The twelve life stages

In Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), the twelve life stages trace how the energy of each heavenly stem rises and falls across the twelve earthly branches: birth, bath, youth, arrival, peak, decline, ebbing, dormant, stored, spent, conception and nurture. In the main classical view, yang stems move forward through the branches and yin stems move backward, and a yin stem at its birth stage has less force than a yang stem at its own, though it is not weak. The stage names describe the yearly rise and fall of a stem’s energy, not events in a person’s life.

Over the twelve months of a year, the energy of a stem rises and falls. The classical books mark each step of that rise and fall with twelve names, together called the twelve life stages (十二长生). This lesson covers what the twelve stages mean, why yang stems move forward and yin stems backward, and how to find the stage of your own Day Master in your chart.

The twelve stages

The True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠; Qing dynasty, 18th century) says that the stems move while the branches stay still; each stem passes in turn through the twelve months the branches stand for, and birth, peak, storage and being spent attach to it along the way. Energy goes from full to fading, and from fading back to full; dividing that circle step by step gives the twelve stages. The names borrow from the course of a human life:

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Rise and Fall of Yin and Yang

Later lessons also often call the arrival stage a stem’s Prosperity. One more point: names such as dormant, stored and spent describe how a stem’s energy rises and falls through the year; they are not events in a person’s life. If your Day Master falls on one of these stages, there is no need to worry.

Yang forward, yin backward

The ten stems do not all move in the same direction. The book explains that yang gathers and advances by moving forward, so it runs forward; yin disperses and advances by drawing back, so it runs in reverse. Yang stems move in the order of the branches, and yin stems against it.

The book adds that where a yang stem is born is where the yin stem of the same element is dormant, and the other way round. Take Yang Wood and Yin Wood. Yang Wood is the yang of Wood, its living energy. In the Pig month the branches and leaves have fallen, yet the living energy is fully stored, ready for next spring’s growth, so Yang Wood has its birth stage in the Pig; in the Horse month the branches and leaves are at their most luxuriant, yet the living energy within is used up, so Yang Wood is dormant in the Horse. Yin Wood is the yin of Wood, its form and substance, and is seen the other way round: in the Horse month the leaves are at their fullest, so Yin Wood has its birth stage in the Horse; in the Pig month the leaves wither, so Yin Wood is dormant in the Pig. One is seen as energy and the other as substance, so their directions differ. This is the same idea as Yang Wood as energy and Yin Wood as substance, from the lesson on yin and yang and the five elements.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Rise and Fall of Yin and Yang

See also: Yin and yang and the five elements: generating and controlling

The table below gives the twelve stages of each of the ten stems. Earth has no direction of its own; following the common practice, this series has Yang Earth follow Yang Fire and Yin Earth follow Yin Fire.

A yin stem’s birth stage: less forceful, yet not weak

Yang and yin stems move in different directions, and at their own birth stages their force differs too:

但阳长生有力，而阴长生不甚有力，然亦不弱。

Our translation: But a yang stem at its birth stage has force, while a yin stem at its birth stage has less force, yet it is not weak.

The book’s reason is that yang holds a large measure of energy and yin a small one; yang can contain yin, but yin cannot contain yang. So a yin stem at its own birth stage has less force than a yang stem at its own, but it is not weak for that: it has a strength of its own.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Rise and Fall of Yin and Yang

Birth stage and roots

For roots, this difference means the roots weigh differently. A yang stem’s birth stage holds that very stem: the Pig holds Yang Wood, the Tiger holds Yang Fire and Yang Earth, the Snake holds Yang Metal, and the Monkey holds Yang Water. So for a yang Day Master, its birth stage is a heavy root.

A yin stem’s birth stage does not hold its own element: Yin Wood is born in the Horse, Yin Fire and Yin Earth in the Rooster, Yin Metal in the Rat, and Yin Water in the Rabbit. So for a yin Day Master, its birth stage does not count as a heavy root. Discussing roots, The True Interpretation of Ziping also says that a yin stem’s birth stage cannot be treated the same as a yang stem’s. The stored stage shows a similar difference: a yang stem meeting its own stored stage counts as rooted, but Yin Wood meeting the Dog, or Yin Fire meeting the Ox, is not taken as a root, since the Dog holds no Wood and the Ox holds no Fire.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Rise and Fall of Yin and Yang; The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Stems in Season Yet Not Strong, Out of Season Yet Not Weak

Peak: the Yang Blade for yang stems, Rob Wealth for yin stems

A yang stem’s peak stage is the Yang Blade, covered in a later lesson: Yang Wood in the Rabbit, Yang Fire and Yang Earth in the Horse, Yang Metal in the Rooster, and Yang Water in the Rat. A yin stem’s peak stage is different: that branch holds the yang stem of the same element, which to the yin stem is Rob Wealth. Yin Wood’s peak, for example, is in the Tiger, which holds Yang Wood. The Yang Blade belongs only to the five yang stems; a yin stem’s peak is taken as Rob Wealth.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Yang Blade; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On Month Prosperity

Not to be applied rigidly

Dripping Heavenly Marrow (滴天髓) also says that the principle of yang forward and yin backward is real, but it should not be applied rigidly. The original notes to Dripping Heavenly Marrow remind the reader to look at the weight of the stems and branches and at how the elements support one another, and not to judge by names such as birth, dormant, bath and spent alone. That is also the approach this series takes: the twelve life stages tell you which step your Day Master’s energy has reached on each branch, and the weight of a root still has to be checked against the hidden stems.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow · General Discussion of Stems and Branches; Dripping Heavenly Marrow · General Discussion of Stems and Branches, original notes

Try it on your chart

1. Find your Day Master and its column in the table above.
2. Look first at the day branch: which stage does the Day Master sit on there? This is called its own seat.
3. Then look at the year, month and hour branches, and write down the Day Master’s stage on each. The stage on the month branch is especially worth noting: it bears on being in season, which the later lesson on being in season uses.
4. Circle the branches where your Day Master has its birth, arrival and peak stages. If the Day Master is a yang stem, its birth stage is a heavy root; if it is a yin stem, its birth stage has a strength of its own but does not count as a heavy root. The weight of roots is covered in detail in the lesson on roots.
5. If your Day Master is a yin stem and your chart holds its peak branch, mark it as Rob Wealth, not as the Yang Blade.

See also: The ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches

See also: Hidden stems: what each branch holds