Bai tai sui, 拜太岁 (bài tài suì), is the custom of visiting a temple early in the year to pay respects to Tai Sui, the deity who presides over that year. It is usually done by people whose zodiac sign stands in a difficult relation with the year, as a gesture of respect and a request for a smooth year. In Singapore many Taoist temples offer the service around Chinese New Year.
This guide covers who goes in 2027, when, what happens at the temple, and the year-end thanks that closes the cycle.
Who prays to Tai Sui in 2027
The 2027 year is 丁未, the Fire Goat, and its Tai Sui general is 缪丙 (Miào Bǐng), one of the sixty generals who take turns over the sixty-year cycle. Four signs traditionally stand in a Tai Sui relation with the Goat year:
- Goat: holds Tai Sui (值太岁), its own year.
- Ox: clashes Tai Sui (冲太岁), with a punishment as well.
- Dog: in a punishment relation (刑太岁).
- Rat: in a harm relation (害太岁).
The birth years for each sign, and what each relation means, are listed in our guide to Tai Sui 2027. Anyone may pray to Tai Sui, though, and many families go every year whatever their sign.
When to go
Tradition favours the start of the year. In 2027 the Ba Zi year begins at Li Chun on 4 February 2027, and Chinese New Year falls on Saturday 6 February 2027. Most people visit during the first fifteen days of the New Year, before the Lantern Festival on Saturday 20 February 2027, and many temples accept registrations from a few weeks before the New Year. Temples are busiest on the first days, so a weekday visit is calmer. Many visitors also draw fortune sticks while at the temple, and our page on kau cim and the numbered poems covers how to ask, confirm with moon blocks and keep the etiquette.
What happens at the temple
Practice differs from temple to temple, but a visit usually involves:
- Registering your name and birth date, sometimes with your address, so the prayer is made for you by name.
- Offerings: incense, candles, fruit, flowers, and gold paper or a special Tai Sui paper. Some temples sell a ready set.
- Prayer before the Tai Sui altar, where the year’s general is shown, often with the help of a temple priest.
- A Tai Sui talisman (太岁符) to carry in your wallet or keep at home, and at some temples a lamp lit in your name for the year (点太岁灯).
Some families pray to Tai Sui at home instead, with incense and a simple offering on the altar. The intention matters more than the scale.
Huan tai sui: the year-end thanks
The cycle closes at the end of the year with 还太岁 (huán tài suì), returning thanks to Tai Sui for a safe year. It is usually done in the last lunar month, before the next New Year. You go back to the temple, give thanks, and return or burn the talisman from the start of the year, often with gold paper. Our guide to joss paper explains the different kinds.
Keeping it in proportion
Bai tai sui is a custom of respect, and many people find it steadying to begin a difficult year with a deliberate act. It is not something anyone needs to fear or pay heavily for. The year animal is one branch among the eight characters of a chart, and how 2027 actually meets you depends on the whole chart, as our page on what Tai Sui means explains.
If you would like to see how the coming year meets your own chart, plot it with the free Ba Zi calculator, or book a Ba Zi reading for an hour on the years ahead, with a written summary and no fear-selling.