The Wu-Xu Tai Sui: General Jiang Wu

A loyal dog on a mountain

Wu is yang earth, a great mountain that will not be pushed around. Xu is the dog at dusk, guarding the house and refusing to give an inch. Earth on earth: a guard that no storm can shake.

General Jiang Wu guards this year. People born in Wu-Xu years often have a strong sense of justice and stick up for the people they care about, even when it costs them.

Standing straight

He wears a fine red and green official hat and has a neat long black beard, the dark beard of a man in his prime. His eyes are clear as an autumn moon and completely determined.

He wears dark armor and a heavy red cloak and holds a long staff with both hands, standing straight as if to say: I am here, so danger stops.

One man at the village gate

According to legend, he was Jiang Wu, a skilled fighter of the Song dynasty who never held an office but was famous for a sense of right that no one could buy. Wherever bullies preyed on the weak, he stepped in, and he never asked for anything back.

He once came to a mountain village that paid "protection money" to a notorious bandit chief every year or had their houses burned. Jiang Wu took only a long staff, went to see the chief alone, and said, "Next month, come talk to me, not the villagers."

The next month, the chief came with more than ten men and found Jiang Wu standing alone at the edge of the village. After a hard fight, the bandits fled. The village was left in peace for many years.

"That's all"

When the villagers tried to give him money, he shook his head. "I don't do this for money. I just can't stand seeing people pick on someone weaker. That's all."

Heaven named him the Tai Sui of the Wu-Xu year. A staff in his hand and a loyal, upright heart: that is his gift to everyone born in the Year of the Dog.