The Xin-Wei Tai Sui: General Li Su

A jewel resting in summer earth

Xin is yin metal, not a sharp blade but a carved piece of jade or a bead shining in the morning dew. Wei is late summer earth, quietly getting ready for autumn, when the goats graze calmly and content.

General Li Su guards this year. People born in Xin-Wei years often feel things deeply, love art, beauty or books, and hold to their principles in a soft, quiet way.

Elegant and calm

He is tall and slim, with a long, flowing black beard more like a poet's than a soldier's. His look is calm and deep. He wears a bright yellow cloak over dark official robes.

He holds a tall ceremonial staff carved so beautifully it looks like a work of art rather than a weapon.

A school before a whip

According to legend, he was Li Su, an official in the Southern dynasties who grew up in a family of scholars. He was sent to a county where records were a mess, few people could read, and local bullies did as they pleased.

His first move was not to punish anyone. He repaired the county school, invited good teachers, and used public money so poor children could study. He believed real change comes from learning, not from harsh laws.

After seven years, there were fewer quarrels between neighbors and the bullies grew quieter, because more people could read and the truth was harder to twist.

What he left behind

He did not leave great battles or monuments. He left children who learned to read and changed their lives. Heaven named him the Tai Sui of the Xin-Wei year.

A carved staff in his hand and a gentle push toward goodness: that is his gift to everyone born in the Year of the Goat.