Stage 2 · Term 11 of 34
Ten Gods 十神
Shí Shén
The ten relationship archetypes formed by comparing each chart character's element and polarity to the Day Master. They translate raw elements into life domains — wealth, authority, creativity, support, peers. Not deities and not moral verdicts: "Seven Killings" harms no one and "Rob Wealth" steals nothing.
In the classics
《渊海子平》 defines the ten relations and their classical aliases; 《子平真诠》 builds its entire structure doctrine on which god commands the month. The names are functional descriptions of element-and-polarity relations to the Day Master — five relations × two polarities = ten.
In a chart
The Ten Gods are BaZi's translation layer: raw elements become life domains — wealth, authority, output, support, peers. Each god is neither blessing nor curse; the classics judge every one by dose, position and the Day Master's capacity to carry it. Authority dignifies a strong chart and oppresses a weak one; output enriches a rooted chart and drains a floating one. Learn the mechanical definitions first (they are pure arithmetic), then let the chart teach you their temperaments.
Worked example
For a 甲 wood Day Master: 丙 is Food God, 丁 Hurting Officer, 戊 Indirect Wealth, 己 Direct Wealth, 庚 Seven Killings, 辛 Direct Officer, 壬 Indirect Resource, 癸 Direct Resource, 甲 Companion, 乙 Rob Wealth. Ten characters, ten relations, no memorisation needed once the two cycles are internalised.
Where beginners misread it
Taking the names literally — "Seven Killings" harms no one and "Rob Wealth" steals nothing. They are Tang-Song era technical vocabulary, vivid on purpose, moral never.
Spotting it is Stage-2 work; weighing it against everything else in a real chart is what a teacher trains you to do — that layer lives at Yixin Academy.
learnwithyixin.com/courses →What does Ten Gods mean in BaZi?
The ten relationship archetypes formed by comparing each chart character's element and polarity to the Day Master. They translate raw elements into life domains — wealth, authority, creativity, support, peers. Not deities and not moral verdicts: "Seven Killings" harms no one and "Rob Wealth" steals nothing.