What each of the ten means, and the rules that decide them, on a single page.
The ten gods (十星) are the ten names given to the relationship between the day stem (日干) — the reference character of a chart — and each of the other characters. They are also called shi shen (十神).
Reading a chart is, in practice, reading where these ten sit and how. Chart structure and favourable element both start here.
There are only two rules.
| Relation | What it is | Which gods |
|---|---|---|
| Same as me | A character of the same element as mine | 比肩 (Friend) · 劫財 (Rob Wealth) |
| I generate it | The side I give force to (generation, 生) | 食神 (Eating God) · 傷官 (Hurting Officer) |
| I control it | The side I govern (control, 剋) | 偏財 (Indirect Wealth) · 正財 (Direct Wealth) |
| It controls me | The side that governs me | 偏官 (Indirect Officer) · 正官 (Direct Officer) |
| It generates me | The side that gives force to me | 偏印 (Indirect Resource) · 正印 (Direct Resource) |
Each of the five relations splits once more into same polarity and opposite polarity. That gives 5 x 2 = 10.
Jia is yang Wood. Apply the two rules above and this is what comes out.
| Character met | Element, polarity | Relation | Ten god |
|---|---|---|---|
| 甲 (Gap) | Wood · Yang | Same as me · same polarity | 比肩 (Friend) |
| 乙 (Eul) | Wood · Yin | Same as me · opposite polarity | 劫財 (Rob Wealth) |
| 丙 (Byeong) | Fire · Yang | I generate it · same polarity | 食神 (Eating God) |
| 丁 (Jeong) | Fire · Yin | I generate it · opposite polarity | 傷官 (Hurting Officer) |
| 戊 (Mu) | Earth · Yang | I control it · same polarity | 偏財 (Indirect Wealth) |
| 己 (Gi) | Earth · Yin | I control it · opposite polarity | 正財 (Direct Wealth) |
| 庚 (Gyeong) | Metal · Yang | It controls me · same polarity | 偏官 (Indirect Officer) |
| 辛 (Sin) | Metal · Yin | It controls me · opposite polarity | 正官 (Direct Officer) |
| 壬 (Im) | Water · Yang | It generates me · same polarity | 偏印 (Indirect Resource) |
| 癸 (Gye) | Water · Yin | It generates me · opposite polarity | 正印 (Direct Resource) |
This table is what our engine actually returns. Change the day stem and the same character becomes a different god — all ten day stems times ten characters, a hundred cases, are settled by these two rules.
A force equal to your own. It stands for siblings and peers.
Same element as mine · same polarity
A force that competes with you. It stands for half-siblings and rivals.
Same element as mine · opposite polarity
A force that produces without strain. For a woman it stands for a daughter.
The element I generate · same polarity
A force that shows talent outward. For a woman it stands for a son.
The element I generate · opposite polarity
Wealth gathered steadily. For a man it stands for the wife.
The element I control · opposite polarity
Wealth that comes and goes in large amounts. It stands for the father.
The element I control · same polarity
A force of rules and duty. For a woman it stands for the husband.
The element that controls me · opposite polarity
A force of pressure and challenge. It stands for children and superiors. It falls seventh from the day stem, so it is also called the Seven Killings (七殺).
The element that controls me · same polarity
A force that cares for and teaches you. It stands for the mother. It is also called Inju (印綬).
The element that generates me · opposite polarity
A force of learning and skill off the main road. It stands for a stepmother or aunt.
The element that generates me · same polarity
They are also taken two at a time as five groups. Chart structure is discussed in these terms.
| Group | The two gods | What it points at |
|---|---|---|
| 比劫 (Companion) | 比肩 (Friend) · 劫財 (Rob Wealth) | my own force, peers, competition |
| 食傷 (Output) | 食神 (Eating God) · 傷官 (Hurting Officer) | force put out, expression, making |
| 財星 (Wealth) | 正財 (Direct Wealth) · 偏財 (Indirect Wealth) | what I govern, wealth |
| 官星 (Officer) | 正官 (Direct Officer) · 偏官 (Indirect Officer) | force that presses me, rules, standing |
| 印星 (Resource) | 正印 (Direct Resource) · 偏印 (Indirect Resource) | force that supports me, learning, shelter |
People say things like "indirect officer is bad" or "direct officer is good", but the classics do not read it that way.
The same indirect officer works entirely differently depending on whether your day stem is strong and whether there is a character to govern it. A seven-killings properly governed becomes the axis of real achievement.
Hence the order in which it is read — 1. which god forms the chart structure, 2. whether that structure is intact or broken, 3. what governs or rescues it (the supporting character).
It is not counting how many of each god you have. It is reading the relations.
A strong day stem has ample force supporting it (companion and resource groups); a weak day stem has more force draining it (output, wealth and officer groups). Sort the ten gods and it shows directly.
But strong and weak are not good and bad — they are where the remedy differs. The same character is medicine to a strong chart and a burden to a weak one.
The ten gods are also read as family relations. This is called yukchin (六親).
| Who | Ten god |
|---|---|
| Mother | 正印 (Direct Resource) |
| Father | 偏財 (Indirect Wealth) |
| Siblings, peers | 比肩 (Friend) (a rival is 劫財 (Rob Wealth)) |
| Wife (for a man) | 正財 (Direct Wealth) |
| Husband (for a woman) | 正官 (Direct Officer) |
| Children (for a woman) | 食神 (Eating God) (daughter), 傷官 (Hurting Officer) (son) |
They are the same. 十星 and 十神 are two names for the same ten. Books use one or the other.
They point at the same character. When indirect resource works against the day stem it is sometimes called hyoshin (梟神). Two names, not two characters.
Enter your birth date and time and you get the god for each of the eight characters at once, along with which group is heavy and which is thin.
The day stem is the heavenly stem of the day you were born. Enter your birth date in the perpetual calendar and the four pillars come out directly.