Uncovering the mysterious identity of Taisui——an old Chinese folk legend

摘要

Dear Editor,Taisui(太岁) has attracted great attention in China because it has been described in ancient Chinese texts as an entity possessing mysterious properties. In Chinese mythology and folklore, Jupiter is the God of the "Sui"(year) and is worshiped in Daoism. Jupiter appears at the same location in the sky approximately every 12 years(Jupiter’s orbit is11.86 years). However, since each cycle of Jupiter lasts for exactly 11.86 years and one Chinese year cycle comprises exactly 12 years, after approximately 84.7 years, Jupiter travels one cycle more than the number of cycles assumed by the ancient Chinese, which is called Taisui. According to the belief of the ancient Chinese, people are alerted when Taisui is digging in the ground, foretelling the destruction of houses or occurrence of natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes(Zhao et al., 2018).