Gengwu Tai Sui General Wang Ji

Gengwu Tai Sui General Wang Ji is one of the Sixty Jiazi Tai Sui deities, taking office during Gengwu years—such as 1990 and 2050—and overseeing human fortune, misfortune, blessings, and calamities for that year. The zodiac animal associated with Gengwu is the Horse; folk tradition holds that those born in the Year of the Horse experience benming nian (their zodiac birth year) during Gengwu, while those born in the Year of the Rat encounter chong tai sui (direct conflict with the Tai Sui). Both groups are advised to visit Daoist temples to perform the An Tai Sui (‘Stabilising the Tai Sui’) ritual and worship the Tai Sui Star Lord, thereby mitigating unfavourable influences for the year. The Tai Sui cult originates in ancient Chinese stellar chronology centred on the planet Jupiter (the ‘Year Star’, or Sui Xing) and the taboo against disturbing earth where the invisible Tai Sui deity was believed to reside—hence the saying ‘disturbing earth above the Tai Sui’. It is believed that the sixty Tai Sui deities rotate annually in strict sequence, each serving as celestial overseer of human conduct, rewarding virtue and punishing vice; thus, during years of tai sui conflict, devotees offer sincere prayers and rituals to avert disasters, transform misfortunes into blessings, and ensure safety, harmony, and smooth passage through the year.