180
KEITH STEVENS
If the image of T'ai Sui wears shoes, claimed a Fukienese temple keeper, a drought is presaged, and if without, floods are expected; but if one foot is shod and the other is bare, then balanced weather will be the lot of the region. Images of T'ai Sui with one bare foot have been seen in temples in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
Variations from the basic characteristics
The youth holding a scroll or plaque of split bamboo is depicted seated, except in a very few sightings where he stands. In the sixty-year cycle of Chinese deities, each year is ruled by a particular image of that year, who is called the “T'ai Sui of the present year" and the scroll has one of the following inscriptions on it:
Tang Nien T'ai Sui (††★★). Liu Nien T'ai Sui (*) Chih Nien T'ai Sui (††✯✯) or Chia Nien T'ai Sui (P‡★A)
Yin Ch'iao as a fierce general often has three eyes and six arms, wears armour, and a Taoist crown on a bald head, and has fierce, almost vertical, eyebrows. He holds in five of his hands two discs, one with the character for the sun and the other with the character for the moon, a large ring, a fly whisk, whilst his sixth hand rests on his left knee.
In Foochow, in the temple of the City Guardian, one of the side altars was devoted to T'ai Sui. His image was dressed in yellow garments, he had a black beard and a necklace of skulls about his hand. The skull necklace, according to Hodous, is a symbol of his authority over the lives of men. Beside him on his left is a trio of small images a foot high representing the present year, last year and next year. Also on either side of him, are the twelve images representing the twelve months or branches and pictures of the twenty-four seasons.
In only two sightings, one in Penang and one in Singapore, had he a blue face, fierce fangs, was standing, dressed in armour, and carried a mace in each of his hands. One of these images of T'ai Sui, labelled the Great Year of the Moon (A) was one of the twenty-four Celestial Generals (A) who range down each side of some temples. (Plate 17)
180
KEITH STEVENS
If the image of T'ai Sui wears shoes, claimed a Fukienese temple keeper, a drought is presaged, and if without, floods are expected; but if one foot is shod and the other is bare, then balanced weather will be the lot of the region. Images of T'ai Sui with one bare foot have been seen in temples in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.
Variations from the basic characteristics
The youth holding a scroll or plaque of split bamboo is depicted seated, except in a very few sightings where he stands. In the sixty- year cycle of Chinese deities, each year is ruled by a particular image of that year, who is called the “T’ai Sui of the present year" and the scroll has one of the following inscriptions on it:
Tang Nien T'ai Sui (††★★). Liu Nien T'ai Sui (*) Chih Nien T'ai Sui (††✯✯) or Chia Nien T'ai Sui (P‡★A)
Yin Ch'iao as a fierce general often has three eyes and six arms, wears armour, and a Taoist crown on a bald head, and has fierce, almost vertical, eyebrows. He holds in five of his hands two discs, one with the character for the sun and the other with the character for the moon, a large ring, a fly whisk, whilst his sixth hand rests on his left knee.
In Foochow, in the temple of the City Guardian, one of the side altars was devoted to T'ai Sui. His image was dressed in yellow garments, he had a black beard and a necklace of skulls about his hand. The skull necklace, according to Hodous, is a symbol of his authority over the lives of men. Beside him on his left is a trio of small images a foot high representing the present year, last year and next year. Also on either side of him, are the twelve images representing the twelve months or branches and pictures of the twenty-four seasons.
In only two sightings, one in Penang and one in Singapore, had he a blue face, fierce fangs, was standing, dressed in armour, and carried a mace in each of his hands. One of these images of T'ai Sui, labelled the Great Year of the Moon (A) was one of the twenty-four Celestial Generals (A) who range down each side of some temples. (Plate 17)
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