Table of contents
The Hurting Officer ‘god’ is perhaps the most controversial ‘gods’ and is one of the most talked-about topics in BaZi. New age BaZi like to call Hurting Officer “The Performer” because it’s a well-known trait of Hurting Officer. They like attention, being out to prove themselves, and being in the limelight. This trait is both their greatest strength and greatest weakness because if exhibited inaptly, this ‘performing’ side of Hurting Officer will only bring them trouble.
In a chart where Hurting Officers play a positive role, they can be the most creative and intelligent people who break the mould and develop new ways to do things. At their worst, they are easily the most despised and unliked people within a group or organization. If there are two ‘gods’ that annoy practitioners the most, it would be negative Hurting Officer and Indirect Resource charts, with Rob Wealth in a close third place.
There is a reason why Hurting Officer is considered one of the four Inauspicious Gods back in the olden days when this ‘god’ was shunned. There are two common reasons why Hurting Officer, or The Performer, is disliked:
- They’re not known to respect authority – even when there are plenty of reasons they should. They are the anti-thesis of authority, and people with a negative Hurting Officer in their BaZi chart tend not to get the favour of their superiors.
- They bite more than they can chew. The need to ‘perform’ and show themselves is an inherent Hurting Officer/The Performer trait. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but if someone were to try too hard to prove themselves but lack the substance to back it up, you can imagine the kind of inconvenience they can bring and how others might find them offputting.
One very common scenario in the corporate world shows up as this. I’ve repeatedly mentioned that if someone forces him or herself into a position of power where he or she doesn’t belong, trouble will follow. This mysterious force will drag these people down and make them fall from grace for some reason. It happens everywhere.
I feel particularly strongly about leadership because good leaders are extremely rare these days. I appreciate the value and inspiration they can bring, and the world could do with more great leaders. I’ve not had the fortune of meeting many great leaders at the workplace, but it’s not like I’m expecting myself to anyway.
For some reason, many of them bring their issues to work and have a huge chip on their shoulder. You can tell they’re trying so hard to get validation and to make themselves feel a higher sense of self-worth. They enjoy being in a position that holds more power and will not hesitate to wield this power in the pursuit of their own interests.
I want to discuss a Hurting Officer chart-holder that I’ve been observing for a few years now, but first, let’s discuss this flamboyant BaZi ‘god’ a bit more.
The Positive Sides Of Hurting Officer Or The Performer
Please note that when I refer to the positive side of a ‘god’, it always means that the particular ‘god’ plays a positive role in one’s chart and acts as the Critical Element, or “Useful God” (用神) of the chart. The conditions for a ‘god’ to play a positive role in one’s BaZi chart are always strict, so do not choose the “Useful God” flippantly.
Unfortunately, the Hurting Officer is labelled as an Inauspicious ‘God’ (凶神), but this is more accurate in the context of feudal China, where challenging norms and speaking up are extremely frowned upon. It’s a more volatile ‘god’ that can potentially cause more harm than its counterpart, the Eating God (食神). Its volatile nature stems from it being the nemesis of the Direct Officer (正官), which governs someone’s title and social standing.
But as I said at the beginning, there are still positive sides to this notorious Output ‘god’, and they are a lot more welcomed in modern times, with many Hurting Officer chart-holders doing well in society. For beginners, when we say Output, it basically refers to the element which your Daymaster gives birth to, or generates, and it must be of the opposite Yin Yang polarity. For example:
- For a Yang Wood (甲木) Daymaster, Yin Fire would manifest as the Hurting Officer ‘god’.
- For a Yin Water (癸水) Daymaster, Yang Wood would manifest as the Hurting Officer ‘god’.
Hurting Officer chart-holders do not shy away from the limelight; many celebrities and media personalities fall under this category. As an output ‘god’, they possess an artistic side and always seek an outlet to express themselves. Most often, this is done through talking and being the centre of attention in a group.
Hurting Officer chart-holders are also extremely intelligent, and the one thing that makes them stand out the most is that they are not afraid to change the old way of doing things and challenge structure and norms. When exercised correctly, they can be extremely valuable to an organization, but if done incorrectly, they are the last people you’ll want around you. They are the complete opposite of Direct Officer chart-holders, who are known to stick to the rules and structure.
There are a lot of well-known BaZi chart structures that revolve around Hurting Officer, such as:
- Hurting Officer Accompanied By Resource/Seal (伤官配印)
- Hurting Officer With Missing Direct Officer (伤官伤尽)
Don’t be upset if you have a strong Hurting Officer chart because it may be very good. It still depends on what your BaZi chart needs and how it is structured at the end of the day. Do not misinterpret me by thinking that all charts with Hurting Officer mean it’s a bad chart.
Let’s get to the flip side and discuss what gives Hurting Officer its notoriety.
