These stems in your chart
Add birth details to see the visible and hidden stems associated with this entry, or use the example in the Four Pillars explorer.
Open Four Pillars →A chart relationship, not a trait test
Ten Gods (shíshén 十神) is a set of ten names obtained by comparing another chart character to the Day Master, the Heavenly Stem of the day pillar. Mingli Tanyuan directs the reader to take the day stem as ‘self’ and compare the year, month and hour stems, as well as stems concealed in branches, by generation and control.
The result is a traditional interpretive classification. It does not measure character, prove a prediction, or turn a literal name such as Rob Wealth or Seven Killings into a statement about conduct or danger.
Mingli Tanyuan 命理探源, ‘Naming the ten stems by generation and control’ ↗Joey Yap · What Is BaZi? The Four Pillars Explained ↗
Derive the name from direction and polarity
Start with the Day Master’s Five-Phase and polarity. Compare the selected stem’s phase in a directed way: same phase; produced by the Day Master; controlled by the Day Master; controlling the Day Master; or producing the Day Master. Then distinguish same polarity from opposite polarity.
Mingli Tanyuan states the convention as same-polarity yin/yang meeting = partial (piān 偏) and opposite-polarity meeting = proper/direct (zhèng 正). For the same-phase pair, modern practitioner terminology calls same polarity Friend and opposite polarity Rob Wealth. The inspector applies this distinction to each of the three other visible stems.
Mingli Tanyuan 命理探源 ↗Vin Leo (2004) · Searching for the Gods, Joey Yap ↗
What this tool classifies
The explorer takes one selected visible stem from year, month, day or hour, then compares it with the Day Master. It displays the selected phase and polarity, the Day Master phase and polarity, and the resulting relationship. Retain the selected clock and day-rollover convention because those settings can change the computed day pillar near a boundary. The separate branch inspector adds hidden-stem comparisons while retaining their source branch.
The day-pillar stem supplies the reference. Selecting that same visible day stem is an identity comparison, so the tool keeps the day pillar visibly identified as the reference rather than present it as a separate Friend result. A Jia Day Master and a Jia year stem, by contrast, is a genuine other-pillar Friend comparison.
Hong Kong Observatory · Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches ↗Joey Yap · What Is BaZi? The Four Pillars Explained ↗
Worked examples with Jia Wood
Let the Day Master be Jia (甲), Yang Wood. A selected Jia in the year, month or hour is Friend; Yi (乙), Yin Wood, is Rob Wealth. Bing (丙), Yang Fire, is Eating God and Ding (丁), Yin Fire, is Hurting Officer, because Wood produces Fire.
For the same Jia reference, Wu (戊), Yang Earth, is Indirect Wealth and Ji (己), Yin Earth, is Direct Wealth because Wood controls Earth. Geng (庚), Yang Metal, is Seven Killings/Partial Officer and Xin (辛), Yin Metal, is Direct Officer because Metal controls Wood. Ren (壬), Yang Water, is Indirect Resource and Gui (癸), Yin Water, is Direct Resource because Water produces Wood.
Mingli Tanyuan 命理探源, five-yang-stem table ↗Vin Leo (2004) · Searching for the Gods, Joey Yap ↗
Visible stems are an introductory layer
A visible-stem result records a reproducible relationship for the selected input. Traditional instructions also mention stems concealed in branches, while chart practice may add seasonal command, combinations, transformations, strength, structures, luck periods and lineage-specific rules. Those layers can change how a practitioner discusses a result; they are not silently inferred by this tool.
Do not count categories as quantities of luck, infer favourable or unfavourable phases, or apply gendered or moral stereotypes. The supplied title alone is not a personal reading.
Mingli Tanyuan 命理探源 ↗Vin Leo (2004) · Searching for the Gods, Joey Yap ↗
Names, translations and provenance
Traditional sources use variant labels. Mingli Tanyuan calls Partial Officer ‘Seven Killings’ and lists Indirect Resource aliases including Inverted Food and Owl Spirit. Atlas preserves these as aliases and translates literal terms cautiously; it does not treat them as literal forecasts.
Mingli Tanyuan is an accessible traditional text and records the rule and names used here. This page does not claim a single ancient origin for every current English name, complete agreement among BaZi and Saju lineages, or empirical validation of interpretive outcomes. For a personal result, inspect the visible comparison first, then consult a clearly named method for any additional reading.
Mingli Tanyuan 命理探源 ↗Vin Leo (2004) · Searching for the Gods, Joey Yap ↗
Word origin · etymology
Chinese shíshén 十神, literally ‘ten spirits/deities’.
The literal name is documented as a traditional label. This draft makes no claim about when the name was coined or that it describes literal supernatural beings.
How we know · epistemology
Traditional/practitioner interpretive classification
The label is a rule-based chart relation, not a measured personality trait, forecast, or scientific finding. A label alone does not establish strength, favourability, or an event outcome.
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Connected concepts
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Terms used in this explanation
Mentioned in 18 other entries
These links connect subjects and terminology. They do not establish a shared historical origin.
Sources & provenance
Use the citations beside each section to distinguish a calculation convention, a historical teaching and an editorial example.