Mao Ri Ji (Pleiades Solar Rooster)

Mao Su (the Pleiades) is the fourth of the Seven Lunar Mansions of the White Tiger of the West and is associated with the sun; its divine embodiment is the Golden Rooster. The Pleiades asterism shines with exceptional brilliance on winter nights and was known in antiquity as Maotou (‘Hairy Head’), governing frontier military affairs. In Daoism, it is venerated as Lord Mao Ri Ji. In the classic novel Journey to the West, Mao Ri Ji appears in his true form as a rooster six to seven chi tall; he crows inside a steamer basket to rescue the monk Tang Sanzang and later subdues the Scorpion Demon of the Lute Cave—images that have left an indelible impression on popular imagination. In folk practice, devotees worship Lord Mao Ri Ji to expel malevolent forces, dispel darkness, and restore orderly transitions between dawn and dusk.