Extinction (Jue) — The Tenth of the Twelve Stages
In a Nutshell
The tenth of the Twelve Stages: the previous movement of qi gathered up and cut off — Jia Wood's Extinction falls on Shen.
Quick facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Stage position | Tenth of the Twelve Stages |
| Jia Wood's Extinction | Shen |
| Yi Wood's Extinction | You (yin stems count backward) |
What is Extinction (Jue)?
Extinction is the tenth stage of the "Twelve Stages," describing the state where the previous movement of the Five Elements' qi is gathered up, cut off, and converted. 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, Si is Sickness, Wu is Death, Wei is Grave, and the tenth position, Shen, is Extinction. For the yin stem Yi Wood, Birth is at Wu, and counting backward, the tenth position, You, is Extinction. In other words, a Jia Wood Day Master meeting Shen, or an Yi Wood Day Master meeting You, is the Day Master traveling into the "Extinction" ground.
The image of "Extinction" is qi cut off, the old cycle gathered up: like a stream that runs dry here — the previous movement of energy has completed its course. It sits between Grave (ninth) and Conception (eleventh), carrying forward and turning: looking back it receives the return to storage, looking ahead it opens the new nurturing. When traditionally assessing the Day Master's Strength (Prosperous/Weak), "Extinction" is read as one of the weakest positions of the Five Elements' qi — 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 set out in the *San Ming Tong Hui* (Book 2, on the Five Elements lodging in the twelve palaces) and the *Zi Ping Zhen Quan* ("On the Life and Death of Yin and Yang"); the original passages are quoted below. MoZhu's Twelve Stages lookup tool uses the yang-forward / yin-backward counting and shows the stage of each of the Four Pillars' stems.
"Extinction" 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: … first, Receiving Qi, also called Extinction or Fragile: the myriad things are still in the earth without form, like an empty womb with nothing yet in it."
Plain words: Extinction (also called Receiving Qi) is the stage before anything has form, like an empty womb. Jia Wood is in Extinction at Shen, Yi Wood at You.
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：……一曰受气，又曰绝，曰脆，以万物在地中未有其象，如母腹空，未有物也。
"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.*