BaZi ten gods: how each name is worked out

What are the BaZi ten gods?

Find the heavenly stem of the day pillar first. That stem is your BaZi day master, the reference point for every name. A ten gods name is not a property fixed to a character: it describes that character relative to the day master, so the same stem can carry a different name in another chart.

Bing measured from Jia and Jia measured from Bing are different questions, even though the characters are the same. Keep both stems beside any name you copy, so you can still tell which comparison produced it.

Five relationships, each split in two

The five relationships are same element, what the day master generates, what it controls, what controls it and what generates it. Each splits in two by whether the two stems share yin or yang, which gives ten names. The table below follows the same mapping Multifate uses in its calculations.

Wood generates Fire and controls Earth; Metal controls Wood, and Water generates it. BaZi five elements lays out both cycles, and day master element shows how a different day master changes the reading. Calling all four simply different elements throws away the direction a name needs.

How do element and polarity give the ten names?

In the table, same and opposite refer to the two stems' yin and yang, not to whether two people agree. Keep the Chinese names beside the English ones when you compare glossaries. Words such as Direct, Indirect, Officer and Wealth belong to this vocabulary; their everyday meaning does not decide the calculation.

A short traditional gloss for each name, as an association and not a description of anyone:

• Friend: same element and polarity, a peer of the day master.
• Rob Wealth: same element, opposite polarity, a rival peer.
• Eating God: output that flows easily, linked to expression.
• Hurting Officer: output that pushes against rules, linked to sharp expression.
• Indirect Wealth: a controlled element, same polarity, linked to irregular gain.
• Direct Wealth: a controlled element, opposite polarity, linked to steady means.
• Seven Killings: pressure on the day master from the same polarity.
• Direct Officer: pressure on the day master from the opposite polarity, linked to order.
• Indirect Resource: support from the same polarity, linked to unusual learning.
• Direct Resource: support from the opposite polarity, linked to learning and care.

Ten godsshí shén 十神

Ten names for how another stem relates to the day master: five element relationships, each split by same or opposite polarity.

Seven Killingsqī shā 七杀

A stem whose element controls the day master's element, with the same polarity.

Hurting Officershāng guān 伤官

A stem whose element the day master generates, with the opposite polarity.

How does Jia read Bing, Ding, Geng and Xin?

Jia is yang Wood. Bing is yang Fire: Wood generates Fire and the polarity matches, so Bing is Eating God. Ding is yin Fire: same direction, opposite polarity, so Ding is Hurting Officer. These are examples of the rule at work, not anyone's birth chart.

Geng and Xin are Metal, which controls Wood. Geng is yang like Jia, so Seven Killings; Xin is yin, so Direct Officer. Changing one property at a time shows why the element alone never picks the final name.

Which character does a ten gods name belong to?

A pillar has a visible stem on top and a branch that holds BaZi hidden stems. When a reading gives a name, ask whether it belongs to the visible stem or to one of the hidden stems. The rule is the same for each, but the position belongs in your note. Here is a Jia day master read against a Jia-Yin 甲寅 pillar:

• Visible stem Jia: Friend.
• Hidden stem Jia (Main): Friend.
• Hidden stem Bing (Middle): Eating God.
• Hidden stem Wu (Residual): Indirect Wealth.

Does Seven Killings mean something bad will happen?

The names are relationship labels. Once you can see how a name is derived, you can also see how much extra reasoning a literal reading of it would need.

The same care applies in BaZi compatibility. A relationship between symbols and how two people behave are different claims, and an explanation should name the positions and assumptions that connect them.

How to work out a ten gods name again

1. Write the day master

   Note the day stem with its element and polarity.

2. Write the other stem

   The same for the stem you compare.

3. Find the direction

   Same element, I generate, I control, controls me, or generates me.

4. Compare polarity

   Same or opposite yin and yang.

5. Look up the name

   Only now read it from the table; add the pillar and visible or hidden.

With a note like this you can work a name out again if you forget it. For a stem in your own chart, add its pillar and whether it is visible or hidden; an unknown hour simply leaves the hour pillar out. A luck pillar's stem is compared the same way, still against the natal day master: see BaZi luck cycles.