Kuigang and Day Master: Ten Gods in Renchen and Gengchen

The term 魁罡 refers to a class of day-pillar combinations named by their ganzhi. It is judged solely by the day pillar. If the same ganzhi appears in the year, month, or hour pillar, it is not treated as 魁罡. 魁罡 is not a verdict of good or bad fortune in itself. Classical sources do not agree on a single list of 魁罡 days, so treating one school’s enumeration as the only standard is not rigorous.

五个魁罡日只有庚、壬、戊三个日干

The five 魁罡 days accepted by this site involve only three day stems: 庚，壬, and 戊. They are 壬辰，庚戌，庚辰，戊戌, and 壬戌. No other day stem appears among these five combinations.

The underlying reason is that the five days are formed by pairing the three stems with the two earthly branches 辰 and 戌. 庚 appears with both 戌 and 辰, giving 庚戌 and 庚辰. 壬 appears with both 辰 and 戌, giving 壬辰 and 壬戌. 戊 appears with 戌 only, giving 戊戌. As a result, 庚 and 壬 each account for two 魁罡 days, while 戊 accounts for one.

This concentration on 庚，壬, and 戊 distinguishes 魁罡 from a generic category based on the branch alone. The term names a day-pillar configuration, and in practice the five accepted pillars are limited to these three stems. Other stems may sit on 辰 or 戌 in the day pillar, but those pillars are not treated as 魁罡 here.

同一日干的两日差在地支

Where the same day stem appears twice, the difference between the two 魁罡 days lies in the earthly branch. 庚辰 and 庚戌 share the stem 庚. 壬辰 and 壬戌 share the stem 壬.

The two branches, 辰 and 戌, are not interchangeable. 辰 is the storage vault of water, while 戌 is the storage vault of fire. Both branches belong to earth and both occupy positions among the four tomb-vault branches, but their stored qi differ. The difference in branch changes the hidden stems and therefore changes the ten-god interpretation of the day pillar, even when the day stem is the same.

For 壬辰, the branch 辰 contains 戊土 as the seven-killing officer, 乙木 as the hurting officer, and 癸水 as the robber-god. For 壬戌, the branch 戌 contains 戊土 as the seven-killing officer, 辛金 as the proper seal, and 丁火 as the proper wealth. Although both days have 壬 as the day stem, the hidden stems of 辰 and 戌 produce different ten-god relationships. The shift from 辰 to 戌 therefore changes the content of the day branch from water vault to fire vault and alters the ten-god reading.

Similarly, 庚辰 and 庚戌 share the stem 庚 but differ in the branch. In 庚辰, the branch 辰 contains 戊土 as the indirect seal, 乙木 as the proper wealth, and 癸水 as the hurting officer. In 庚戌, the branch 戌 contains 戊土 as the indirect seal, 辛金 as the robber-god, and 丁火 as the proper officer. The same day stem is thus read through different hidden stems depending on whether the branch is 辰 or 戌.

日干不同时藏干十神随之改变

When the day stem differs, the same hidden stems in a branch can map to different ten-god categories. This is clearest in the two 魁罡 days that share the branch 戌：庚戌 and 戊戌.

In 庚戌, the branch 戌 contains 戊土，辛金, and 丁火. For a 庚 day stem, 戊土 is the indirect seal, 辛金 is the robber-god, and 丁火 is the proper officer.

In 戊戌, the branch 戌 contains the same three hidden stems: 戊土，辛金, and 丁火. But for an 戊 day stem, 戊土 is the companion, 辛金 is the hurting officer, and 丁火 is the proper seal. The hidden stems are identical; the ten-god labels are different because the day stem has changed.

The same principle applies to 壬戌, which also uses the branch 戌. For a 壬 day stem, the hidden 戊土 is the seven-killing officer, 辛金 is the proper seal, and 丁火 is the proper wealth. Thus the single branch 戌 yields three different ten-god sets across 庚戌，戊戌, and 壬戌, depending on whether the day stem is 庚，戊, or 壬.

The same issue appears with the branch 辰. In 壬辰, for a 壬 day stem, the hidden 戊土 is the seven-killing officer, 乙木 is the hurting officer, and 癸水 is the robber-god. In 庚辰, for a 庚 day stem, the hidden 戊土 is the indirect seal, 乙木 is the proper wealth, and 癸水 is the hurting officer. Again, the branch is the same, but the day-stem change reclassifies the hidden stems.

日干层面推不出的部分

Knowing only the day stem does not determine the ten-god structure of a 魁罡 day. The branch must also be specified, because the branch decides which hidden stems are present. And even when the branch is specified, the day stem must be known to convert those hidden stems into ten-god categories.

Beyond that, the day pillar alone does not determine the full 魁罡 picture. This site does not treat 魁罡 as a standalone conclusion about fortune. Classical texts differ on which days count as 魁罡, and the historical lists are not uniform. For this reason, the site takes the union of two traditional sources and accepts 壬辰，庚戌，庚辰，戊戌, and 壬戌 as the five 魁罡 days. The page notes which sources are followed. Day pillars outside this union are not treated as 魁罡.

The restriction to the day pillar is also a matter of definition. 魁罡 is a day-pillar category. If the same combination appears in the year, month, or hour pillar, it does not make that pillar a 魁罡 configuration. The name applies to the day pillar only, and the analysis proceeds from there.

Finally, the five accepted days are anchored in the two branches 辰 and 戌, both of which are earth branches and both of which are tomb-vault positions. 辰 is the water vault, and 戌 is the fire vault. This shared tomb-vault character is part of the common background of the five days, but it does not by itself produce a uniform ten-god reading. The actual ten-god content depends on the combination of day stem and branch, and the resulting structure can differ substantially from one 魁罡 day to another.