Sickness (Bing) — The Seventh of the Twelve Stages
In a Nutshell
The seventh of the Twelve Stages: the Five Elements' qi weakened and sluggish — Jia Wood's Sickness falls on Si.
Quick facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Stage position | Seventh of the Twelve Stages |
| Jia Wood's Sickness | Si |
| Yi Wood's Sickness | Zi (yin stems count backward) |
What is Sickness (Bing)?
Sickness is the seventh stage of the "Twelve Stages," describing the Five Elements' qi in a weakened, sluggish state. The counting is yang-forward, yin-backward: take Jia Wood — Jia's Birth is at Hai, and counting forward, Hai is Birth, Zi is Bath, Chou is Coming of Age, Yin is Arrival, Mao is Peak, Chen is Decline, and the seventh position, Si, is Sickness. For the yin stem Yi Wood, Birth is at Wu, and counting backward — Wu is Birth, Si is Bath, Chen is Coming of Age, Mao is Arrival, Yin is Peak, Chou is Decline — the seventh position, Zi, is Sickness. In other words, a Jia Wood Day Master meeting Si, or an Yi Wood Day Master meeting Zi, is the Day Master traveling into the "Sickness" ground.
The image of "Sickness" is qi grown feeble: like plants after the first frost, their vitality dimmed, their movements slow — in need of rest and recovery. It sits between Decline (sixth) and Death (eighth), a stage where energy keeps trending down. When traditionally assessing the Day Master's Strength (Prosperous/Weak), "Sickness" is read as a position where the Five Elements' qi is relatively weak — but strength calls must weigh the month branch and the whole chart, never a single stage alone.
The complete order of the Twelve Stages and the yang-forward / yin-backward rule are found in the *San Ming Tong Hui*, Book 2, "On the Yin-Yang Life and Death of the Heavenly Stems" and "On the Five Elements' Prosperity, Decline, and Their Lodging in the Twelve Palaces" (sources verified). MoZhu's Twelve Stages lookup tool uses the yang-forward / yin-backward counting and shows the stage of each of the Four Pillars' stems.
"Sickness" describes only one link in the Five Elements' cycle of strength — one auxiliary concept for reading the Day Master's strength. This page introduces the stage's meaning, the lookup method, and the classical account, and draws no inferences from it.
Classical sources
"The Five Elements lodge in twelve palaces: Birth, Bathing, Cap and Belt, Official Post, Emperor, Decline, Sickness, Death, Grave, Extinction, Conception, Nurture, circling without end."
Plain words: The fixed order of the Twelve Stages.
Source: *San Ming Tong Hui*, Book 2, "On the Prosperity and Decline of the Five Elements and Their Lodging in the Twelve Palaces" — original: 五行寄生十二宫：长生、沐浴、冠带、临官、帝旺、衰、病、死、墓、绝、胎、养，循环无端，周而复始。
"The San Ming Ti Yao says: … tenth, Sickness: the myriad things sicken, as a person falls ill."
Plain words: Sickness is the stage of weakened vitality. Jia Wood is in Sickness at Si, Yi Wood at Zi.
Source: *San Ming Tong Hui*, Book 2, "On the Prosperity and Decline of the Five Elements and Their Lodging in the Twelve Palaces", quoting the *San Ming Ti Yao* — original: 《三命提要》云：……十曰病，万物病，如人之病也。
"Yang gathers and advances, so it runs forward; yin disperses and retreats, so it runs backward. That is why Birth, Bathing and the rest differ, forward for yang and backward for yin."
Plain words: Yang stems count forward, yin stems backward, so the two stems of one element land on different branches.
Source: *Zi Ping Zhen Quan*, "On the Life and Death of Yin and Yang" — original: 阳主聚，以进为进，故主顺；阴主散，以退为退，故主逆。长生沐浴等项，所以有阳顺阴逆之殊也。
*For entertainment purposes only.*