English Glossary: BaZi Ten Gods Names and Nuances

This glossary gives the English names this chart prints for the ten gods, and the nuance that keeps each name from sliding into the neighbor beside it. The day master is the reference stem, and every other stem is same element, output, wealth, officer, or resource, then one of two polarities. The light chart shows the Chinese name and the gloss together as professional metaphysics, not as compliments or warnings.

Key facts

The ten names on this site are Companion (比肩), Rob Wealth (劫财), Eating God (食神), Hurting Officer (伤官), Indirect Wealth (偏财), Direct Wealth (正财), Seven Killings (七杀), Direct Officer (正官), Indirect Resource (偏印), and Direct Resource (正印).
“Direct” in the officer, wealth, and resource pairs means opposite polarity to the day master. “Indirect” means matching polarity. Eating God, not Hurting Officer, is the matching-polarity output. The output pair does not follow the word “direct.”
Companion is matching-polarity peer. Rob Wealth is opposite-polarity peer. The word rob is a diagram, not an accusation.
Proper Seal, useful god, and indirect officer appear in older English. On this chart the printed glosses are Direct Resource, the useful-element note, and Seven Killings. Translate before you compare two printouts.
The day stem is not a ten god of itself. A column that seems to “lack a name” on the day stem is working as designed.
Hidden stems use the same ten names at lower volume. A glossary entry does not become truer because it was buried in a branch.

Peers, output, and the words that sound like morals

What BaZi is defines the day master. From there the peer pair is the easiest to misread, because both stems are “you,” element for element.

Companion and Rob Wealth

Companion (比肩) is an equal at your polarity: alliance, a person at your scale, a second copy of the same elemental weather. Rob Wealth (劫财) is an equal at the other polarity. Classical teaching says this peer contends for wealth, hence the hard English. Use it for competition and shared pots. Do not use it as a character reference for a sibling. If a translation app says “robbery star,” substitute the gloss the chart prints and read Rob Wealth before you text anyone.

Eating God and Hurting Officer

Eating God (食神), Shi Shen, is output at the day master’s polarity: craft that can be received, a feeding image, a milder public voice in many textbooks. Hurting Officer (伤官) is output at the opposite polarity: a sharper voice, classically said to injure the officer star. Injury means friction with procedure. It does not mean harm. A reader who translates both as “talent star” will not understand why one draft fights a rule and the other tries to feed the room. Keep both glosses. The separate pages on this site exist because the nuance is the content.

Wealth, officer, resource

Wealth is what the day master controls. Officer is what controls the day master. Resource is what produces the day master. Polarity then picks the row.

The wealth row

Indirect Wealth (偏财) matches the day master’s polarity. Read uneven opportunity, a side stream, mobility. Direct Wealth (正财) opposes the day master’s polarity. Read rhythmic, accountable exchange. Neither row is a payout. “Partial wealth” and “proper wealth” in older books map here, if the polarity was preserved. If an older book also assigns these stars as husbands and wives, leave that assignment in the older book. This glossary does not.

The officer row

Seven Killings (七杀) matches polarity: pressure, a sharp brief, courage as a theme rather than a dare. Some texts say indirect officer or partial officer (偏官). Direct Officer (正官) opposes polarity: duty, a visible standard, a boundary with a name. A reader in Glasgow once told a study group, “I have the killing star, so I should not manage people.” The sentence treated a technical gloss as a ban. Management is a contract and a skill. Seven Killings can describe pressure in a lead role or pressure from one. It does not issue the ban. If she wants a question instead, she can ask where the brief is sharp and whether a safeguard exists. Seven Killings is that framing. Direct Officer is the neighboring word, not a promotion out of the first.

The resource row

Indirect Resource (偏印) matches polarity: sideways learning, an unusual shelter, a method that is not the official syllabus. Direct Resource (正印) opposes polarity: support, formal study, the Proper Seal of older English. Seal does not mean a stamp you buy. It means the producing star at that polarity. A chart that prints Direct Resource is not missing a seal. It is using the gloss this engine chose so “resource” stays parallel with wealth and officer.

A sentence that sorts two printouts

The Glasgow reader brings a second printout from another app. Hers says “Indirect Officer” where this chart says “Seven Killings,” and “Proper Seal” where this chart says “Direct Resource.” She has a supervision rota to publish at 09:00 on Monday and says, “The apps disagree, so I will wait to publish until I know my real star.” The stars agree. The English does not. The civil constraint is the Monday rota, which the ward clerk needs whether the gloss says killing or indirect officer. Her working sentence is: “Same polarity control is the pressure star, whatever the app calls it. I will publish the rota at 08:30 from the staffing rules, not from the synonym.” Synonym tables are what this page is for. They are not a reason to freeze a clock. The four pillars are the same pillars under either English, provided the underlying stems match. If the stems themselves differ, the clocks differed, and that is a casting problem rather than a vocabulary problem.

Useful element is not an eleventh god

The useful-element sketch (喜用) is a priority derived from strength and season. It often points at output, wealth, officer, resource, or peers. It is not an extra deity and not a product. When a glossary online lists “useful god” beside the ten, translate it back into a priority you can see on the chart you opened. Context rather than counting stops that eleventh name from becoming a score.

Gendered English you can retire

“Husband star,” “wife star,” and “children star” are legacy overlays. Sex at birth on this site sets luck direction only, with a known hour. It does not rename Direct Officer into a spouse. If a family glossary insists, you can answer that the printed ten names are the ones you are using, and that relationship questions stay questions. Ten gods and relationships holds that line.

Dates do not need this glossary

A civil date rank uses the almanac, not a ten-god synonym. Pick a Good Day will not become more accurate because you renamed 七杀 before opening it. Publish the rota. Learn the glosses on a day when nobody is waiting at 09:00.

What this is not

A moral ranking of the ten names from best to worst.
A medical, legal, or financial definition. Those professions use other words.
A full classical dictionary of spirits, nayin, or seasonal names.
A translation of every school’s nicknames. It covers the glosses this chart prints and the confusions those glosses prevent.
A child’s naming chart or a baby’s “star.” Adults only.
Entertainment. The ten names are guidance vocabulary.