Grand Duke of Jupiter
2 min readThe taisui is literally translated as the Grand Duke of Jupiter.In Chinese folk belief，taisui is a ferocious deity，and people imagine that taisui might be an earthly deity whose formation corresponds with the revolution cycle of celestial Jupiter.
In the Chinese lunar calendar，the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches are used to formulate a sixty-year cycle.People believe that within the 60 years there will be 60 heavenly generals，each taking a turn for a period of one-year service that starts in lichun（the beginning of spring）and ends in dahan（the great cold）.Their responsibility is to take care ofall matters and distribute fortune or misfortune into the world of mortals.A person’s happiness，health，luck and fortune are all up to these generals who are called the jia-zi deities or the cycle deities.Although each jia-zi deity has his own specific name，people respectively give all the jia-zi deities a unified name:”the taisui deity”to identify the following characteristics.
One proverb says，”One can’t break ground right above the head of a taisui deity. ”This proverb is similar to the saying“One can’t beard the lion in his den.”People believe that each year’s taisui deity governs taboo practices in ground-breaking and construction，moving from one residence to another，and marriage or burial ceremonies.Violating these may have adverse effects.
People also look upon the specific taisui deity who exercises authority over the whole year.Many Daoist temples or shrines contain a constellation hall where the images of the 60 jia-zi deities are enshrined.When the new lunar year arrives，people often visit the constellation hall and worship these images by burning incense and providing food offerings.They hope that the taisui deity would bless them，give them a good health，and turn bad luck into good fortune.
