Tai Sui 2027: The Goat, Ox, Dog and Rat in the Fire Goat Year

The 12 signs and Tai Sui in 2027

Dates are China Standard Time (UTC+8), the Ba Zi convention. Far from China a month can begin a calendar day earlier or later.

What Tai Sui Is

Tai Sui (太岁), often called the Grand Duke Jupiter in English, began as astronomy. Early Chinese astronomers paired Jupiter, which circles the sky in about twelve years, with an imagined counter-body moving the other way through the twelve branches, and named each year by the branch it stood in. In time the marker became a heavenly official, on duty for one year.

Taoist temples honour sixty Tai Sui generals, one for each year of the sixty-year cycle. The general of 丁未, the 44th year, is Miao Bing (缪丙), described in temple biographies as a Song-dynasty scholar from Bian (modern Kaifeng) who loved books, cared for his family and never sought office. Some English guides still give 2026's general, Wen Zhe, for 2027.

The Five Categories

Own year (值太岁, zhi tai sui), or 本命年 (ben ming nian), falls on the Goat. Tradition reads it as a year in the official's line of sight, noticed for good work and slips alike; 未 does not punish itself, so nothing extra is added.

Clash (冲太岁, chong tai sui) means a branch straight across the zodiac wheel from the year's, a Six Clash (六冲): only 丑, the Ox, faces 未. It tends to bring change that is forced rather than chosen, and the usual counsel is to choose some of it early.

Punishment (刑太岁, xing tai sui): 丑, 未 and 戌 form 恃势之刑, one of the Three Punishments (三刑), read as the punishment of leaning on position, so the Ox and the Dog both belong here. It reads as friction with rules and rank, and answers to patience and careful paperwork.

Harm (害太岁, hai tai sui) is a Six Harm (六害) with the year branch; 子 and 未 are such a pair, so the Rat carries it. It is the quiet category, slights and crossed wires rather than open conflict, and plain speech usually defuses it.

Destruction (破太岁, po tai sui) comes from the Six Destructions (六破), which pair 未 with 戌, so the Dog carries it on top of its punishment. It tends to look like plans taken apart and rebuilt, a reason to keep drafts flexible until they are signed.

Why Tai Sui Lists Disagree

Published lists name two to five animals, mostly because they count different things. The shortest keep only the own year and the clash; fuller ones add harm, punishment and destruction. Some also add a partial clash (偏冲), which varies by school: one usage names the Dog and the Rat, while a usage common in Hong Kong names the two branches at right angles to 未, the Dragon and the Dog.

Two other differences are errors: some lists make the Dragon the destruction sign of 2027, though the Six Destructions pair 未 with 戌, and others give the Ox only its clash and the Dog only its punishment.

When the Pressure Peaks

Two solar months gather the year's relations. The Goat month, July 7 to August 7, repeats the year pillar 丁未, so every tie with the year arrives twice: the clash for the Ox, the harm for the Rat, the punishment and destruction for the Dog, and double exposure for the Goat.

The Ox month, January 6 to February 3, 2028, turns on the year itself: 丑 clashes 未 and 癸 checks 丁. It is the Goat's hardest month and a strained one for the Dog, while the Rat finds relief there, since 子 and 丑 form a Six Harmony.

Each sign's hardest month is the one that clashes its branch; the dates for the four Tai Sui signs follow.

The hardest month for each Tai Sui sign in 2027

• Dog in 2027Punishment (刑太岁)Destruction (破太岁)April 5 to May 5
• Rat in 2027Harm (害太岁)June 6 to July 6
• Ox in 2027Clash (冲太岁)Punishment (刑太岁)July 7 to August 7
• Goat in 2027Own year (值太岁)January 6, 2028 to February 3, 2028

What People Traditionally Do

Many people whose sign offends Tai Sui visit a temple to greet the new general, a custom called 拜太岁 (bai tai sui), usually between Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival: February 6 to February 20 in 2027. Some temples count the general's term from Lichun and begin on February 4.

Temples and households keep a Tai Sui plaque through the year (安太岁, an tai sui). The closing thanksgiving, 还太岁 (huan tai sui), traditionally falls around the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, January 20, 2028, though some communities hold it nearer the winter solstice.

People in their own year, the Goats in 2027, traditionally wear something red. Feng shui adds a convention of directions, placing Tai Sui in the southwest and the Year Breaker (岁破) in the northeast, sectors that practitioners leave free of heavy renovation for the year.

What the Tables Don't Say

Offending Tai Sui is a traditional marker of where the year's attention falls, not a verdict. The year branch is one of eight characters in a birth chart, and the other seven, above all the day pillar, decide how much of the pressure a person feels, so a sign outside the list can still meet a demanding year. This page reads 2027 by birth-year branch alone; a full Four Pillars chart can change the picture.

Compatibility with the Goat

• Rat and Goat compatibility →
• Ox and Goat compatibility →
• Horse and Goat compatibility →
• Goat and Dog compatibility →