The Yi-Si Tai Sui: General Wu Sui

A vine on the snake's path

Yi is soft wood, a vine that never stops, only changes direction. Si is the snake on a warm stone, knowing when to strike, when to wait, and how to do the most with the least. Soft but clever, flexible but stubborn.

General Wu Sui guards this year. People born in Yi-Si years often think before they act, see angles others miss, and keep finding a way forward after every setback.

A seasoned old hand

He wears a red official hat with a green brim and has a thick black beard that flows down to his chest. His eyes are sharp, the look of someone who has already done the math.

He wears dark battle robes and a heavy red cloak and grips a tall, straight staff with a pointed tip, equally fit for commanding and for fighting.

Two giants, one whisper

According to legend, he was Wu Sui, an old strategist of a small state in the Spring and Autumn period. He never relied on armies. He kept the great powers so busy watching each other that none of them could swallow his small country.

When two big states were about to split his country between them, Wu Sui quietly sent envoys to each, pointing out a weakness in the other and hinting: "If you move first, the other will strike you from behind." Each one did the math and decided to wait.

That bought a year, and he used it to build up strength. "When the weak face the strong," he told his ruler, "strength won't do it. You have to let the strong wear each other out."

Half a century of peace

Thanks to him, the little state lasted another fifty years, and countless people lived out their lives without seeing their country fall.

Heaven named him the Tai Sui of the Yi-Si year. A seasoned staff and soft but stubborn wisdom: that is his gift to everyone born in the Year of the Snake.