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The Jia-Xu Tai Sui: General Shi Guang
An old inspector who traveled in disguise to catch corrupt officials.
- Guardian of
- People born in a Jia-Xu year, the Year of the Dog
- Born between
- Feb 10, 1994 – Jan 30, 1995
- Past life (legend)
- Shi Guang, a Ming dynasty censor sent to inspect the counties of Jiangnan (folk legend)
- Symbol
- A long white beard: a lifetime of honesty
If you were born between these dates, you were born in a Jia-Xu year, the Year of the Dog, and General Shi Guang watches over you.
(A new year starts on Lunar New Year’s Day.)
A tall tree and a loyal dog
Jia is the first stem, yang wood, a great tree with deep roots that keeps growing toward the light. Xu is the dog at dusk in late autumn, standing at the door to guard everyone inside.
General Shi Guang guards this year. People born in Jia-Xu years are often deeply loyal and protective of the people they love, and find it very hard to go against their own conscience.
Wise and unbending
He wears a tall, wide-brimmed hat with black and white stripes. His face is lean, lined by the years, with a long white beard flowing down his chest like winter snow.
Over a light blue robe he wears a heavy red cloak. His right hand is raised, palm out, like an elder gently saying: hold on to what matters most.
The merchant who wasn't
According to legend, he was Shi Guang, a censor in the Ming dynasty sent to check on officials in the south. He never announced himself. He dressed as a traveling merchant and quietly visited markets, farms and courtrooms to see the truth for himself.
In one county, the magistrate and local landlords were forcing grain prices down and pocketing the difference, so farmers went hungry even in a good year. Shi Guang gathered the books and the witnesses in secret. On his last night, he called every official together, read out the evidence under bright lamps, and had the guilty men arrested on the spot.
Bonfires along the road
When he left, the villagers lit bonfires along the road to see off the old man who had never told them who he was. He nodded to them from his cart, and his eyes went red.
He never took a gift and lived on a small salary in old age. Heaven named him the Tai Sui of the Jia-Xu year. A white beard and a steady, loyal heart: that is his gift to everyone born in the Year of the Dog.
Questions people ask
Who is the Tai Sui for people born in 1994?
People born between Feb 10, 1994 and Jan 30, 1995 were born in a Jia-Xu year, the Year of the Dog. Their Tai Sui is General Shi Guang.
Who was General Shi Guang before becoming a Tai Sui?
Shi Guang, a Ming dynasty censor sent to inspect the counties of Jiangnan (folk legend).
What does General Shi Guang hold?
A long white beard: a lifetime of honesty.
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