Which Ten God Is the Other Person? Ten Coworker Relationships, Ten Ways to Work Together
At work there are always a few people you fall into a fixed pattern with: one speaks and you want to comply, one argues with everything you say, one always takes the heat for you. In BaZi terms, this often comes down to which Ten God the other person’s Day Master is to you. This page goes through all ten roles, and explains why the same role feels completely different to a strong Day Master and a weak one.
How to work it out: compare their Day Master with yours
Your Day Master is the Heavenly Stem of your birth day and stands for you. Compare the other person’s Day Master with yours: the same element is Peers, an element you produce is Output, one you control is Wealth, one that controls you is Officer, one that produces you is Resource. Same yin-yang polarity gives the indirect member of each pair (Friend, Eating God, Indirect Wealth, Seven Killings, Indirect Resource); different polarity gives the other (Rob Wealth, Hurting Officer, Direct Wealth, Direct Officer, Direct Resource). The full method is on the Ten Gods, and the lookup tool below does the calculation for you.
Ten working relationships
| They are your | What they are like | How working with them feels | How to work together |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friend | A side-by-side partner | They are the same kind of person as you: similar thinking, no translation needed, but you can both end up wanting the same job. | Divide the ground first: who owns which part and who has the final say on what. Write it down. |
| Rob Wealth | A rival-type partner who competes for resources | The same kind as you, but a different tune: driven and competitive. Working together, resources, credit and clients tend to get split. | Agree up front how money and credit are shared; keep the books open and log each person’s clients and results separately. |
| Eating God | Someone you can lead | Your ideas turn into results in their hands. You can teach them, and they are happy to do things your way. | You set the direction, they carry it out. Give them their share of the credit and they will work harder for it. |
| Hurting Officer | Talent that pushes back | Very capable, but with opinions of their own; they will not take every instruction at face value. | Set goals, not details. Let them propose and you choose; that works better than giving orders. |
| Indirect Wealth | A resource you can mobilize | They open doors and bring opportunities, and you can put them to work, though the relationship leans toward give-and-take. | Keep the terms concrete: who puts in what and who gets what. Short-term projects suit this pairing well. |
| Direct Wealth | A steady, reliable pair of hands | They work carefully and finish what you hand them; someone you can rely on for the long run, as a colleague or a client. | Give them a stable area of responsibility and clear rewards, and they will stay. |
| Seven Killings | The one who brings pressure | Blunt and demanding; working with them often feels like being chased. But people like this are often the ones who push your best results out of you. | Turn their demands into concrete deadlines and standards. Treat it as a push, not a personal attack. |
| Direct Officer | The rule-setting boss type | They care about process and propriety. They have authority over you, and they will also check your work and give you standing. | Follow the process and report before you act; their approval is usually formal, and it counts. |
| Indirect Resource | The unconventional adviser | They see things from a different angle and often suggest what you would not have thought of, though not always something practical. | Ask them for ideas and research; keep the execution and the final calls in your own hands. |
| Direct Resource | A backer and mentor | They teach you, protect you and take heat for you: a mentor-type relationship at work. | Ask for advice and report progress regularly; let them see you grow, rather than only leaning on them. |
It runs both ways: what you are to them
Ten Gods always come in matched pairs between two people. If they are your Indirect Wealth, you are their Seven Killings; if they are your Direct Resource, you are their Hurting Officer. So when you think "this person is easy to manage," they often think "this person puts a lot of pressure on me"; when you think "this person keeps teaching me," they may be thinking "this person never does it my way."
| You see them as | They see you as | The same situation, felt from both sides |
|---|---|---|
| Friend | Friend | Both feel the other is much like themselves: easy to talk to, but likely to go after the same thing |
| Rob Wealth | Rob Wealth | Both see the other as driven and a little hard to control; agree on resources and credit first |
| Eating God / Hurting Officer | Indirect / Direct Resource | You feel you are leading them and giving them a stage; they feel you are taking from them or challenging their methods |
| Indirect / Direct Wealth | Seven Killings / Direct Officer | You find them useful and dependable; they find you demanding and controlling |
| Seven Killings / Direct Officer | Indirect / Direct Wealth | You feel managed and pushed; they see you as someone they can and should put to work |
| Indirect / Direct Resource | Eating God / Hurting Officer | You feel taught and protected; they see you as the one who gets things done |
Knowing this heads off a lot of misunderstandings. The side that gains or leads can give a little more explanation and recognition; the side being led or managed can say how it feels instead of keeping quiet.
