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Ten gods · 3 / 10 · overview

Eating God (ShiShen 食神) in BaZi

Eating God is number 3 of the ten gods, in the Output group — generated by the day master. This is the god-level overview (no pillar attached): the two-step derivation, which stem carries it for each of the ten day masters, and which branch main qi land on it. All rows are computed and can be back-substituted. For what it means on a specific pillar, use the three pillar pages below.

Computed facts (engine-verified)

This page is generated from the engine v0.15.1, not hand-written; structural facts reconcile against the methodology page.

GodEating God · 食神 (ShiShen)
GroupOutput (食伤)
Relation to the day mastergenerated by the day master — step one of the derivation: is the target element generated by, controlled by, controlling, or identical to the day master]
Polarity rulewithin this pair both gods take the same polarity, so this one is always same-polarity (step two)
Pair siblingHurting Officer — same group, polarity is the only difference
Pillar pagesEating God in the year pillar · month · hour

The two-step derivation (published)

Assigning Eating God takes exactly two steps, and both can be verified on the page:

Step one · the groupThe relation between the day master element and the target element sets the group: Eating God belongs to the Output group — generated by the day master
Step two · which of the pairWithin the pair, Eating God takes the stem whose polarity matches the day master
Pair structureEating God and Hurting Officer share one group and one generating/controlling relation; polarity is their only difference — which is why the ten gods come in five pairs
What the pillar changesThe god does not change with position; the Eating God pages for the year, month and hour pillars differ in the palace they describe, not in the derivation

Which stem gives it for each of the ten day masters

For a fixed day master the ten stems take the ten gods exactly once each, so which stem forms Eating God is definite. All ten rows are computed — back-substitute any row and you get Eating God.

Day masterIts elementStem that forms itIts elementPolarityBack-substitution
甲 Jia · 阳木Wood丙 BingFiresameEating God
乙 Yi · 阴木Wood丁 DingFiresameEating God
丙 Bing · 阳火Fire戊 WuEarthsameEating God
丁 Ding · 阴火Fire己 JiEarthsameEating God
戊 Wu · 阳土Earth庚 GengMetalsameEating God
己 Ji · 阴土Earth辛 XinMetalsameEating God
庚 Geng · 阳金Metal壬 RenWatersameEating God
辛 Xin · 阴金Metal癸 GuiWatersameEating God
壬 Ren · 阳水Water甲 JiaWoodsameEating God
癸 Gui · 阴水Water乙 YiWoodsameEating God

Which branch main qi land on it

Each of the twelve branches has one main-qi stem (the first hidden stem). Among the ten stems, Wu and Ji appear twice (Chen-Xu, Chou-Wei) and the other eight once — so for any day master each god takes at least one branch and the twelve branches split exactly. The table lists the branches whose main qi form Eating God for each day master.

Day masterIts elementBranches whose main qi form itBranches
甲 Jia · 阳木Wood巳 Si1 of 12
乙 Yi · 阴木Wood午 Wu1 of 12
丙 Bing · 阳火Fire辰 Chen, 戌 Xu2 of 12
丁 Ding · 阴火Fire丑 Chou, 未 Wei2 of 12
戊 Wu · 阳土Earth申 Shen1 of 12
己 Ji · 阴土Earth酉 You1 of 12
庚 Geng · 阳金Metal亥 Hai1 of 12
辛 Xin · 阴金Metal子 Zi1 of 12
壬 Ren · 阳水Water寅 Yin1 of 12
癸 Gui · 阴水Water卯 Mao1 of 12
A note on what this page deliberately does not do: the popular versions of this material assign a fixed personality to each term — one character per branch, one destiny per stage. This site rejects that framing. What is published here is a structural position: which element sits where, on what kind of ground, with which tenants inside. The same term reads differently under a different month command, and no meaningful judgement exists without the other characters of the chart. Where the tradition offers a reading it is labelled as the tradition's; this site's own contribution is that every number and term on this page is computed, versioned and checkable against the methodology page.

Frequently asked

What is Eating God in bazi?
Eating God (食神) is one of the ten gods, in the Output group — generated by the day master. The derivation has two steps: the generating or controlling relation between the day master element and the target element sets the group, then polarity picks between the two gods in that group. It takes the stem whose polarity matches the day master.
Which stem is Eating God for a 甲 day master?
丙 (Bing). The 甲 day master is 阳 Wood; 丙 stands in the relation of generated by the day master with matching polarity, which is exactly the definition of Eating God. The other nine day masters are in the table, each row back-substitutable.
What is the difference between Eating God and Hurting Officer?
Same group, same generating or controlling relation; the only difference is polarity: Eating God takes the matching polarity, Hurting Officer the opposite one. For any day master the two are carried by two different stems, and their main-qi branches never overlap.
Is a strong Eating God good or bad?
A god is not a good-or-bad label, and this page gives derivation facts only. The same god often acts in opposite directions when the day master is weak versus strong; judging needs the month command, rooting, transparency and the whole chart. Any claim that more of a god is simply good or bad oversimplifies past what the system claims.

Reference index

Every enumerable component of ba zi has its own page here. Each page is computed by the same engine and can be checked item by item — none of it is a personality table.