Resource	DR	Produces Day Master	Opposite polarity

Each god represents a distinct pattern of energy in your life. Here is what each one tends to describe:

Friend 比肩 and Rob Wealth 劫财 share your element. Friend reflects peers, collaboration, and healthy competition. Rob Wealth can point to rivalry, resource splitting, or the drive to assert yourself — sometimes constructively, sometimes not.

Eating God 食神 and Hurting Officer 伤官 are your output elements — what you produce. Eating God tends toward creative expression, enjoyment, and a relaxed approach to ideas. Hurting Officer is sharper output — ambition, critique, unconventional thinking, and sometimes friction with authority.

Direct Wealth 正财 and Indirect Wealth 偏财 are what you control, often linked to money, responsibility, and tangible results. Direct Wealth suggests steady, structured management. Indirect Wealth leans toward windfalls, risk-taking, and a more fluid relationship with resources.

Direct Officer 正官 and Seven Killings 七杀 represent what controls you — structure, authority, discipline, and pressure. Direct Officer is conventional order, career frameworks, and social expectations. Seven Killings is intense pressure, challenge, and the demand to either toughen up or get overwhelmed. Both can drive growth, but they feel very different.

Direct Resource 正印 and Indirect Resource 偏印 produce you, offering support, knowledge, and nourishment. Direct Resource is steady, reliable backing — education, mentorship, a stable environment. Indirect Resource is unconventional support, sometimes appearing as strange luck, unexpected insight, or resources that arrive in unusual ways.

Element Mapping by Day Master

The Ten Gods are not abstract — they are specific elements relative to your Day Master. Here is the complete mapping showing which stem corresponds to which Ten God for each Day Master:

Day Master	Friend 比肩	Rob Wealth 劫财	Eating God 食神	Hurting Officer 伤官	Indirect Wealth 偏财	Direct Wealth 正财	Seven Killings 七杀	Direct Officer 正官	Indirect Resource 偏印	Direct Resource 正印
甲 Yang Wood	甲	乙	丙	丁	戊	己	庚	辛	壬	癸
乙 Yin Wood	乙	甲	丁	丙	己	戊	辛	庚	癸	壬
丙 Yang Fire	丙	丁	戊	己	庚	辛	壬	癸	甲	乙
丁 Yin Fire	丁	丙	己	戊	辛	庚	癸	壬	乙	甲
戊 Yang Earth	戊	己	庚	辛	壬	癸	甲	乙	丙	丁
己 Yin Earth	己	戊	辛	庚	癸	壬	乙	甲	丁	丙
庚 Yang Metal	庚	辛	壬	癸	甲	乙	丙	丁	戊	己
辛 Yin Metal	辛	庚	癸	壬	乙	甲	丁	丙	己	戊
壬 Yang Water	壬	癸	甲	乙	丙	丁	戊	己	庚	辛
癸 Yin Water	癸	壬	乙	甲	丁	丙	己	戊	辛	庚

Use this table to quickly identify which elements in your chart play which roles.

How They Are Calculated

The Ten Gods are determined by two factors: the element relationship between the Day Master and the target stem, and whether their Yin/Yang polarity matches.

For example, if your Day Master is 丙 (Yang Fire):

Target stem	Element relationship	Polarity	Ten God
丙	Same (Fire)	Same (Yang)	Friend 比肩
丁	Same (Fire)	Different (Yin)	Rob Wealth 劫财
戊	Fire produces Earth	Same (Yang)	Eating God 食神
己	Fire produces Earth	Different (Yin)	Hurting Officer 伤官
庚	Fire controls Metal	Same (Yang)	Indirect Wealth 偏财
辛	Fire controls Metal	Different (Yin)	Direct Wealth 正财
壬	Water controls Fire	Same (Yang)	Seven Killings 七杀
癸	Water controls Fire	Different (Yin)	Direct Officer 正官
甲	Wood produces Fire	Same (Yang)	Indirect Resource 偏印
乙	Wood produces Fire	Different (Yin)	Direct Resource 正印

This is why polarity matters — it changes which god a particular element maps to.

Where the Ten God Sits: Pillar Positions

Each Ten God can appear in four pillar positions: Year (年柱), Month (月柱), Day (日柱), or Hour (时柱). The same god behaves differently depending on where it sits, because each pillar governs a different life domain and time period.

