Tai Sui (太岁 tài suì) is the presiding influence of the year, and in Ba Zi (八字 bāzì) terms it is simply the year’s Earthly Branch. When people say a sign “offends Tai Sui” (犯太岁 fàn tài suì), they mean that their own year branch stands in a classical relation with the branch now ruling the calendar.
This page explains what those relations are, works through 2026 and 2027, describes the temple customs respectfully, and then makes the case that matters most: the year branch is a blunt instrument, and your full chart is sharper.
What Tai Sui is in a chart
Each solar year carries a pillar of two characters. In 2026 it is 丙午 (Bǐng Wǔ), the Fire Horse; from Li Chun (立春 lìchūn) on 4 February 2027 at 09:45, Singapore time, it becomes 丁未 (Dīng Wèi), the Fire Goat. The lower character, the branch, is the one tradition treats as Tai Sui for that year.
The branch also has a seat on the compass. In 2026 the seat was South (离 lí); in 2027 it moves to Southwest (坤 kūn), the sector of 未. The seat moves with the branch every year.
Your year branch is the animal of your birth year, counted from Li Chun rather than from 1 January or Chinese New Year. When the year’s branch meets yours, one of a small set of fixed relations may form.
The four ways of offending Tai Sui
Tradition names four, and each maps onto a relation this site’s engine computes between two branches.
| Traditional term | Meaning | Engine relation |
|---|---|---|
| 值太岁 zhí tài suì | Holding Tai Sui: your branch is the year’s branch | Same branch |
| 冲太岁 chōng tài suì | Clashing: your branch sits opposite the year’s | Six Clash 六冲 |
| 刑太岁 xíng tài suì | Punishing: your branch shares a punishment group with the year’s | Punishment 刑 |
| 害太岁 hài tài suì | Harming: a quieter, indirect friction | Six Harm 六害 |
A clash (六冲 liùchōng) is the most visible: two branches pull in opposite directions, and the themes are movement, change of plans and decisions that cannot wait. Punishment (刑 xíng) tends to read as pressure and friction inside structures you already belong to. A harm (六害 liùhài) is subtler, the kind of misalignment that shows as miscommunication or alliances that quietly cost more than they give. Holding Tai Sui, the year of your own branch (本命年 běnmìngnián), doubles your branch rather than opposing it: more visibility, more of your own habits, good and bad.
The same engine also marks the friendly relations. A Six Combination (六合 liùhé) binds two branches; a Three Harmony (三合 sānhé) places them in the same elemental frame. Signs in those relations are traditionally described as supported. Some schools also list further relations beyond these; the tables on this site stick to the ones the engine computes.
Tai Sui 2026 and 2027, worked through
The 2026 Fire Horse year runs until 09:45 on 4 February 2027, so it applies until that moment. Its branch is 午 (Wǔ). The engine gives three active relations: the Rat clashes it (子午, see the Zi–Wu clash), the Ox harms it (丑午), and the Horse holds it. The Goat combines with it, and the Tiger and Dog share its Fire frame.
From Li Chun 2027 the branch becomes 未 (Wèi), and the pattern changes completely.
| Relation | 2026 丙午 (Horse year) | 2027 丁未 (Goat year) |
|---|---|---|
| Holding (same branch) | Horse | Goat |
| Clashing (六冲) | Rat | Ox |
| Punishing (刑) | None listed | Ox and Dog |
| Harming (六害) | Ox | Rat |
| Supported (六合 / 三合) | Goat; Tiger and Dog | Horse; Rabbit and Pig |
Note the Ox in 2027: it clashes the Goat and also belongs to the 丑戌未 punishment group with it, which is why it appears twice. The full 2027 breakdown, with birth years for each sign, is on Tai Sui 2027, and the festival dates and the Li Chun distinction are on Chinese New Year 2027.
拜太岁 and amulets: the practice, described honestly
Many families mark the start of a Tai Sui year with 拜太岁 (bài tài suì), paying respects to Tai Sui at a temple, usually early in the lunar year. The usual form is to register a name and birth details, make an offering, and sometimes light a lamp or receive a paper talisman or amulet to keep at home or carry.
This is a living devotional tradition, and it deserves to be described with respect. Many people find that the ritual gives the year a deliberate beginning and a reason to pause. What it is not, in the chart-based view, is a mechanism that changes the relation between two branches. No amulet alters the fact that 丑 and 未 clash.
The chart-based view is about timing and awareness. If you know which months sharpen a relation, you can schedule a move, a contract or a hard conversation around them. That is the practical help, and it costs nothing.
Why the year branch alone is a blunt instrument
Tai Sui talk looks only at the year branch, which is one character of eight. In a working reading the annual branch is checked against all four branches of the chart, and two of them usually matter more than the year.
The day branch is the spouse palace (夫妻宫 fūqīgōng), the seat closest to the self, so an annual clash landing there is felt in the home and in close partnerships. The month branch is the career palace and the seat of parents, so a relation there shows in work and family structure. A person born in a Dragon year, with no Tai Sui issue at all, can carry 子 in the day branch and feel the 2026 clash far more than a Rat whose other pillars absorb it.
The reverse is common too. To see how each relation works across a whole chart, read the guides to the six clashes, the six harms, the six combinations and the three harmonies.
The practical side of the custom, when and how people pray to Tai Sui, is in our guide to bai tai sui.
A calmer way to read a Tai Sui year
A Tai Sui year is a signal to look closer, not a forecast of trouble. The useful questions are which of your four branches the year touches, which months intensify it, and whether your chart needs the element being stirred. Those answers differ between two people of the same animal.
If the year has you uneasy, bring the chart to a Ba Zi reading: one hour, your chart on the table, the year’s relations mapped to your actual pillars, and a written summary to keep. No fear-selling and nothing to buy.