The Negative Sides Of Hurting Officer Or The Performer
I won’t be shy to say that a negative Hurting Officer chart can be one of the most deplorable you can meet. As a practitioner, I’m not fond of negative Hurting Officer charts, just like how I’m not fond of negative Indirect Resource charts. They are inauspicious ‘gods’ in BaZi after all, and if it shows up in a chart unremedied, you can be assured that such chart-holders will have character flaws and don’t end up going very far in life.
The negative side of Hurting Officer can be easily summarized as such:
Overestimating Their Abilities & Wanting To Be The Center Of Attention
The Output ‘god’ that drains the Daymaster, the best side of an Output ‘god’ only shows up when the Daymaster is strong. When it is weak, it manifests as the chart-holder trying to exert themselves but without any substance.
As Hurting Officer is about outward, extroverted expression, these chart-holders love to jump at the opportunity to prove their worth when they have very little to offer. To give a real-life example, they’re likely the ones who lie to look better and will buy fake social media followings just to appear more popular or legitimate.
Challenging And Not Respecting Authority
If Hurting Officer triggers any problems or flaws within a BaZi chart, you can almost always expect the chart-holder to get into trouble with authority. In mild cases, it’s just ticking off one’s manager. In more severe cases, one would get into trouble with the law.
There’s something about negative Hurting Officer charts that make them hate being bound by rules or structure. It’s not that it is inherently a bad thing because rules and structures have to change from time to time, but Hurting Officer people do it in such a way that is very unconstructive for everyone.
Case Study Of An Unfortunate Hurting Officer Chart-Holder
The case study below is interesting but also extremely unfortunate. Let’s just say that I know this chart-holder very, very well, but he is by no means a friend.

Let me list down the key things about this chart-holder:
- The chart-holder is very intelligent, but this intelligence is limited to academics. At first blush, his Daymaster appears strong, but it is not because of the Metal elements and combination which appear. Fortunately for him, there are still enough Earth and Fire elements propping up the quality of his chart, and beneficial auxiliary stars like Tian Yi Gui Ren (天乙贵人) and Guo Yin Gui Ren (国印贵人) both appear. Studies-wise, he’s going to do OK. He graduated with a degree in law from Oxford. Who wouldn’t be envious?
- However, the presence of Hurting Officer is just far too strong. Remember that in BaZi, the elements always come first. No matter how good or how many auxiliary stars appear, it won’t matter if your chart’s elements are imbalanced and have flaws.
- The character flaws of Hurting Officer apply to him. This chart also has Kui Gang Gui Ren (魁罡贵人), which, in negative cases, gives the chart-holder a very domineering and sometimes obnoxious disposition. Please remember that this only applies in negative cases. There is a positive side to this auxiliary star.
You might think that someone with a law degree from Oxford is doing well, but you’ll be surprised that this person is not having it easy. He only has himself to blame because this person gets ostracized wherever he goes due to his character flaws. You just have to talk to him to know that there is something peculiar about him. As far as I know, his colleagues despise him wherever he goes.
The chart-holder in this case study had a good start upon graduation, naturally ending up in a top investment firm upon graduating from Oxford. For reasons unknown to me, this stint only lasted a little more than a year, after which he tried to start his business but failed miserably. He had no choice but to return to the corporate world and ended up with an average job that did not justify his elite degree law degree. Unsurprisingly, he had trouble getting back into the top firms because of the years he’s lost and his very awkward demeanour.
As you can see in the chart, he shifted into a new 10-year phase in 2015, which was the start of a very challenging phase for him. From 2016 to 2020, he has lost his job four times. He was either told to leave or his company shut down. Despite having a degree from Oxford, he is currently unemployed and having trouble finding a job and good references. His ‘luck’ with finding employment so far is due to his elite degree, but the companies he gets into are the ones that people have not heard of instead of the reputable MNCs because an interviewer will know he won’t be a good cultural fit.
This chart-holder’s consistent failures are not the issue here because failures should sometimes be celebrated as they make us better people. The issue is the obvious character flaws that anyone with a bit of life experience can tell just by talking to him. The combination of a negative Hurting Officer and Kui Gang Gui Ren has made him perhaps one of the most obnoxious persons I’ve ever met. He is a condescending elitist for reasons I don’t understand – because he’s really not that good.
It’s downhill from here. His next two 10-year phases are all considered negative, and for someone to undergo such negative 10-year phases at their prime is, unfortunately. You can tell from the charts that he’s not going to change. You don’t even have to know how to read charts to know that – because it’s so obvious.
I mentioned in a blog post about how something can seem auspicious but it actually isn’t. Chinese metaphysics is impartial and a lot of the things we value on the surface are just labels.
This person and case study are extremely interesting to me personally. They are a classic example of why your degree doesn’t matter and how your success is based on many other factors rather than just the university you graduated from. An intelligent person with outstanding academic achievements can have serious character flaws. But then again, how you define intelligence today encompasses more than just doing well in exams.
I hope everyone will never have to meet or work with someone like that.