Tai Sui, and what it means to offend it
The Tai Sui (太岁, often called the Grand Duke Jupiter) is the year’s earthly branch: the year’s zodiac animal. 2027 is a 丁未 year, so its Tai Sui is 未, the Goat. When your own animal’s branch is the same as the year’s, or clashes with, punishes, harms or breaks it, you are said to offend the Tai Sui (犯太岁, fàn tài suì).
Where the Tai Sui comes from
Ancient Chinese astronomers counted years by Jupiter, the “year star” (岁星), which takes about twelve years to go round the sky. To make the count run evenly they imagined a counterpart moving the other way, one branch a year: the Tai Sui. Folk religion later gave each of the sixty years its own Tai Sui general; for 2027 丁未 it is General Miao Bing (缪丙).
The five relations
| Name | What it is | Animals in 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 值太岁, own year | Your animal is the year’s (本命年) | Goat |
| 冲太岁, clash | Your branch sits opposite the year’s | Ox (丑未冲) |
| 刑太岁, punishment | Your branch and the year’s punish each other | Ox, Dog (丑未戌, the three punishments) |
| 害太岁, harm | Also called 相穿, “piercing” | Rat (子未害) |
| 破太岁, break | The lightest of the five | Dog (戌未破) |
Most readers treat a clash as the strongest, your own year and a punishment next, and harm and break as the lightest. Some schools count only your own year and the clash.
Animals that combine with the year are read the other way, as having an easier year. In 2027 the Horse makes a six combine with 未 (午未合), and the Rabbit and the Pig share the 亥卯未 three harmony with it.
By 立春 or by Chinese New Year?
Most people change animals on the first day of the lunar year. BaZi, and the Tai Sui with it, change at 立春 (Start of Spring). In 2027, 立春 falls at 09:46 on 4 February and Chinese New Year on 6 February: born in between, you are a Goat in BaZi and still a Horse by the lunar calendar. Born in January 2027, you are a Horse either way.
What to do in a Tai Sui year
Offending the Tai Sui means a year with more change, not a forecast of trouble. Practical things help most:
- Turn change into plans. Job moves, house moves, renovation and big spending go better scheduled, with time and money to spare.
- Read the fine print. Punishment and harm tend to show between people and in the details.
- Protect your rest. It matters more in a busy year.
Many temples hold a ceremony to pay respects to the Tai Sui (安太岁); whether to go is a matter of personal belief. riffos does not sell charms or cures, and we don’t suggest spending money because of a Tai Sui year.
Is the animal enough?
Your animal is one branch, one of the eight characters in your chart. Two people born in Ox years can have very different years, depending on their day master, month pillar and luck pillar. That’s why the riffos year ahead starts from your own four pillars, with the Tai Sui as one part of it.