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and the ten celestial trunks." These indicate the cardinal points and all other directions, as well as calculating various phenomena according to Chinese beliefs, by which the specialist can work out the geographical position of Taisui and the times and places threatened by his presence. To find where Taisui will be during the forthcoming year, and he is believed to move annually, the compass is used by a fengshui expert, a geomancer; or for every day general use prognostications are simply looked up in the Farmer's Almanac.
Nowadays, the birth hour and date of an individual are matched to the movements of Taisui given in the Almanac thereby obtaining the auspicious and inauspicious dates for most social functions such as weddings, travel, starting a business or journey, launching a ship or burying the dead. Individuals whose future has been identified as clashing with the particular cycle through which Taisui [or his planet Jupiter] is passing must avoid major events such as travel, moves, marriage or house construction. Although he is greatly feared as he can not only protect and provide happiness he can also invoke disease misfortune, calamity and must be placated especially before embarking on any new major project. Despite the importance of this deity he is worshipped on as few occasions as possible as he is so alarmingly unpredictable. He is, however, prayed to when a child is born for a long, comfortable and happy life. Taisui is also prayed to in Fukienese temples, especially in Malaysia, for good luck at the races.
As an agricultural deity, one of the most important rôles of Taisui, was to control rainfall, and to provide sufficient and no more for a good harvest. In Fujian and other eastern Chinese provinces Taisui was also known as Mang Shen or Gou Mang, "the youth with the Spring Ox." A colourful and symbolic ritual, not observed in Hong Kong or Macau but still to be seen in Taiwan, was the beating of the Ox at the beginning of Spring. The ox, fashioned from mud or coloured papers, was based on the Farmer's Almanac, with its size and colouring determined by the portents for general well being and weather for the coming year. The ceremony consisted of a float bearing the mud images of the ox and Taisui, followed by city officials bringing up the rear. It ended with the ox being beaten by the local mandarin outside his yamen and broken up, followed by devotees scrambling for parts which they either fed to their pigs for fertility, buried them in the fields for abundant crops, or kept them in their homes for good fortune. The first illustration