The Ten Gods in a BaZi Chart

The Ten Gods (十神) are the main interpretive tool in BaZi. Despite the name, they are not deities or characters. A "god" here is a type of relationship between the Day Master and any other stem in the chart. Through the Ten Gods, a chart turns from a set of characters into a description of how a person learns, works, handles resources, responds to demands and expresses themselves. If you do not yet know what the Day Master is, start with the article on the Day Master.

How a god is determined

Two questions are asked for every stem in the chart. The first is how its element relates to the Day Master's element: is it the same element, the element the Day Master produces, the one it controls, the one that controls it, or the one that produces it? The second is whether the polarity (Yang or Yin) is the same. Five relationships times two polarities give ten gods.

For example, for a 甲 (Yang Wood) Day Master, the stem 丙 (Yang Fire) is the Eating God: Wood produces Fire, and the polarity is the same. Whereas 丁 (Yin Fire) is the Hurting Officer for the same 甲.

The five groups and their meaning

Friend and Rob Wealth — your own element. They stand for self-reliance, independence and a circle of equals — friends, colleagues, competitors. Friend is partnership on equal terms; Rob Wealth is sharper competition and a drive to do things your own way. A lot of your own element strengthens the Day Master but can make it stubborn.

Eating God and Hurting Officer — what the Day Master produces. This is self-expression, energy flowing outward: speech, creativity, the ability to explain things and to make a product. Eating God is a calm, substantive delivery and enjoyment of the process. Hurting Officer is a sharper, more personal style, a drive to improve things and to challenge the rules for the sake of results.

Indirect Wealth and Direct Wealth — what the Day Master controls. Resources, money, practical results, the ability to manage. Direct Wealth is regular income, order and reliability. Indirect Wealth is flexibility, projects and the ability to spot an opportunity.

Seven Killings and Direct Officer — what controls the Day Master. External demands, responsibility, discipline, pressure from circumstances. Direct Officer is rules, status and clear boundaries. Seven Killings is abrupt challenges and the ability to pull yourself together under difficult conditions. The name sounds alarming, but in BaZi it is simply the traditional term for pressure that can either temper or wear a person out.

Indirect Resource and Direct Resource — what produces the Day Master. Resource in the broad sense: knowledge, support, learning, inner backing. Direct Resource is systematic education, care and reliable support. Indirect Resource is unconventional knowledge, intuition and self-directed learning.

Where the gods sit

The Ten Gods are calculated for all the visible stems of the chart — year, month and hour — and for all the Hidden Stems in the branches. For each branch the main qi is marked separately: it carries more weight than the other Hidden Stems. What Hidden Stems are and why a branch is not equal to a single element is explained in Hidden Stems and Earthly Branches.

A god's position adds nuance. A god in the month pillar has the strongest influence on social style and working environment. Gods in the day pillar — in the branch beneath the Day Master — relate to close relationships and personal space. Gods in the hour pillar are linked to intentions and to what a person does "for themselves". Gods in the year pillar are the external background.

A page for each god

Each of the ten gods has its own page: the essence of the relationship, its meaning in each pillar, excess and absence, Luck Pillars and years, and the traditional differences between a man's and a woman's chart.

• Friend 比肩 — self-reliance, partnership between equals
• Rob Wealth 劫财 — competition, independence, risk
• Eating God 食神 — calm self-expression, quality of work
• Hurting Officer 伤官 — a personal style, challenging rules for the sake of results
• Indirect Wealth 偏财 — projects, opportunities, flexible resources
• Direct Wealth 正财 — regular income, order, reliability
• Seven Killings 七杀 — pressure, challenge, the ability to rally
• Direct Officer 正官 — rules, status, responsibility
• Indirect Resource 偏印 — unconventional knowledge, self-study
• Direct Resource 正印 — structured learning, support, care

How the gods work together

The gods are not read one at a time. Pairs and chains matter: Resource nourishes the Day Master, the Day Master produces Eating God, Eating God produces Wealth, Wealth produces Officer, Officer produces Resource. When the chain is unbroken, energy flows freely through the chart. When one link is missing or there is too much of it, an imbalance appears: a lot of Resource with no Eating God means a tendency towards endless preparation; a lot of Wealth with a weak Day Master means resources that are hard to manage.

That is why the same gods are read differently in different charts. Seven Killings for a strong Day Master is energy for action; for a weak one it is a load that needs to be balanced by Resource.

How to find the gods in your chart

1. Build your chart and find the Day Master — the stem in the day pillar.
2. Above each pillar, Bazi.uz labels the god of the visible stem: for example, "Direct Officer" above the month pillar.
3. Below the branches, the Hidden Stems are listed with their gods; the main qi is marked separately.
4. Count which groups occur most often: your own element, self-expression, wealth, authority or resource. The dominant group sets the tone of the chart.
5. Look at which group is missing entirely — this is a theme that more often shows up through external periods.

For example, in a chart with three Resource stems and no Eating God, the tendency to study and prepare is strongly expressed, while bringing results out into the world takes conscious effort. In a reading, observations like these become practical recommendations: which tasks help turn knowledge into results.

Frequently asked questions

Are there "good" and "bad" gods? No. Any god is either useful or excessive depending on the strength of the Day Master and the balance of the chart. This is what determines the favourable elements.

Why is a particular god missing from my chart? Eight characters and a handful of Hidden Stems do not have to cover all ten relationships. A missing god can appear in the Luck Pillars and years — and then the corresponding theme comes to the fore during that period. More on this in the article on Luck Pillars.

Do the names differ between schools? Yes, translations vary: Eating God appears under other names, Seven Killings as "Indirect Officer", and Resource as "Seal". Bazi.uz uses one vocabulary across all sections.

Do the gods change over time? The gods of the chart are fixed: they are relationships between the characters of birth. What changes are the gods of the periods — Luck Pillars and years bring new stems, and for each of them a god is likewise determined relative to the Day Master.