- What does it mean to “offend Tai Sui”?
- In Taiwanese folk belief, one Tai Sui general is on duty each year. When the year's earthly branch matches your zodiac (Zhi), opposes it (Chong), or forms a Xing, Hai or Po relation, you are said to offend Tai Sui. It comes around about once every three years, and many people visit a temple in the first lunar month to settle Tai Sui.
- How do you “settle Tai Sui” (ān tài suì)?
- At a temple's Tai Sui hall you register your name and birth date, light a Tai Sui lamp and make offerings, asking the year's general for protection. Customs vary by temple; it is usually done between Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival, with a thanksgiving visit at year's end.
- How do you read moon blocks (jiaobei)?
- Moon blocks are a pair of crescent-shaped pieces of wood, flat on one side and round on the other. One flat and one round is a “holy” answer — yes. Both flat sides up is a “smiling” answer — the gods laugh and don't answer. Both round sides up means no, or not now.
- Who are the sixty Tai Sui generals?
- The Chinese sexagenary calendar repeats every sixty years, and each year has its own named Tai Sui general — sixty in all. The general on duty in the year you were born is your natal Tai Sui.
- How many temples are there in Taiwan?
- Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior lists more than 12,000 registered temples, with over a thousand ways of writing their main deities. The most common are the Earth God (Tudigong), the Wangye lords, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, Mazu and Guanyin.
