The ten relationships to the Day Master

The ten relationships in Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi) name how each of the other stems and hidden stems in a chart relates to the Day Master, the stem of the day pillar. Each one is sorted first by the five elements, as the same element as the Day Master, generating it, generated by it, controlled by it or controlling it, and then by whether its polarity matches. That gives five families of two, Peer, Resource, Output, Wealth and Authority, which the later study of strength, structure, decade phases and family relations all builds on.

The earlier lessons covered generating and controlling, the stems and branches, and the hidden stems. This lesson puts them together to answer one question: how does each of the other characters in your chart relate to the Day Master?

The Day Master stands for you. Compare every other stem and every hidden stem with it: is it the same element as the Day Master, does it generate the Day Master, is it generated by the Day Master, is it controlled by the Day Master, or does it control the Day Master? Then check whether the two share a polarity. The result is the ten relationships (十神), and the later lessons on strength, structure, decade phases and annual phases, and family relations all use their names.

Starting from the Day Master

The ten relationships describe a relation, not the nature of a character in itself. The same Yang Metal is Seven Killings to a Yang Wood Day Master, Direct Officer to a Yin Wood Day Master, Indirect Resource to a Yang Water Day Master, Direct Resource to a Yin Water Day Master, and Indirect Wealth to a Yang Fire Day Master. So before marking the ten relationships, be sure of the Day Master first, then compare each character in turn.

The ten relationships fall into five families by generating and controlling: those of the Day Master’s own element are Peer; those that generate the Day Master are Resource; those the Day Master generates are Output; those the Day Master controls are Wealth; and those that control the Day Master are Authority.

Indirect and direct: from yin and yang

The True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠; Qing dynasty, 18th century) says that if you look at the five elements broadly, Water generating Wood and Metal controlling Wood are each a single relation; once each element is divided into yin and yang, the same generating and the same controlling each take more than one form.

此所以水同生木，而印有偏正；金同克木，而局有官煞也。

Our translation: This is why, though Water alike generates Wood, Resource comes as indirect and direct; and though Metal alike controls Wood, a chart has both Officer and Killings.

The rule is simple. If a character has the same polarity as the Day Master, like meeting like, it is called indirect; if one is yin and the other yang, a matched pair, it is called direct. The Peer and Output families are not named with indirect and direct, but the principle is the same: of the same polarity as the Day Master are Friend and Food Star; of the opposite polarity, Rob Wealth and Hurting Officer.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Yin and Yang, Generating and Controlling; The Deep Sea of Ziping · On the Direct Officer; The Deep Sea of Ziping · On Resource

The book also uses a few common alternative names: Seven Killings is also called the Indirect Officer, or Killings for short, and Indirect Resource is also called the Owl.

The difference between indirect and direct does not weigh the same in every family. The True Interpretation of Ziping says that within Resource the indirect and the direct are close, and need not be told apart closely; its chapter on Resource adds that Direct Resource and Indirect Resource can both form a good structure, and that Wealth, likewise, is not divided into indirect and direct. Officer and Killings are different: both control the Day Master, but their natures are clearly distinct and must be told apart with care.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Yin and Yang, Generating and Controlling; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resource

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠评注; ROC, 1936) uses yin and yang to make this clearer. Direct Officer is one yin and one yang, unlike kinds drawn to each other, so there is cooperation within its control; Seven Killings is yin with yin or yang with yang, like kinds pushing each other away, so its force comes more directly. That is why Direct Officer is to be protected, and Seven Killings is to be checked. The book also notes that when Direct Officer is plentiful and the Day Master weak, Direct Officer can be as hard to bear as Seven Killings; and when Seven Killings is light and the Day Master strong, Seven Killings comes close to Direct Officer. The names are a starting point; their weight still has to be judged against the whole chart.

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Indirect Officer

Five families, each with its strengths

Peer: support from your own kind

Friend and Rob Wealth share the Day Master’s element, like friends standing beside it. With Peers to help, the Day Master can better carry Wealth and Authority, the things that call on it to exert itself. What to be mindful of: when the chart needs to use Wealth, too many of its own kind will share the Wealth out; then a Food Star or Hurting Officer standing between them, turning that shared energy toward generating Wealth, often resolves it.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Stems in Season Yet Not Strong, Out of Season Yet Not Weak; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Month Prosperity

