Renxu Tai Sui General Hong Chong

Renxu Tai Sui General Hong Chong is one of the Sixty Jiazi Tai Sui deities who take turns presiding over each year in the sexagenary cycle; he assumes office during Renxu years (e.g., 2042, 2102), overseeing human fortune, misfortune, blessings, and calamities for that year. The zodiac sign corresponding to the Renxu year is the Dog; folk tradition holds that those born in the Year of the Dog experience benming nian (their birth-year zodiac cycle) during this time, while those born in the Year of the Dragon encounter chong tai sui (a direct clash with the Tai Sui). Both groups are 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 reverent veneration to the Tai Sui Star Lord to neutralise unfavourable influences in the coming year. Tai Sui veneration originates in ancient stellar chronology based on Jupiter’s orbital cycle (the ‘Year Star’, or Sui Xing) and the taboo against disturbing earth where the Tai Sui ‘resides’—expressed idiomatically as ‘disturbing the earth above the Tai Sui’. It is believed that the sixty Tai Sui deities rotate annually, observing human conduct and judging virtue and vice; thus, during years of clashing or conflicting zodiac signs, devotees earnestly pray and make offerings to the Tai Sui Star Lord to dispel disasters, transform misfortune into fortune, and ensure safety, harmony, and smooth progress throughout the year.