Offending Tai Sui: Five Branch Relations and a Twelve-Year Zodiac Table
Every winter, temples and news sites announce "the signs that offend Tai Sui next year." Take the wrapping off and it comes down to one thing: where your birth-year branch and this year's branch fall on the table of twelve branch relations. The same branch is one type, the opposite branch is a clash, and there are also punishment, break and harm. This page covers all five, the signs for every year, and where the idea sits within BaZi.
The five types of offending Tai Sui
| Type | Relation | A closer reading |
|---|---|---|
| Same Branch as Tai Sui | The same branch | Your zodiac year: one branch stacked twice |
| Clashing Tai Sui | Six Clashes | Directly opposite: movement and change |
| Punishing Tai Sui | Punishment, self-punishment | Friction, rules and responsibility |
| Breaking Tai Sui | Six Breaks | Existing arrangements taken apart and redone |
| Harming Tai Sui | Six Harms (chuan) | Wear and misunderstanding out of sight |
Tai Sui (太歲), sometimes glossed as the Grand Duke of Jupiter, is simply the Earthly Branch of the year: in the 2026 Bing-Wu year Tai Sui is Wu, in the 2027 Ding-Wei year it is Wei. The year changes at Li Chun (立春, Start of Spring), not at Chinese New Year; if you were born between late January and early February, your zodiac sign depends on whether you were born before or after the exact moment of Li Chun.
The signs that offend Tai Sui, 2026 to 2037
| Year | Tai Sui | Same branch | Clash | Punishment | Break | Harm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Bing-Wu 丙午 (Horse) | Horse | Rat | Horse | Rabbit | Ox |
| 2027 | Ding-Wei 丁未 (Goat) | Goat | Ox | Dog | Dog | Rat |
| 2028 | Wu-Shen 戊申 (Monkey) | Monkey | Tiger | Snake | Snake | Pig |
| 2029 | Ji-You 己酉 (Rooster) | Rooster | Rabbit | Rooster | Rat | Dog |
| 2030 | Geng-Xu 庚戌 (Dog) | Dog | Dragon | Ox, Goat | Goat | Rooster |
| 2031 | Xin-Hai 辛亥 (Pig) | Pig | Snake | Pig | Tiger | Monkey |
| 2032 | Ren-Zi 壬子 (Rat) | Rat | Horse | Rabbit | Rooster | Goat |
| 2033 | Gui-Chou 癸丑 (Ox) | Ox | Goat | Dog | Dragon | Horse |
| 2034 | Jia-Yin 甲寅 (Tiger) | Tiger | Monkey | Snake | Pig | Snake |
| 2035 | Yi-Mao 乙卯 (Rabbit) | Rabbit | Rooster | Rat | Horse | Dragon |
| 2036 | Bing-Chen 丙辰 (Dragon) | Dragon | Dog | Dragon | Ox | Rabbit |
| 2037 | Ding-Si 丁巳 (Snake) | Snake | Pig | Tiger, Monkey | Monkey | Tiger |
Calculated by our engine from the table of branch relations. Punishment lists only Zi-Mao, Yin-Si, Si-Shen, Chou-Xu and Xu-Wei, plus the self-punishment of Chen, Wu, You or Hai meeting the same branch; Yin-Shen and Chou-Wei count as clashes.
Four or five signs offend Tai Sui each year, so in any year about a third of people are "offending." Some signs offend two ways in the same year: in a Xu (Dog) year the Goat is both punished and broken, and in a Yin (Tiger) year the Snake is both punished and harmed.
Why temple lists do not agree
The lists you will see come in three widths: only the same branch and the clash, two signs; the same branch, clash, punishment and harm; or all five types. Each has its own basis; they simply count different relations, which is why one source names two signs for a year and another names five. We list all five and say which type applies to each sign.
BaZi looks past your zodiac sign
Your zodiac sign is only the year branch, one character out of the eight in your Four Pillars. The year's branch meets your month, day and hour branches in exactly the same way, and the month pillar (your work and surroundings) and day pillar (yourself and your partner) often affect daily life more directly than the year branch does. From our sample:
How we counted: our engine cast one chart for every day from 1960 to 2005 (birth hour drawn by a fixed-seed random sample), 16,802 charts in all, and checked each chart once against every year from 2026 to 2035. This describes how chart structures are distributed; it says nothing about anyone's fortune.
