Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter)

Tai Sui worship actually began with astronomy. Ancient observers saw that Jupiter (the 'year star') takes about twelve years to circle the sky, so they divided the heavens into twelve equal sections. Each year Jupiter passed through one section, and that section was guarded by a Tai Sui spirit — which later grew into a complete system of sixty rotating Tai Sui, each with their own name and title.

Folklore tells a story that sends a chill down the spine: long ago, a man who scoffed at the taboo dug the ground in Tai Sui's direction — and unearthed a lump of flesh that kept growing and could never be cut away. Terrified, he buried it again and set up an altar to make offerings. From then on, the taboo 'Don't dig the ground over Tai Sui's head' was passed down.

Interestingly, the 'Tai Sui fungus' from the story really exists in nature: a fungus that grows underground and looks like a lump of flesh, no wonder the ancients were alarmed. One end of the belief reaches up to the stars, the other down to a mystery in the soil — Tai Sui may be the most 'interdisciplinary' god of all.

How do you 'appease Tai Sui'? At the start of the lunar year (ideally before the 15th day of the first month), go to a temple and register your name and birth date and time. The temple will place a Tai Sui lamp or Tai Sui talisman in its Tai Sui hall, asking Tai Sui Xingjun to protect you all year. At year's end (around the twelfth lunar month), remember to return to 'thank Tai Sui' for the year's protection, completing the cycle.

Who needs it? People whose zodiac sign that year is in the Tai Sui position, or clashes with, punishes, breaks, or harms Tai Sui — temples and the media publish the list every year.

Advice for a year when you offend Tai Sui: wear a Tai Sui talisman, light a Tai Sui lamp, put off big changes like moving house or changing jobs where you can, and do more good deeds. When it comes to fortune, a little caution never hurts.

Tai Sui appeasement is generally done between the 1st and 15th days of the first lunar month, when long lines often form outside the Tai Sui halls of major temples. And every year, the announcement of which zodiac signs 'offend Tai Sui' (usually before the Lunar New Year) is a story the media reliably covers.