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Stage 1 of 12 · rising

Birth (长生) — stage 1 of the twelve

Birth is stage 1 of the twelve stages, which describe how strong a stem is on a given branch. Yang stems run forward from their Birth branch and yin stems run backward, so each of the ten stems lands on exactly one stage per branch — meaning "one stage" maps to a definite branch for each of the ten stems. This page lists those ten landings, the 6 of the sixty pillars that sit on this stage, and the direction rule itself.

Computed facts (engine-verified)

This page is generated from the engine v0.14.0, not hand-written; structural facts reconcile against the methodology page.

StageBirth 长生 · position 1 of 12
Arcrising (this site's own reading band, not an engine strength verdict)
DirectionYang stems (Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng, Ren) run forward · yin stems (Yi, Ding, Ji, Xin, Gui) run backward — which is why the same stage lands on different branches for the two groups
Landingsten, one per stem: Jia Yang Wood Hai, Yi Yin Wood Wu, Bing Yang Fire Yin, Ding Yin Fire You, Wu Yang Earth Yin, Ji Yin Earth You, Geng Yang Metal Si, Xin Yin Metal Zi, Ren Yang Water Shen, Gui Yin Water Mao
Pillars6 of the sixty pillars sit on this stage (60 across the twelve)

Which branch each of the ten stems occupies here

One row per stem: its landing branch at this stage, its Birth branch, and its direction. The Birth branches are a fixed table; the landings follow from them.

StemLanding hereBirth branchDirection
甲 Jia · 阳木亥 Hai亥 Haiforward
乙 Yi · 阴木午 Wu午 Wubackward
丙 Bing · 阳火寅 Yin寅 Yinforward
丁 Ding · 阴火酉 You酉 Youbackward
戊 Wu · 阳土寅 Yin寅 Yinforward
己 Ji · 阴土酉 You酉 Youbackward
庚 Geng · 阳金巳 Si巳 Siforward
辛 Xin · 阴金子 Zi子 Zibackward
壬 Ren · 阳水申 Shen申 Shenforward
癸 Gui · 阴水卯 Mao卯 Maobackward

Yang stems (forward)

Jia → 亥 Hai · Bing → 寅 Yin · Wu → 寅 Yin · Geng → 巳 Si · Ren → 申 Shen

Yin stems (backward)

Yi → 午 Wu · Ding → 酉 You · Ji → 酉 You · Xin → 子 Zi · Gui → 卯 Mao

The same stage lands on different branches for yang and yin stems — the two groups below show it side by side:

The 6 pillars on this stage

In each of these the day stem sits at this stage on the day branch. Every pillar has its own page with the same computed structure:

Bing Yin · Ren Shen · Wu Yin · Ding You · Gui Mao · Ji You

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 does Birth mean?
Birth (长生) is stage 1 of the twelve stages that describe how strong a stem is on a given branch. The twelve run Birth, Bathing, Attiring, Official Post, Prosperity, Decline, Illness, Death, Tomb, Extinction, Conception, Nourishment — a full cycle. It is about position and state, not fortune.
Why does the same stage land on different branches for different stems?
Because yang stems run forward and yin stems run backward. Counting clockwise from its Birth branch for a yang stem and anticlockwise for a yin stem, the two groups arrive at different branches by position 1. The two groups on this page list all ten landings.
Which pillars sit on this stage?
6 of them: 丙寅, 壬申, 戊寅, 丁酉, 癸卯, 己酉. In each, the day stem is at Birth on the day branch. Open any of them for the hidden stems, the seat relation and the nayin.
Is Birth good or bad?
The twelve stages describe a position on a curve, not a score. The tradition treats Birth, Official Post and Prosperity as relatively strong stations and Decline through Extinction as relatively weak ones — but these are points on the same cycle, and no single station can be judged apart from the whole chart.

Nearby stages

Nourishment ←  ·  → Bathing

长生 Birth stage 1 沐浴 Bathing stage 2 冠带 Attiring stage 3 临官 Official Post stage 4 帝旺 Prosperity stage 5 衰 Decline stage 6 病 Illness stage 7 死 Death stage 8 墓 Tomb stage 9 绝 Extinction stage 10 胎 Conception stage 11 养 Nourishment stage 12

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.