The same relationship feels different to a strong and a weak Day Master
No Ten God is good or bad in itself; what matters is whether you need it. A strong Day Master benefits from being drained, spent and controlled, so a coworker who is your Output, Wealth or Officer usually helps: they give your energy an outlet and a direction. A weak Day Master benefits from being fed and supported, so a Resource or Peers coworker is the real help, and an Officer-type coworker can leave you gasping for air.
| They are your | If you are strong | If you are weak |
|---|---|---|
| Peers (Friend, Rob Wealth) | Too many of your own kind; you compete for resources, so divide the work | One more pair of hands; carrying the load together is easier |
| Output (Eating God, Hurting Officer) | Your ideas get carried out; a good partner | You keep giving and leading, which wears you out |
| Wealth (Indirect, Direct) | You can put your strength to use and turn work into results | Too many tasks and responsibilities; it feels like more than you can hold |
| Officer (Seven Killings, Direct Officer) | Rules and targets from someone else actually bring out results | The pressure lands squarely on you; find a buffer |
| Resource (Indirect, Direct) | Looked after too much; you can grow cautious | Someone who teaches and backs you: a real mentor |
Ming is a strong Yi Wood, so for him the Wealth-type Mei and Fang and the Officer-type Mr. Chen are all help; Jie, also Wood (Rob Wealth), competes with him for resources instead. You will find these examples on the overview, favorable-element match, working with a boss and going into business together. Not sure whether you are strong or weak? Start with strong or weak Day Master.
Day Stem combinations: instant rapport, and easy to get tangled
If the two Day Stems form one of the Five Stem combinations (Jia-Ji, Yi-Geng, Bing-Xin, Ding-Ren, Wu-Gui), the classics call it an affectionate bond. At work, these pairs often click from the first meeting and read each other well; but because they get on so well, work and personal matters blur, and neither finds it easy to say no. In our sample about 9.9% of pairs have combining Day Stems. Draw the boundaries clearly and the rapport turns into efficiency.
A straight word: BaZi shows how two people tend to work together, nothing more
Whether a working relationship holds up comes down to communication, a sensible split of duties, and both people doing what they said they would. What BaZi can do is flag early where things are likely to snag: who tends to override whom, where money and credit are likely to cause friction, how far apart your working rhythms are. Once you know, talk it through and put it in writing; do not use it to decide whether someone is worth hiring. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment and is no substitute for contracts or proper financial and legal arrangements.
Find out: which Ten God are they to you?
Enter your birth date and theirs to see the Ten God roles both ways, how your elements fit, and how your Day and Month pillars interact.
Coworker Ten God role FAQ
How do I find out which Ten God the other person is to me?
Compare their Day Master (the Heavenly Stem of their birth day) with yours: the same element is Peers, the element you produce is Output, the one you control is Wealth, the one that controls you is Officer, and the one that produces you is Resource. Same polarity gives the indirect member, different polarity the other. Our lookup tool works it out from two birth dates.
They are my Seven Killings. Does that mean we should not work together?
Not necessarily. Seven Killings means pressure and high standards, and a strong Day Master often needs that push; it is a weak Day Master who is more likely to feel crushed. The key is to turn their demands into concrete standards and deadlines and to find your own buffer.
Why do I find them easy to work with while they find me difficult?
Because Ten Gods run both ways and each side plays a different role. If they are your Wealth (easy to direct), you are their Officer (demanding). A little more explanation and recognition from the side that leads or gains goes a long way toward balance.