In other words, going by the zodiac sign alone misses close to half of the years in which something in your chart is actually touched. And in the years your sign does offend Tai Sui, the element of Tai Sui's branch is favorable for 44.6% of people and unfavorable for 49.1%, roughly even. The same "offense" gives one person a push and trips up another.
One person, four years
Born July 10, 1990, Wu hour (11 a.m.–1 p.m.): Geng-Wu, Gui-Wei, Bing-Zi, Jia-Wu. Her zodiac sign is the Horse; her favorable elements are Wood and Fire, her unfavorable ones Metal and Water
- 2026, Bing-Wu: a Horse meeting a Wu year shares the branch of Tai Sui, and because Wu is a self-punishing branch it also counts as punishing Tai Sui. But Wu Fire is her favorable element, so this is a year of "offending, and being pushed forward."
- 2027, Ding-Wei: her sign does not offend (Wu and Wei form one of the Six Combinations), but Wei harms her Zi day branch. She is on no zodiac list, yet her day pillar, herself and her partner, has some quiet adjusting to do.
- 2029, Ji-You: again her sign is clear, but You breaks her Zi day branch. Off the list, but inside the chart.
- 2032, Ren-Zi: Zi clashes her Wu sign, so she clashes Tai Sui. Zi Water is unfavorable for her, and it clashes the Wu in both her year and hour pillars. This is the one of the four worth taking at a slower pace.
Which years do you offend Tai Sui? Your zodiac sign and your whole chart
Enter your Gregorian birth date (the hour is optional). For each of the next twelve years you will see whether your zodiac sign offends Tai Sui and in which way, whether Tai Sui touches the branches of your other three pillars, and whether the element of Tai Sui's branch is favorable or unfavorable for you. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Uses your Gregorian birth date. Your zodiac sign changes at Li Chun (Start of Spring); if you were born between late January and early February, the result also notes where the Chinese New Year count would differ.
Three common misunderstandings
"Offending Tai Sui means a bad year."
Offending Tai Sui describes the direction of force between branches: a clash is movement, a punishment is friction, a harm is wear out of sight. In our sample, in 44.6% of the years someone's sign offends Tai Sui, Tai Sui's element is favorable for them, and in those years the "movement" is often welcome.
"If your sign is not on the list, the year is quiet."
Even when the sign is clear, a large share of people have their month, day or hour branch touched by Tai Sui: about 46.8% of people in any given year.
"If you offend Tai Sui you must perform An Tai Sui to resolve it."
An Tai Sui is a folk religious ritual, not a conclusion drawn from branch relations. Whether to take part is a matter of personal belief; the branch relation is structure, and it does not change with how much is spent. See An Tai Sui.
Read on
A straight word: offending Tai Sui is a branch relation, not a verdict
Offending Tai Sui only says which cell your birth-year branch and this year's branch land on in the table of twelve branch relations. It can tell you that a line in your life will be touched this year; it cannot tell you what happens once it is touched. That depends on the role the branch plays in your chart and on whether the year's element is favorable or unfavorable for you. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Want to read the whole year?
Offending Tai Sui looks only at branches. The annual pillar lookup lists the year's Ten Gods, whether it is favorable for you, its clashes and combinations with your four pillars, and how it sits on your luck pillar.
Offending Tai Sui FAQ
What does offending Tai Sui mean?
Your zodiac sign, the branch of your birth year, forms one of five relations with the branch of the current year: the same branch, a clash, a punishment, a break or a harm. It describes the direction of force between branches, a hint of movement and friction, not an omen.
Which zodiac signs offend Tai Sui in 2027?
2027 is a Ding-Wei year, so Tai Sui is Wei (Goat). Same branch: Goat. Clash: Ox. Punishment: Dog. Break: Dog. Harm: Rat.
Why do some sources name two signs and others five?
They count different relations: some list only the same branch and the clash, some add punishment and harm, and some list all five types. We list all five and mark which type applies to each sign.
Does Tai Sui change at Chinese New Year or at Li Chun?
At Li Chun (Start of Spring), the same boundary BaZi uses for the year pillar. If you were born between late January and early February, your sign depends on whether you were born before or after the exact moment of Li Chun.
If my sign does not offend Tai Sui, is my year clear?
Not necessarily. The year's branch also meets your month, day and hour branches. In our sample, about 46.8% of people in any given year have a clear sign but another pillar touched by Tai Sui.