The Jia-Shen Tai Sui: General Fang Jie

A tall tree and a clever monkey

Jia is yang wood, the tallest tree in the forest, which gives everyone a view. Shen is the monkey in early autumn, quick and smart, finding a shortcut before anyone else sees the path.

General Fang Jie guards this year. People born in Jia-Shen years often adapt fast, find their place anywhere, and spot opportunities in places no one else thought to look.

Armor and a flute

He wears an iron-gray green hat close to his brows, with a neat short beard and lively eyes. He wears colorful armor and a red cape.

And in both hands he holds a small flute to his lips, about to play, to send a signal or to calm people's hearts. A warrior who can also use music to protect people.

A festival for two families

According to legend, he was Fang Jie, a wandering musician of the Han dynasty with no family name to speak of and no official post, just clever hands and a heart that understood people.

In a remote county, two clans had been fighting over land for years, and every attempt at peace had failed. Fang Jie made an odd suggestion to the magistrate: let him hold a music festival for both clans together.

He invited the elders, women and children of both families and chose old folk songs that both sides knew. That night, as they sang together, something loosened, because those songs had come from ancestors they shared.

A cup of tea

The feud did not end overnight. But after that festival, the elders of the two clans sat down and had a cup of tea together for the first time. The rest followed naturally.

Heaven named him the Tai Sui of the Jia-Shen year. A flute at his lips and a clever, creative mind: that is his gift to everyone born in the Year of the Monkey.