Bingxu Tai Sui General Bai Min

Bingxu Tai Sui General Bai Min is one of the Sixty Jiazi Tai Sui deities who rotates into office during the Bingxu year (e.g., 2006, 2066), governing human fortune, misfortune, blessings, and calamities for that year. The Bingxu year corresponds to the Year of the Dog in the Chinese zodiac; folk tradition holds that individuals born in the Year of the Dog experience benming nian (their zodiac birth year) during Bingxu, thereby directly 'encountering' the Tai Sui, while those born in the Year of the Dragon experience 'clashing' with the Tai Sui (chong tai sui). Both groups are traditionally advised to visit Daoist temples to perform the An Tai Sui (‘settling the Tai Sui’) or Bai Tai Sui (‘worshipping the Tai Sui’) rituals, offering reverence to the Tai Sui Star Lord to mitigate adverse influences for the year. The Tai Sui cult originates in ancient stellar chronology centred on Jupiter (the ‘Year Star’, Suixing) and the taboo phrase ‘disturbing the earth above the Tai Sui’ (tai sui tou shang dong tu), reflecting deep-rooted beliefs that the Tai Sui deity—rotating annually through the Sixty Jiazi cycle—observes human conduct, rewarding virtue and punishing vice; thus, during years of clashing or encountering the Tai Sui, devotees engage in sincere prayer and ritual observance to dispel disasters, transform misfortune into fortune, and ensure peace, safety, and smooth progress throughout the year.