Ten Gods 十神
Shí Shén · The ten ways another element can relate to your Day Master.
What it means
The Ten Gods are the vocabulary of BaZi interpretation. Take the Day Master's element and compare it with any other element in the chart: the other element either produces it, is produced by it, controls it, is controlled by it, or matches it. That gives five relationships, and each splits in two depending on whether the polarity is the same or different — ten in total.
Why it matters
The Ten Gods are how a chart is turned into language. Resource is read as support, learning and protection; Output as expression and creativity; Wealth as effort converted into results; Power as authority and pressure; Peer as colleagues and rivals. Almost every sentence in a professional reading is a statement about which gods are present, which are missing, and where they sit.
| Other element | Relation to a Wood Day Master | Pair of Ten Gods |
|---|---|---|
| Wood 木 | same | Peer — Friend 比肩 / Rob Wealth 劫财 |
| Fire 火 | i-support | Output — Hurting Officer 伤官 / Eating God 食神 |
| Earth 土 | i-control | Wealth — Direct Wealth 正财 / Indirect Wealth 偏财 |
| Metal 金 | pressures-me | Power — Direct Officer 正官 / Seven Killings 七杀 |
| Water 水 | supports-me | Resource — Direct Resource 正印 / Indirect Resource 偏印 |
Where this site uses it
The yearly forecasts on this site use the same five relationships in plain English — resource, output, wealth, pressure, peer — rather than the Chinese terms, computed from the element tables.