Introducing the Ten Gods — putting names on relationships
Seven characters, five kinds of role toward you
A story to start
Picture a company org chart. From where you stand there are peers, juniors you teach, resources you manage, a boss who appraises you, a mentor who supports you. A chart works exactly the same. Taking the Day Master as “me,” the roles the other characters play come in exactly five kinds — multiplied by polarity for ten names. These are the Ten Gods, the flower of Myeongri. Over the next five lessons we take them one at a time.
📖 The main point — the formula for the Ten Gods
The formula is the generating and controlling cycle, unchanged. A character is ① the same element as me → the Friend group (Friend and Rival) ② an element I generate → the Output group (Eating God and Hurting Officer) ③ an element I control → the Wealth group (Indirect and Direct Wealth) ④ an element that controls me → the Officer group (Seven Killings and Direct Officer) ⑤ an element that generates me → the Resource group (Indirect and Direct Resource). In each pair, the first (Friend, Eating God, Indirect Wealth, Seven Killings, Indirect Resource) is where the polarity matches mine, the second (Rival, Hurting Officer, Direct Wealth, Direct Officer, Direct Resource) where it differs. For Gap Wood (yang Wood), Byeong Fire (yang Fire) is Output because Wood generates Fire, and Eating God because the polarity matches. Jeong Fire (yin) would be Hurting Officer.
🔍 In practice — start with the five groups
Don’t try to learn ten at once. Fix the nicknames of the five groups first: Friends = versions of me, Output = my expression, Wealth = my money, Officers = my office, Resource = my support. Open your chart tab and the Ten God label is already printed beside each character. Today, just sort those names into the five groups. “I’ve got three in the Wealth group” — that is enough for today.
🧭 Working through the situations
The biggest hurdle in studying the Ten Gods is the stage of having memorised them and being unable to use them. One prescription: don’t study only your own chart — find the Ten Gods in the charts of ten people you know. “Ah, my team lead has plenty of Officers, no wonder they’re strict about the rules.” Let that connection happen three times and you never forget the Ten Gods. And a tip for reading the table: on this site’s chart tab, the small text above and below each character is its Ten God. The Stem’s and the Branch’s (by the principal Hidden Stem) are each shown, so start by copying the seven characters’ Ten Gods into a notebook.
❓ Frequently asked
Q. Is a chart with all ten the best? Eight characters can’t hold all ten of the Ten Gods (there are seven seats besides the Day Master). Which are present and which absent is simply individuality; a full gift set isn’t the right answer. Q. Are the “indirect” Ten Gods bad? No. The character means “inclined” — that the polarity matches and the energy is therefore direct — not that it is inauspicious. The indirect series has its own distinct appeal: Indirect Wealth is the chance at big money, Indirect Resource is unusual insight. Traditional texts do favour the “direct” series as upright, and modern Myeongri reads with that bias stripped out. Q. Any trick for memorising? Get the five group nicknames into your body first (versions of me, expression, money, office, support), then fill in the detail with the rule: same polarity gives the first of the pair, different gives the second. Two stages is far easier than ten at once.
✏️ Today’s one step
Apply the formula yourself to one character in your chart. ① Check its element ② judge its generating/controlling relation to your Day Master ③ compare polarity. If it matches the site’s label, you have just <i>calculated</i> a Ten God rather than memorised one. Now you understand it.