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The Gui-Chou Tai Sui: General Zhu De
A wandering monk who fixed roofs, told stories, and somehow made people feel stronger.
- Guardian of
- People born in a Gui-Chou year, the Year of the Ox
- Born between
- Feb 3, 1973 – Jan 22, 1974
Jan 31, 2033 – Feb 18, 2034 - Past life (legend)
- Zhu De, a traveling Buddhist monk of the Yuan dynasty (folk legend)
- Symbol
- A round-topped walking staff: gentle, steady company
If you were born between these dates, you were born in a Gui-Chou year, the Year of the Ox, and General Zhu De watches over you.
(A new year starts on Lunar New Year’s Day.)
Dew on a winter ox
Gui is morning dew, the purest drop. Chou is the cold field where the ox plows steadily toward a harvest. A drop of dew lands on the ox's back: lightness and steadiness in perfect balance.
General Zhu De guards this year. People born in Gui-Chou years are often genuine and easy to be around, and people from every walk of life feel they can come close. When they promise something, you can count on it.
The friendliest face
He is plump and round-faced, the most approachable of all the generals. He wears a fine red and green crown and has an open, cheerful smile, the real smile of someone who has seen a lot and still loves life.
He wears a reddish robe and a heavy red cloak and holds a walking staff with a round, gentle top: no sharp edge, but real weight.
"I just showed up"
According to legend, he was Zhu De, a wandering monk of the Yuan dynasty with no temple and no home. Wherever he went, he stayed a while and helped: fixed a roof, carried something heavy, told an old person a story that made the world feel good again. He did not preach. He was simply there, smiling.
People said that when he came to a place, neighbors who never spoke started chatting, families who were fighting each took a step back, and people who could not go on heard one of his stories and kept walking the next day.
Being there
Asked how he did it, he shook his head. "I didn't do anything. I was just there." That "just being there" was his greatest gift.
Heaven named him the Tai Sui of the Gui-Chou year. A walking staff and an honest, warm presence: that is his gift to everyone born in the Year of the Ox.
Questions people ask
Who is the Tai Sui for people born in 1973?
People born between Feb 3, 1973 and Jan 22, 1974 were born in a Gui-Chou year, the Year of the Ox. Their Tai Sui is General Zhu De.
Who was General Zhu De before becoming a Tai Sui?
Zhu De, a traveling Buddhist monk of the Yuan dynasty (folk legend).
What does General Zhu De hold?
A round-topped walking staff: gentle, steady company.
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