Gengxu Tai Sui General Ni Mi

Gengxu Tai Sui General Ni Mi is one of the Sixty Jiazi Tai Sui deities who take turns presiding over each year in the sexagenary cycle; he assumes office during Gengxu years (e.g., 2030 and 2090), governing human fortune, misfortune, blessings, and calamities for that year. The Gengxu year corresponds to the Dog in the Chinese zodiac; folk tradition holds that those born in the Year of the Dog experience benming nian (their zodiac birth year) during Gengxu, while those born in the Year of the Dragon encounter chong tai sui (a direct astrological clash 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. Tai Sui veneration originates in ancient stellar calendrical systems centred on Jupiter (the ‘Year Star’, or Sui Xing) and the taboo against disturbing earth where the Tai Sui ‘resides’—hence the saying ‘disturbing the earth above the Tai Sui’. Believers hold that the sixty Tai Sui deities rotate annually, observing human conduct and judging virtue and vice; thus, during years of conflict with the Tai Sui, devotees offer sincere prayers and rituals to dispel disasters, transform misfortune into good fortune, and ensure safety, harmony, and smooth progress through the year.