Bingzi Tai Sui General Guo Jia

Bingzi Tai Sui General Guo Jia is one of the Sixty Jiazi Tai Sui deities who assume annual duty in Bingzi years—such as 1996 and 2056—and oversee human fortune, calamity, prosperity, and adversity throughout that year. The Bingzi year corresponds to the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac; folk tradition holds that those born in the Year of the Rat experience benming nian (natal year) during Bingzi, thereby 'facing' the Tai Sui directly, while those born in the Year of the Horse undergo '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’) and Bai Tai Sui (‘worshipping the Tai Sui’) rituals, offering reverence to the Tai Sui Star Lord to mitigate misfortunes of the year. The Tai Sui cult originates in ancient stellar chronology centred on the planet Jupiter (Sui Xing, or ‘Year Star’) and the taboo against disturbing earth in the direction governed by the Tai Sui—hence the saying ‘disturbing the earth above the Tai Sui’ (Tai Sui tou shang dong tu). It is believed that sixty Tai Sui deities rotate annually in accordance with the sexagenary cycle, each serving as celestial overseer of human conduct, rewarding virtue and punishing vice; thus, during years of conflict with the Tai Sui, devotees engage in sincere prayer and ritual observance to dispel disasters, transform misfortune into blessing, and ensure peace, safety, and smooth passage through the year.