The Twelve Life Stages (sibi-unseong) describe how strong your Day Master is on each earthly branch, using the stages of a life: Birth, Bath, Crown Belt, Coming of Age, Peak, Decline, Sickness, Death, Tomb, Extinction, Conception and Nurture.
Each Day Master starts "Birth" on a fixed branch (Gap → Hae/Pig, Byeong & Mu → In/Tiger, Gyeong → Sa/Snake, Im → Sin/Monkey; Eul → O/Horse, Jeong & Gi → Yu/Rooster, Sin (Metal) → Ja/Rat, Gye → Myo/Rabbit). Yang stems count forward through the branches, yin stems count backward.
Twelve Life Stages by Day Master (Bujasaju engine table)
| Day Master | Birth | Bath | Crown Belt | Coming of Age | Peak | Decline | Sickness | Death | Tomb | Extinction | Conception | Nurture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gap 甲 | Pig | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog |
| Eul 乙 | Horse | Snake | Dragon | Rabbit | Tiger | Ox | Rat | Pig | Dog | Rooster | Monkey | Goat |
| Byeong 丙 | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox |
| Jeong 丁 | Rooster | Monkey | Goat | Horse | Snake | Dragon | Rabbit | Tiger | Ox | Rat | Pig | Dog |
| Mu 戊 | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox |
| Gi 己 | Rooster | Monkey | Goat | Horse | Snake | Dragon | Rabbit | Tiger | Ox | Rat | Pig | Dog |
| Gyeong 庚 | Snake | Horse | Goat | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon |
| Sin 辛 | Rat | Pig | Dog | Rooster | Monkey | Goat | Horse | Snake | Dragon | Rabbit | Tiger | Ox |
| Im 壬 | Monkey | Rooster | Dog | Pig | Rat | Ox | Tiger | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Horse | Goat |
| Gye 癸 | Rabbit | Tiger | Ox | Rat | Pig | Dog | Rooster | Monkey | Goat | Horse | Snake | Dragon |
The names are metaphors — "Death" or "Sickness" never mean a real event — and they are read together with the Ten Gods and the chart's balance.
Frequently asked questions
Q. Where are the Twelve Life Stages placed?
On each of the four branches of the chart — year, month, day and hour — always measured from your Day Master. Bujasaju shows them automatically in the free Saju result.
Q. Is a Peak or Coming of Age stage always good?
No. It only means the energy is strong there; if the chart is already strong, balance matters more. The stages alone never decide good or bad.
Q. Why do yin stems count backward?
Traditional myeongri holds that yang and yin stems flow in opposite directions ("yang forward, yin backward"). Some schools count yin stems forward too; Bujasaju states that it uses the yang-forward, yin-backward method.
Related: What are the Ten Gods in Saju? · Combinations and clashes in a Saju chart