Tai Sui and your birth-animal year
In old China, each year was said to have a guardian, a kind of Grand Duke who rules over it for twelve months. His name is Tai Sui. In BaZi terms, he's simply the year's branch: the animal of the year.
Tai Sui on the compass
Each of the twelve branches belongs to a direction. The Rat sits in the north, the Horse in the south, and the others in between. The tradition treats the year's direction with respect: it advises against big renovations or digging there. The opposite direction is called Sui Po, the year breaker, and it gets the same care.
Your birth-animal year (本命年)
Every twelve years, the year's animal is your own, the animal of your Year pillar. Someone born in 1990, a Horse year, met theirs in 2002, 2014 and 2026. Remember that the BaZi year starts at : if you were born in January 1990, your animal is the Snake.
The tradition calls it nián. In many Chinese families it's the custom to wear a little red that year. The app reads it as a year to go calmly and renew. It isn't a bad year. It's a good moment to look back over the last twelve and think about the next twelve.
When the year's animal matches your Day branch instead, the app calls it your personal Tai Sui year: a year for reflection and adjustments.
Clashing with Tai Sui
When the year's animal sits opposite one of yours, like Rat and Horse or Rabbit and Rooster, people say you "clash with Tai Sui". The tradition reads it as change and movement in the part of life that pillar stands for. Not misfortune: often a move, a new job, or a routine that needed shaking up.
The traditional remedy is a nice one: celebrate a happy event, like an anniversary or a family gathering. And many families honour Tai Sui at Chinese New Year.
Where the app shows it
- Compass (Kua), on the Chart tab: turn on the "Annual layer" for this year or next. The grid marks Tai Sui and Sui Po, along with Three Killings and, most years, Five Yellow: more directions the tradition leaves alone for building work that year.
- Full reading: the "Feng shui and calendar" section has "Tai Sui, the “Grand Duke” of the year", with a card for this year and one for next. Each says whether it's your birth-animal year, which of your animals it clashes with, harms or combines with, and which parts of the home to leave alone for renovations. If someone in your family clashes with the year, it mentions them too.
How to take it
Tai Sui is an old custom, and a kind one at heart: a reminder to slow down, take care of your home and celebrate with your people. It's nothing to fear and it isn't a forecast.