Pillar	Chinese	Life domain	Typical age range
Year	年柱	Grandparents, family roots, social environment, early childhood	0–16
Month	月柱	Parents, career, work environment, professional identity	16–32
Day	日柱	Self, spouse, inner world, personal identity	32–48
Hour	时柱	Children, legacy, aspirations, later years	48+

Here is how each Ten God tends to express at each position:

Wealth Stars at Different Positions

Position	Direct Wealth 正财	Indirect Wealth 偏财
Year	Family financial stability; early sense of responsibility; money themes from childhood	Family generosity or fluid finances; early exposure to opportunity or risk
Month	Career-oriented financial management; steady professional income; disciplined work ethic	Professional opportunism; income through connections, sales, or venture
Day Branch	Spouse who brings financial stability; partnership built on shared resources	Spouse who brings opportunity; fluid or generous financial dynamic in marriage
Hour	Financial security in later years; children who bring or require resources	Windfalls or opportunities later in life; children with entrepreneurial energy

Officer Stars at Different Positions

Position	Direct Officer 正官	Seven Killings 七杀
Year	Family expectations; structured upbringing; father's authority or discipline	Early pressure or intensity; demanding family environment; resilience built young
Month	Career structure; professional authority; reputation in work life	Career pressure; high-stakes professional environment; drive to succeed under force
Day Branch	Spouse who brings structure; partnership with clear roles and expectations	Spouse who brings intensity; partnership with pressure or power dynamics
Hour	Legacy and structure in later years; children who follow rules or expectations	Pressure related to children or legacy; intensity in later-life responsibilities

Resource Stars at Different Positions

Position	Direct Resource 正印	Indirect Resource 偏印
Year	Nurturing family; strong maternal support; stable early environment	Unconventional upbringing; support that came in unusual forms; early independence
Month	Strong educational foundation; mentorship in career; institutional support	Specialised knowledge; self-taught expertise; unconventional career path
Day Branch	Spouse who nurtures; partnership built on emotional support and warmth	Spouse who is intellectually stimulating; partnership with emotional distance or depth
Hour	Children who bring comfort; support in later years; legacy of wisdom	Children who think independently; unconventional support in later years

Output Stars at Different Positions

Position	Eating God 食神	Hurting Officer 伤官
Year	Relaxed childhood; natural talent visible early; joyful early expression	Assertive or rebellious childhood; early boundary-pushing; visible talent
Month	Career through natural ability; relaxed professional presence; enjoyment at work	Career through innovation or critique; professional boundary-pushing; unconventional reputation
Day Branch	Spouse who enjoys life; partnership with ease and creative flow	Spouse who challenges; partnership with friction that drives growth
Hour	Creative later years; children who express freely; joyful legacy	Children who push boundaries; creative or challenging legacy; late-career reinvention

Friend and Rob Wealth at Different Positions

Position	Friend 比肩	Rob Wealth 劫财
Year	Siblings or peers in early life; collaborative family environment	Sibling rivalry or competition; resource-sharing tension in childhood
Month	Collaborative career environment; peers at work; teamwork-oriented	Competitive work environment; colleagues who compete for the same resources
Day Branch	Spouse as equal; partnership of peers; shared identity	Spouse as rival; partnership with power struggles or resource competition
Hour	Peers in later life; collaborative legacy-building	Competition related to children or inheritance; rivalry in later years

Context Matters More Than Labels

The same god can feel supportive in one chart and overwhelming in another. Seven Killings (七杀) in a strong Day Master's chart might show up as career drive and leadership under pressure. In a weaker chart without support, the same god might feel like constant stress or external demands that outstrip capacity.

This is why reading individual symbols in isolation leads to shallow or misleading interpretations. A good reading considers how the gods interact with each other, which ones are prominent, which are missing, and how the current luck cycle (大运) activates or tempers them.

What to Pay Attention To

When exploring the Ten Gods in your own chart, a few questions tend to be more useful than others:

Which gods are strongest or most visible? These often describe the dominant themes in your life — where energy naturally flows and where you spend most of your attention.

Which gods are absent or weak? Missing elements can point to areas that require more conscious effort, or gaps in support that show up as recurring friction.

How do the gods interact? Two gods in conflict might describe an internal tension — for example, wanting creative freedom (Eating God) while feeling heavy external responsibility (Direct Officer). Noticing that pattern is the first step toward navigating it more deliberately.

What is being activated right now? The annual and luck cycle influences can bring certain gods into sharper focus, making a dormant pattern suddenly feel active or a quiet strength suddenly feel available.

Using This Practically

The Ten Gods are not a verdict. They are a vocabulary for understanding the different forces at work in your chart and in your current timing. They help you name what is happening — pressure, opportunity, support, conflict, output, depletion — so you can respond with more awareness instead of reacting on autopilot.

Bazi becomes genuinely useful when it helps someone recognise a pattern they have been living inside of, and then make a slightly cleaner decision because of that recognition. The Ten Gods are one of the clearest entry points for that kind of insight.