Ten Gods: Social Role Models

Ten Gods: A symbolic system describing the relationship between individuals and society

	Year Pillar	Month Pillar	Day Pillar	Hour Pillar
Heavenly Stems			🌟 Day Master
Earthly Branches

The heavenly stem of the day pillar represents “I” and is called the “Day Master”. The Ten Gods are centered on “I” and are a symbol system constructed through the relationship between the five elements and the differences in yin and yang attributes between the heavenly stems. Its essence is an abstract modeling of social relations and human characteristics in ancient times. The judgment rules are as follows:

Yin and Yang attributes: The other Heavenly Stems and Day Master have the same Yin / Yang (both Yin or both Yang) or different (one Yin and one Yang)

Generating and overcoming relationship: The five elements of generation and restraint between other heavenly stems and the Day Master

	Ten Gods	Generating and overcoming relationship	Yin Yang	Meaning
Social system	Direct Officer	Overcome me	different	Rules and Authority
	Seven Killings	Overcome me	same	Challenges and changes
Cultural Thought	Direct Resource	Generate me	different	Knowledge and inheritance
	Indirect Resource	Generate me	same	Inspiration and uniqueness
Interpersonal interaction	Friend	Same as me	same	Cooperation and competition
	Rob Wealth	Same as me	different	Resource competition
Expression and Creation	Eating God	I generate	same	Create and enjoy
	Hurting Officer	I generate	different	Criticism and innovation
Resource Opportunities	Direct Wealth	I overcome	different	Stable income
	Indirect Wealth	I overcome	same	Risk-Return

The Ten Gods, one by one

Each god below is a relationship to the Day Master, split by yin-yang. Same polarity makes the blunter, more self-directed version; different polarity makes the more社会化, exchange-oriented version — you will see the pairing repeat through all five groups.

Friend (比肩) — same element, same polarity

The peer who stands shoulder to shoulder with you: siblings, classmates, colleagues at your level. Strong Friend gives self-reliance, stamina and an instinct to compete on equal terms; it also splits resources — more people at the table eating from the same plate. Charts with heavy Friend do well where independence is rewarded and poorly where they must wait their turn.

Rob Wealth (劫财) — same element, different polarity

The rival sibling: charismatic, fast-moving, generous in company and careless with shared money. Rob Wealth excels at rallying people and seizing openings, but its name is literal — unmanaged, it spends, lends and gambles away what Direct Wealth saves. In a weak chart it is welcome backup; in a strong one it doubles every impulse.

Eating God (食神) — I generate, same polarity

Output in its relaxed form: appetite, art, cooking, easy speech, the pleasure of making things. Eating God charts are tolerant and unhurried, good at craft and at enjoying what they produce. Its classical virtue is that it overcomes Seven Killings — gentle productivity disarming pressure. Excess shows as indulgence and a soft middle where ambition should be.

Hurting Officer (伤官) — I generate, different polarity

Output sharpened into performance and critique: eloquent, inventive, allergic to dumb rules. Hurting Officer breaks conventions brilliantly — and clashes with Direct Officer, the god of rules, which classical texts treat as its signature hazard. Channelled into art, advocacy or engineering it is the most original voice in the chart; idle, it argues with referees.

Direct Wealth (正财) — I overcome, different polarity

Earned money: salary, savings, the reward of management and patience. Direct Wealth people budget, keep promises and prefer the deal everyone walks away from intact. In a man’s chart classical texts also read it as the wife star. Too much of it grinds: life becomes bookkeeping, and opportunities that require a leap get audited until they leave.

Indirect Wealth (偏财) — I overcome, same polarity

Windfall money: trade, commissions, markets, generosity that returns multiplied. Indirect Wealth reads opportunities the way Direct Wealth reads ledgers — socially, quickly, in motion. It makes natural dealmakers and cheerful hosts; it also makes money that leaves as easily as it came. The classical father star, and in a man’s chart, romance outside the main thread.

Direct Officer (正官) — overcomes me, different polarity

Legitimate authority: the law, the boss, the title, the reputation worth protecting. Direct Officer gives self-discipline, public trust and a career that climbs institutions. In a woman’s chart classical texts read it as the husband star. One is a gift; several stack supervision on supervision until the chart lives for approval.

Seven Killings (七杀) — overcomes me, same polarity

Raw pressure: the rival, the deadline, the crisis that promotes whoever survives it. Seven Killings is the general’s god — decisive, fearless, at its best with a real enemy to organise against. Disciplined by a Resource or an Eating God it builds commanders and surgeons; undisciplined, it turns the pressure inward.

Direct Resource (正印) — generates me, different polarity

The orthodox teacher: education, licences, mother, institutions that feed you legitimacy. Direct Resource gives patience, scholarship and protection — it weakens whatever attacks the Day Master. Heavy Resource charts learn forever and risk staying students forever, fed so well they never need to hunt.

Indirect Resource (偏印) — generates me, same polarity

The unorthodox teacher: intuition, niche skills, medicine, divination, the lineage outside the syllabus. Indirect Resource minds are penetrating and private, quick to master what nobody else in the room studies. Its classical shadow is suspicion and isolation — nourishment that arrives without warmth. It famously starves the Eating God, so the two need balancing.

How to use the Ten Gods in a reading

Cast the chart, find the Day Master, and note which gods repeat and which are absent — repetition is a theme, absence is a blind spot, and neither is a sentence. Then check which pillar each god sits in: the same god means family inheritance in the year pillar, career style in the month, marriage dynamics in the day branch, and later life in the hour. Finally watch the luck cycles: a decade that carries the god your chart lacks is precisely when that part of life comes due. You can see all of this laid out by the free chart calculator.