Resource: support and nourishment

Direct Resource and Indirect Resource generate the Day Master; they are the force that nourishes it. The True Interpretation of Ziping says the merit of Resource lies in generating the Day Master, and that Direct Resource and Indirect Resource can both form a good structure. Resource can also turn the control of Seven Killings into support for the Day Master, which comes up again under Authority below. What to be mindful of: Wealth controls Resource; when the two are kept apart in the chart and do not get in each other’s way, both keep their uses.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resource; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Hurting Officer

Output: talent and expression

Food Star and Hurting Officer are generated by the Day Master: they are its energy flowing outward. The True Interpretation of Ziping says the Food Star drains the Day Master, yet is welcomed because it generates Wealth. The Hurting Officer is not counted among the benefic elements, yet it is where refinement and talent lie; the book says many scholars and writers come from Hurting Officer structures. What to be mindful of: when Hurting Officer meets Direct Officer, it works against the Officer. If Wealth stands between them, Hurting Officer generates Wealth and Wealth in turn generates the Officer, so it becomes a help; and if the Day Master is on the weak side while Hurting Officer is strong, Resource that checks Hurting Officer and supports the Day Master also lets both be used.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Food Star; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Hurting Officer

Wealth: what you can put to use

Indirect Wealth and Direct Wealth are controlled by the Day Master: they are what it can put to use. The True Interpretation of Ziping says that Wealth is what I control and what serves my use, and that it also generates the Officer, which is why it is valued; money and possessions, and abilities too, all belong to Wealth. What to be mindful of: the Day Master has to be able to carry it. Only a Day Master rooted in the branches can put its Wealth to use. Whether it can carry it is weighed in the lessons on Day Master strength.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Wealth; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Stems in Season Yet Not Strong, Out of Season Yet Not Weak

Authority: discipline and responsibility

Direct Officer and Seven Killings control the Day Master: they are the force that restrains it, and also the force that shapes it into something capable. The True Interpretation of Ziping likens the Direct Officer to what a person ought to respect within family and state, so the Direct Officer is to be protected and does not welcome being clashed or broken. Seven Killings has a more direct force. The book says it may not look like something good, yet charts with a large structure often carry Seven Killings: well controlled, it serves the Day Master, like a hero who is hard to command but, handled properly, can achieve great things. What commonly balances Seven Killings is a Food Star that checks it, or Resource that converts it, turning control into support.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Direct Officer; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Indirect Officer

The names are not good or bad

When The True Interpretation of Ziping takes the structure from the month branch, it groups Wealth, Officer, Resource and the Food Star as suited to nurturing use, fed and protected, and Seven Killings, Hurting Officer, Rob Wealth and the Yang Blade, which a later lesson covers, as suited to restraining use, held in check. It says that with nurturing use where it fits and restraining use where it fits, all of them can form good structures. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping puts it more directly: whether an element is favorable or unfavorable depends entirely on what the chart needs, not on its name.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Useful Element; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On How the Four Benefic Elements Can Break a Structure

So if you see Seven Killings or Hurting Officer in your chart, there is no need to worry; and if you see Direct Officer or Direct Resource, there is no need to assume it is good. The ten relationships tell you how each character relates to the Day Master; which of them your chart welcomes is judged once you have worked through strength and structure.

Marking the branches and their hidden stems

The stems are compared with the Day Master directly. For a branch, look at the stems hidden inside it, and mark each hidden stem with its relationship in the same way. When a branch holds two or three stems, the main stem is its principal part, and the middle and residual stems come after it; which hidden stem of the month branch is in command and revealed was covered in the lesson on hidden stems.

See also: Hidden stems: what each branch holds

The Deep Sea of Ziping (渊海子平; Ming dynasty, 16th century), discussing family relations, likewise takes the day stem as the center and carries these ten names over to family relations. That belongs to the later lessons on family relations; this lesson first gets the names clear.

The Deep Sea of Ziping · General Discussion of Family Relations

Try it on your chart

1. Write down the Day Master, the stem of your day pillar.
2. Find the Day Master’s row in the table below, and mark the relationship of the year, month and hour stems one by one.
3. Then mark every hidden stem in the four branches, main stem first. Mark the hidden stems of the day branch too; they are also compared with the Day Master.
4. Group them into the five families, Peer, Resource, Output, Wealth and Authority, and note where each one appears: shown on a stem, or hidden in a branch.
5. Do not judge any family good or bad yet. Which relationships your chart welcomes is for after the lessons on strength and structure.

See also: Yin and yang and the five elements: generating and controlling

See also: The twelve life stages