ezfate
Calculate my chart

Self · The same element as you

Friend in BaziMeaning, personality, pillars and the years it rules

Updated October 15, 2026

Friend (比肩, Bi Jian) is the ten god of a stem with the same element and the same yin or yang as your Day Master. It stands for you standing on your own two feet: self-reliance, will, pride and the people who walk beside you as equals, such as friends, siblings, colleagues and rivals.

Find your Friend

Enter your birth date. We find your Day Master and the stem that is your Friend.

Quick facts

Characters
比肩 bǐ jiān
Group
Self
Formula
The same element as you, same yin/yang
Also called
One of the Peers (比劫); in the month branch it forms Jian Lu; also written Bijian
Paired with
Rob Wealth
Family (men)
Brothers, friends
Family (women)
Sisters, friends
Keywords
Independent, steady, proud, fair
Structure
Jian Lu structure (建祿格)
In short
Your peers, your will and your staying power.

Friend personality: strengths and shadow side

Strengths

  • Independent and self-reliant
  • Steady under pressure
  • Loyal to friends and equals
  • Sticks with a decision

Shadow side

  • Stubborn, slow to take advice
  • Competes where it could cooperate
  • Shares money too freely with peers
  • Finds it hard to ask for help

Your strength is standing alone; your growth is choosing well whom to stand with.

Which stem is your Friend?

Friend depends on your Day Master. Find yours in the first column to see the stem that is your Friend, the branches where it is rooted, and the next year it rules.

  • Your Day Master甲Jia WoodFriend stem甲JiǎRooted in寅亥Next year2034甲寅
  • Your Day Master乙Yi WoodFriend stem乙YǐRooted in卯辰未Next year2035乙卯
  • Your Day Master丙Bing FireFriend stem丙BǐngRooted in巳寅Next year2036丙辰
  • Your Day Master丁Ding FireFriend stem丁DīngRooted in午未戌Next year2027丁未
  • Your Day Master戊Wu EarthFriend stem戊WùRooted in辰戌寅巳申Next year2028戊申
  • Your Day Master己Ji EarthFriend stem己JǐRooted in丑未午Next year2029己酉
  • Your Day Master庚Geng MetalFriend stem庚GēngRooted in申巳Next year2030庚戌
  • Your Day Master辛Xin MetalFriend stem辛XīnRooted in酉丑戌Next year2031辛亥
  • Your Day Master壬Ren WaterFriend stem壬RénRooted in亥申Next year2032壬子
  • Your Day Master癸Gui WaterFriend stem癸GuǐRooted in子丑辰Next year2033癸丑

A Bazi year starts at the Start of Spring (立春), around 4 February.

Want your whole ten gods picture?Enter your birth date and time in the ten gods calculator: stem and hidden-stem gods for every pillar, your mix and your structure, all at once.Ten gods calculator

Friend in the year, month, day and hour pillars

Tap a pillar to see what Friend means there. The month pillar weighs most.

Month · Friend

About 17–32

Parents and siblings, career, society

Friend in the month pillar brings colleagues and partners into your working life: you do well side by side with others or on your own business. As a useful god it means allies at work; as an unfavorable one, people who compete for credit or profit.

Friend in career, money, love and family

Career

Friend favors work where you set your own pace: running your own business, freelance work, sport, or any team of equals where your effort is visible. It is less at ease in rigid hierarchies, and it shines in partnerships as long as roles are clear.

Money

Money tends to come through your own effort rather than windfalls. When Friend is strong, income is often shared or competed for, so keep business and friendship accounts separate and put agreements in writing.

Love

You want a partner who treats you as an equal and respects your independence. A strong Friend can make you hold back your feelings or keep score; saying what you need, plainly, does more than winning the argument.

Family and people

Traditionally Friend stands for your siblings, especially those of the same sex, and more broadly for friends, classmates, colleagues and competitors: the people on your level.

Friend in a man's chart and a woman's chart

Men

In a man's chart Friend stands for brothers and friends. As a useful god they back you up; when Friend is strong and Wealth weak, friends can cost you money and love can bring rivals, so keep finances and friendship apart.

Women

In a woman's chart Friend stands for sisters and friends and for independence. A woman with strong Friend makes her own way; if Friend is strong and the Officer weak, a partner may struggle to keep up, so choose someone who respects your independence.

When Friend helps, and when it hurts

Helps when

Friend helps a weak Day Master. When your chart lacks support, it adds backbone and allies, and it lets you carry a heavy load of Wealth or Power without being crushed by it.

Hurts when

When the Day Master is already strong, more Friend tips into stubbornness and rivalry, and it competes with you for Wealth: money leaks to friends, partners or rivals, and a relationship can feel like a contest.

How to balance an unfavorable Friend

When Friend is unfavorable, first let it out through Eating God or Hurting Officer: turn rivalry into craft and results. Then accept structure through an Officer: rules, roles and clear agreements. Put partnerships with friends in writing and avoid guaranteeing loans.

Too much Friend, or none at all

Too much Friend

Too much Friend makes the Day Master over-strong: stubborn, slow to take advice, with money flowing to friends or siblings and little give in love. The chart needs Eating God or Hurting Officer to turn the energy into work and income, or an Officer to discipline it.

No Friend in the chart

With no Friend (and no Rob Wealth) you often work alone, with few peers to back you; if the Day Master is also weak, pressure can shake your confidence. Build a network on purpose: Peer luck pillars and years usually bring allies and self-belief.

Friend with the other nine gods

Ten gods work in pairs. Here is how Friend relates to each of the others, with the combinations the classics name.

What is the Jian Lu structure (建祿格)?

The classics don't name a structure after Friend. When the month branch is your own element at full strength, as Jia Wood born in a Yin (寅) month, the chart is called Jian Lu Ge (建祿格, the Prosperity structure): a self-made life, best served by Wealth and Officer.

About the Jian Lu structure (建祿格)

In the classics

比肩幫身

Bi Jian Bang Shen, "Friend supports the self": in a chart where the Day Master is weak and surrounded by Wealth or Power, Friend is the help that lets it hold what it is given. The classics read it as gaining strength through allies.

A Friend year or luck pillar

A Friend year or luck pillar brings peers into focus: new partnerships, teams and friendships, but also competition. It is a good time to build something on your own terms, and a poor time to lend money casually.

Friend: common questions

Classical sources

The definitions and combinations on this page follow these classics of Zi Ping astrology, rewritten in plain language.

  1. 01《淵海子平》Compiled by Xu Sheng (Song dynasty); the earliest systematic reading of the ten gods and family relations from the Day Master.
  2. 02《子平真詮》By Shen Xiaozhan (Qing dynasty); takes the structure from the month branch and explains using the ten gods directly or by restraint.
  3. 03《三命通會》Compiled by Wan Minying (Ming dynasty); the great compendium of ten gods, structures and symbolic stars.
  4. 04《滴天髓》On the character of the stems and the momentum of the elements; best known through Ren Tieqiao's commentary.

All ten gods

PreviousDirect ResourceNextRob Wealth

See the ten gods in your own chart

The calculator labels every stem and hidden stem in your chart with its ten god, and shows how strong your Day Master is.

Calculate my chart

More free tools