The Ten Gods: Ten Roles in Your Chart
In a Nutshell
Take the Day Master (the Day Pillar's stem — "me") as the center, ask how each of the chart's other seven characters relates to "me," and sort them into ten roles: the Ten Gods.
Quick facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Center | The Day Master (the Day Pillar's stem — "me") |
| The five relationships | Generates me / I generate / Controls me / I control / Same as me |
| Polarity rule | Same polarity = "indirect"; different polarity = "direct" |
| The ten | Friend Star, Rob Wealth, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Indirect Wealth, Direct Wealth, Seven Killings, Direct Officer, Indirect Seal, Direct Seal |
| How to learn | Master the derivation rule first, imagery second |
The derivation: five relationships
| Relationship | Same polarity → | Different polarity → |
|---|---|---|
| Generates me | Indirect Seal (Pian Yin) | Direct Seal (Zheng Yin) |
| I generate | Eating God (Shi Shen) | Hurting Officer (Shang Guan) |
| Controls me | Seven Killings (Qi Sha) | Direct Officer (Zheng Guan) |
| I control | Indirect Wealth (Pian Cai) | Direct Wealth (Zheng Cai) |
| Same as me | Friend Star (Bi Jian) | Rob Wealth (Jie Cai) |
The rule is simple: same polarity = "indirect," different polarity = "direct" — except the "I generate" and "same as me" pairs, which got their own names:
- I generate: same polarity → Eating God, different polarity → Hurting Officer;
- Same as me: same polarity → Friend Star, different polarity → Rob Wealth.
A traditional mnemonic runs: "What generates me is Seal; what I generate, Food and Hurt; what controls me, Officer and Killings; what I control, Wealth; what's like me, Friend and Rob — polarity decides."
Worked example: a Jia Wood Day Master
Say the Day Master is Jia Wood (yang Wood):
| Meets | Relationship | Ten God |
|---|---|---|
| Jia Wood (yang Wood) | Same kind, same polarity | Friend Star (Bi Jian) |
| Yi Wood (yin Wood) | Same kind, different polarity | Rob Wealth (Jie Cai) |
| Bing Fire (yang Fire) | I generate, same polarity | Eating God (Shi Shen) |
| Ding Fire (yin Fire) | I generate, different polarity | Hurting Officer (Shang Guan) |
| Wu Earth (yang Earth) | I control, same polarity | Indirect Wealth (Pian Cai) |
| Ji Earth (yin Earth) | I control, different polarity | Direct Wealth (Zheng Cai) |
| Geng Metal (yang Metal) | Controls me, same polarity | Seven Killings (Qi Sha) |
| Xin Metal (yin Metal) | Controls me, different polarity | Direct Officer (Zheng Guan) |
| Ren Water (yang Water) | Generates me, same polarity | Indirect Seal (Pian Yin) |
| Gui Water (yin Water) | Generates me, different polarity | Direct Seal (Zheng Yin) |
Learn this table and you can derive the Ten Gods for any Day Master yourself — no memorization needed.
Traditional life themes (reference only)
Traditionally, the Ten Gods map to life themes like this — these are "reference images," not verdicts:
- Friend Star, Rob Wealth: peers, friends, cooperation and competition;
- Eating God, Hurting Officer: talent, expression, creativity — and children;
- Indirect Wealth, Direct Wealth: money, father; in a man's chart, also the spouse;
- Seven Killings, Direct Officer: career, position, pressure and responsibility; in a woman's chart, also the spouse;
- Indirect Seal, Direct Seal: learning, mentors, mother.
The same Ten God behaves completely differently depending on strength and position in the chart. Reading Ten Gods always means reading the whole chart — which is exactly what Chart Pattern and the Useful God are for.
MoZhu tip
Master the derivation rule before the imagery. The rule is the technique; the imagery is the application — get the technique wrong and the application is all wrong. When casting, MoZhu automatically labels the Ten Gods of the four pillar stems (branch Hidden-Stem Ten Gods coming soon); you can verify them against this table to deepen your understanding.
Classical sources
The Ten Gods system is documented across classical BaZi literature, including Zi Ping Zhen Quan ("True Interpretation of Zi Ping").
*For entertainment purposes only.*