The Ten Gods (十神) explained — five phase relations × same or opposite polarity

Yili Paipan · Knowledge base · Updated 2026-09

1. "God" is a translation, not a deity

十神 is usually rendered Ten Gods and sometimes Ten Deities; neither word means that anything is invoked. Each of the ten is a label for a relation between the Day Master (the day pillar's stem) and one other stem. Nothing is addressed, summoned or worshipped, and no supernatural claim is involved.

This site uses those labels as notation: they tell you how a stem stands to the Day Master — the same phase, produced by it, controlled by it, controlling it, or producing it — together with that stem's polarity. That is the whole content of the term.

2. The five relations

The five phases (五行: wood, fire, earth, metal, water) stand to each other in exactly two dynamic relations — producing (生) and controlling (克). Apply both to the Day Master's own phase and five relations appear:

The names are mnemonic handles for those five relations. "Wealth" names what the Day Master controls — it does not promise money. "Officers" names what controls the Day Master — it does not mean employment. Treating the handles as literal outcomes is where popular readings go wrong.

3. Same or opposite polarity: the ten labels

Each relation splits into two, depending on whether the other stem's polarity (阴阳) matches the Day Master's or opposes it. That gives all ten:

Two names are worth flagging because they sound alarming in English. Seven Killings (七杀) is the classical name for the same-polarity officer relation — a label, not a threat. Hurting Officer (伤官) is the classical name for the opposite-polarity output relation — again a label, not a warning. Neither says anything will happen.

4. Worked examples: the same ten stems from two Day Masters

Because labels are relative, identical stems receive different ones under different Day Masters. Both rows below are exported from this site's engine, and the same pair of rows appears on the rules page so the two can be checked against each other:

• 乙 (Yi, yin wood) Day Master: 甲 = Rival (劫财) · 乙 = Peer (比肩) · 丙 = Hurting Officer (伤官) · 丁 = Eating God (食神) · 戊 = Direct Wealth (正财) · 己 = Indirect Wealth (偏财) · 庚 = Direct Officer (正官) · 辛 = Seven Killings (七杀) · 壬 = Direct Resource (正印) · 癸 = Indirect Resource (偏印)
• 甲 (Jia, yang wood) Day Master: 甲 = Peer (比肩) · 乙 = Rival (劫财) · 丙 = Eating God (食神) · 丁 = Hurting Officer (伤官) · 戊 = Indirect Wealth (偏财) · 己 = Direct Wealth (正财) · 庚 = Seven Killings (七杀) · 辛 = Direct Officer (正官) · 壬 = Indirect Resource (偏印) · 癸 = Direct Resource (正印)

Read the two rows against each other and the logic is visible: 乙 against a yin-wood Day Master is the peer relation, but against a yang-wood Day Master the same stem has opposite polarity and becomes the rival relation. The producing and controlling chains are unchanged — only the polarity split moves.

5. Where the Ten Gods appear in a chart

• Visible stems: the year, month and hour pillar stems are each labelled against the Day Master; the day stem itself is the Day Master and carries no label.
• Hidden stems (藏干): branches carry one to three stems inside them, and each is labelled the same way. The engine reads the main hidden stem of a branch, which is why a chart can show an officer relation in a branch where no officer stem is visible.
• Luck pillars (大运) and yearly flow (流年): their stems are labelled too, so the same notation extends to the ten-year sequence and to a given civil year.
• Positions matter: the same label in the month pillar and in the hour pillar sits in different positions of the chart, and the site reports them position by position rather than pooling them.
• Depth and balance are not scored: this site publishes no strength score, no "weak/strong Day Master" verdict and no accuracy percentage — those are judgments about the chart, not relations in it.

6. How we describe them — and what we do not claim

For each Ten God the site attaches a short reading: the relation itself, a mode (consolidate, output, deliver, calibrate, cooperate) and one caution line. These are renderings of the relation — what the label describes — not statements about a person's fate or about events that will occur.

• No ranking: no Ten God is treated as good or bad. 正印 and 偏印, or 正官 and 七杀, are different relations, not higher and lower ones, and nothing in the output implies that one should be "fixed".
• No remedies: the site sells no cures, amulets or consultations to change a chart's configuration, and nothing suggests that paying changes an outcome.
• No predictions: a mode or a caution line is a reading of a fixed relation, never a forecast that something will happen.

Scope: this material is provided for entertainment and cultural study only. It is a traditional symbolic framework — we make no claim of scientific validity, and we make no claims and no predictions about your future, health, finances, relationships or any decision. Rules are published so you can recompute and evaluate them yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Are the Ten Gods deities or spirits?

No. 十神 is a translation convention from the classical texts; each of the ten is a label for the relation between the Day Master and one other stem, derived from phase (五行) and polarity (阴阳). Nothing is invoked or contacted, and this site treats them purely as notation.

Why does the same stem get different labels in different charts?

Because labels are relative to the Day Master. Take the stem 甲: under a 乙 (yin wood) Day Master it is Rival (劫财), while under a 甲 (yang wood) Day Master it is Peer (比肩). One stem, two charts, two relations — the label describes the relation, not the stem.

Do alarming names like Seven Killings (七杀) mean something bad will happen?

No. Seven Killings is the classical name for the same-polarity officer relation — the relation in which another phase controls the Day Master — and Hurting Officer is the classical name for the opposite-polarity output relation. Both are labels inherited from the texts. Our output ranks nothing and attaches no good or bad value, and it never says an event will occur.

Does the Ten Gods notation predict anything?

Not here. It is a labelling system applied to stems in a computed chart, and the reading is a plain-language rendering of those labels for entertainment and cultural study only. The site makes no predictions and no claims about your future, and sells no remedies or cures.

Related entries

• What is BaZi (Four Pillars)?

See also：Computation method · Computation rules · Pricing