BaZi Ten God Combinations: When Two Forces Meet
A single Ten God describes one trait or one kind of relationship. When two Ten Gods show on the stems at once, the way they feed or attack each other is where a chart really comes alive. The classics gave names to the most common of these interactions, and this page gathers seven of them in one place.
The seven Ten God combinations at a glance
| Combination | Relationship | In a phrase | Both showing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hurting Officer Meets Direct Officer | Hurting Officer attacks the Direct Officer | Talent collides with the rules | 5.4% |
| Hurting Officer with Resource | Resource restrains the Hurting Officer | A sharp edge learns restraint | 10.3% |
| Seven Killings Generating Resource | Seven Killings feeds Resource, Resource feeds the Day Master | Pressure turned into support | 10.5% |
| Eating God Controlling Seven Killings | Eating God controls the Seven Killings | Mastering pressure with method | 5.1% |
| Owl God Stealing the Eating God | Indirect Resource attacks the Eating God | Ideas cut short | 5.3% |
| Mixed Officer and Seven Killings | Direct Officer and Seven Killings together | Pressure from too many directions | 5.7% |
| Output Generating Wealth | Eating God or Hurting Officer feeds Wealth | Talent turned into income | 19.1% |
How we counted: our engine cast one chart for every day from 1960 to 2005, with the birth hour drawn by a fixed-seed random sample and male and female charts alternating, 16,802 charts in all. "Both showing" means both sides appear among the year, month and hour stems; condition rates are out of the charts where both show.
About half of all charts have at least one combination. A combination is not good or bad in itself. Whether it works depends on two things: whether the Day Master can carry it (strong or weak), and whether the side being fed or attacked is favorable or unfavorable.
Check your Ten God combinations
Enter your date of birth to check seven combinations: Hurting Officer Meets Direct Officer, Hurting Officer with Resource, Seven Killings Generating Resource, Eating God Controlling Seven Killings, Owl God Stealing the Eating God, Mixed Officer and Seven Killings, and Output Generating Wealth. For each one you see whether it is there, how fully, whether anything eases it, and whether it works for you. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Uses your Gregorian birth date, with the day changing at 11 p.m. A combination counts only when both Ten Gods show on the Heavenly Stems (the Zi Ping "showing" rule), the same standard our chart structure pages use.
Three principles for judging a combination
- Showing on the stems counts: in the Zi Ping tradition, a combination only fully forms when both sides show on the Heavenly Stems; if one side is only hidden in a branch, it is weaker. We use the same standard as our chart structure pages.
- Check favorability: being attacked is not necessarily bad. If what gets attacked is unfavorable, the attack removes a burden. Hurting Officer Meets Direct Officer is the most misunderstood example.
- Look for remedies: most clashing combinations have a way out. Resource can restrain the Hurting Officer and transform the Seven Killings; Wealth can restrain Indirect Resource and bridge the Hurting Officer and the Direct Officer.
Three common misunderstandings
Hurting Officer Meets Direct Officer always brings a hundred troubles.
In our test charts where both show, the Direct Officer is actually unfavorable in 76.6% of cases. Most of the time, what gets attacked is a burden.
Seven Killings Generating Resource and Eating God Controlling Seven Killings always mean a good chart.
Only about 52.1% of Seven Killings Generating Resource charts and about 31.5% of Eating God Controlling Seven Killings charts meet every condition (out of charts where both show). A weak Day Master, Wealth spoiling Resource, or the Owl stealing the Eating God all take something off a good combination.
If one side is hidden in a branch, the combination still counts.
Showing on the stems is what counts. A Ten God only hidden in a branch carries less weight, and the tool marks those cases as "one shown, one hidden."
Read on
A straight word: a combination describes tension, not fate
The classics say a great many flat, final things about Ten God combinations: "Hurting Officer meets the Officer, a hundred troubles follow," or "the Owl steals the food, poverty and early death." Those lines were written in a very different age, and they often ignore the strength and favorable elements of the whole chart. We treat a combination as a description: which two forces in you pull against each other, and how they can be made to work together. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Beyond combinations, read the whole chart
The in-depth reading covers 12 facets drawn from the Ten Gods, strength, favorable elements and luck periods. Combinations are just one angle.
Ten God combinations FAQ
What are the main Ten God combinations in BaZi?
The common ones include Hurting Officer Meets Direct Officer, Hurting Officer with Resource, Seven Killings Generating Resource, Eating God Controlling Seven Killings, Owl God Stealing the Eating God, Mixed Officer and Seven Killings, and Output Generating Wealth.
How do you tell whether a Ten God combination is really there?
By the Zi Ping "showing" rule: both sides must show on the Heavenly Stems for the combination to fully form; if one side is only hidden in a branch, it is weaker. Whether it helps then depends on the Day Master's strength and favorable elements.
How many Ten God combinations does a chart usually have?
In our test charts, about 48.0% have at least one (with both sides showing): 35.2% have exactly one and 12.2% have two.