The Twelve Growth Phases (十二长生) is an ancient system used by practitioners of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements to express the rise and fall of fate through the cycle of the Ten Heavenly Stems (天干) and the Twelve Earthly Branches (地支). These are the twelve types of elemental influences, collectively known as the Twelve Growth Phases, with the initial phase "Changsheng (长生)" representing the entire cycle. It describes the life stages of "birth, aging, illness, and death," and is also used as a metaphor for the entire process of creation, development, decline, and extinction of all things in the world.

Within the Twelve Growth Phases, Changsheng (长生), Guan Dai (冠带), Lin Guan (临官), and Di Wang (帝旺) represent prosperous phases, known as the "Four Prosperous Phases (四旺运)." On the other hand, Shuai (衰), Si (死), Mu (墓), and Jue (绝) represent adverse phases, known as the "Four Adverse Phases (四恶运)." The phases Shuai (衰), Bing (病), Tai (胎), and Yang (养) represent neutral phases.