The Ten Gods in one minute
The Ten Gods (十星, sipseong, also written 十神 sipsin) are not deities. They are ten role names that saju, the Korean four-pillars chart, gives to every other heavenly stem as it relates to your day master (日干, ilgan), the stem of your birth day. In a chart a stem is never just "wood" or "fire"; it is also a peer, a rival, an expression, income, pressure or support, depending on who is looking.
That is why the same stems can read very differently in two charts: the day master is not the same. If the four pillars are new to you, start with the saju basics guide.
Where the ten come from
The system needs only two ideas you already know from the five elements (五行, ohaeng): which element produces which, and which controls which. Wood feeds fire, fire makes earth, earth bears metal, metal gathers water, water nourishes wood. Wood breaks earth, earth dams water, water douses fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood.
Take the element of your day master and ask how another stem's element stands to it. There are five answers:
- The same element: a peer.
- The element you produce: your output.
- The element you control: your wealth.
- The element that controls you: your authority or pressure.
- The element that produces you: your resource.
Each stem is also yang or yin. Each answer therefore splits in two, for a stem of the same polarity as your day master and one of the opposite polarity. Five times two gives ten.
All ten at a glance
The English names are the ones used throughout this site. The pair order is always same polarity first, opposite polarity second.
| Relation to you | Polarity | Name | Hanja | Korean | Plain meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Same element | Same | Companion | 比肩 | bigyeon | peers, friends, a self-reliant core |
| Same element | Opposite | Rob Wealth | 劫財 | geopjae | rivals, sharing, competing for the same pie |
| You produce it | Same | Eating God | 食神 | siksin | easy, enjoyable output: craft, food, relaxed generosity |
| You produce it | Opposite | Hurting Officer | 傷官 | sanggwan | sharp, expressive output: wit, critique, dislike of rules |
| You control it | Same | Indirect Wealth | 偏財 | pyeonjae | variable income, trade, opportunities that come and go |
| You control it | Opposite | Direct Wealth | 正財 | jeongjae | steady income, saving, careful stewardship |
| It controls you | Same | Seven Killings | 七殺 / 偏官 | chilsal / pyeongwan | pressure, challenge, a hard test that builds strength |
| It controls you | Opposite | Direct Officer | 正官 | jeonggwan | rules, roles, reputation, institutions |
| It produces you | Same | Indirect Resource | 偏印 | pyeonin | unconventional learning, intuition, side interests |
| It produces you | Opposite | Direct Resource | 正印 | jeongin | formal learning, mentors, protection |
"Direct" (正, jeong) and "indirect" (偏, pyeon) just mean the opposite-polarity and same-polarity member of each pair. Seven Killings gets its name because, counting from the day master, the controlling stem of the same polarity is the seventh stem along.
A worked example: a yang-wood day master
Suppose your day master is 甲 (gap), yang wood. Wood produces fire, controls earth, is controlled by metal and is produced by water. Running through the ten stems in order gives this:
| Stem | Element and polarity | Ten god for a 甲 day master |
|---|---|---|
| 甲 | yang wood | Companion |
| 乙 | yin wood | Rob Wealth |
| 丙 | yang fire | Eating God |
| 丁 | yin fire | Hurting Officer |
| 戊 | yang earth | Indirect Wealth |
| 己 | yin earth | Direct Wealth |
| 庚 | yang metal | Seven Killings |
| 辛 | yin metal | Direct Officer |
| 壬 | yang water | Indirect Resource |
| 癸 | yin water | Direct Resource |
Change the day master and the whole column shifts. For a 丙 (yang fire) day master, the same stem 甲 becomes Indirect Resource and 壬 becomes Seven Killings. The stems never change; their jobs do.
Hidden stems add more gods
The four visible stems are only part of the picture. Each branch also stores one to three hidden stems (支藏干, jijanggan), small amounts of other elements tucked inside. The last one listed is the main qi (本氣), the branch's dominant flavor. Each hidden stem gets its own god, measured from the day master as above.
Here is an illustrative chart, not a real person: year 庚申, month 壬午, day 甲子, hour 己巳. With 甲 as the day master:
- Visible stems: 庚 is Seven Killings, 壬 is Indirect Resource and 己 is Direct Wealth.
- Main qi of the branches: 申 holds 庚 (Seven Killings), 午 holds 丁 (Hurting Officer), 子 holds 癸 (Direct Resource) and 巳 holds 丙 (Eating God).
- Other hidden stems: 申 also holds 戊 (Indirect Wealth) and 壬 (Indirect Resource); 午 holds 丙 (Eating God) and 己 (Direct Wealth); 子 holds 壬 (Indirect Resource); 巳 holds 戊 (Indirect Wealth) and 庚 (Seven Killings).
The day branch is worth a close look because it sits right beside the day master. You can see this on the day-pillar pages: the 甲子 (gap-ja) page shows 子 holding 壬 and 癸, both resource gods for a 甲 day master, while the 丙午 (byeong-o) page shows 午 holding 丙 (Companion), 己 (Hurting Officer) and 丁 (Rob Wealth). The whole set of sixty is on the day pillar hub.
Reading a chart with many of one god
In the example above, Seven Killings turns up twice among the visible stems and main qi (庚 and 申), more than any other god. How should that be read? A few habits keep you honest:
- Count by weight, not just by number. A god in the month branch usually speaks louder than one in the hour stem, and a main qi counts for more than a residual hidden stem. Teachers weigh this differently, so a count is only a sketch.
- Read the theme, then the tone. Many Seven Killings suggests that pressure, deadlines and demanding people are a recurring theme. Whether that feels like a spur or a weight depends on the rest of the chart, for instance whether Resource gods are present to cushion it, as they are here through 壬 and 癸.
- Look at what is absent too. A chart with no Output gods is not "bad"; it may simply mean that self-expression takes deliberate effort. Gods can also arrive later through ten-year and yearly luck, see the Daewoon and Sewoon guide.
- Ask about balance. Which gods a chart most needs to even itself out is the question of the useful god, covered in the Yongsin guide.
Traditional readers also attach people to the gods: Resource to a mother, Wealth to a father and, for men, a wife or partner; Officer to authority figures and, for women, a husband or partner; Companion and Rob Wealth to siblings and friends. These are conventions, and they vary by teacher and by period.
Honest limits
- A god is a role, not a character judgment. Hurting Officer is not "bad" and Direct Wealth is not "good"; each can be a gift or a strain depending on context.
- Schools differ. Some count only the main qi of a branch, and some list different hidden stems for a few branches. Our pages follow one convention, so another teacher may show a slightly different list.
- The gods describe tendencies in a chart, not events. Money, health and legal choices belong with real numbers and professional advice.
FAQ
Q. Are the Ten Gods actual deities?
A. No. "God" here is a translation habit for 神 (sin), which can mean a spirit or an energy. They are labels for relationships between stems and your day master.
Q. Is Seven Killings a bad sign?
A. No. It marks pressure and challenge as a theme. Many readers connect it with discipline, endurance and leadership, especially when the chart also has support.
Q. How do I find my own Ten Gods?
A. Find your day master, then compare every other stem and each branch's hidden stems against it with the logic above. The free saju analysis does the sorting for you.