Pangu and Tai Sui in Chinese cosmology

Angela Sim

11 November 2025

Zhu Xian woodblock tools with print details. Courtesy of David Leffman.

Angela Sim explores the foundational Chinese cosmological figures of Pangu (the primordial creator) and Tai Sui (the cyclical time-keeper), contrasting their roles as architect and governor of the universe, as celebrated in Zhuxian Zhen woodblock printing.

Pangu (盤古) and Tai Sui (太歲) are prominent figures in Chinese cosmological symbolism. Though their roles differ substantially—one as primordial creator, the other as cyclical time-keeper—they each illustrate central layers in how Chinese thought conceptualises the cosmos, its origins, and its ordered rhythms.

When the World Was Young

Long before mountains shouldered the sky or rivers carved their silver paths through the earth, there was only a cosmic egg — silent, infinite, waiting. From within it stirred Pangu (盤古), the giant whose body held the raw matter of creation. With each breath, he pushed the heavens upward and pressed the earth downward, separating sky from soil. For 18,000 years, he laboured. When his work was done, he lay down to rest — and became the world itself. His breath became the wind, his voice the thunder, his eyes the sun and moon, his blood the rivers, his bones the mountains. The forests grew from his hair; the stars glittered from his beard. In Pangu’s passing, the cosmos took form.

Centuries later, the heavens acquired another keeper — one not of beginnings, but of time itself. Known as Tai Sui (太歲), these celestial governors were born from the careful charting of Jupiter’s stately journey across the night sky, a cycle taking nearly twelve years. In ancient China, astronomers saw this wandering star as a great cosmic clock hand, its movement marking the rhythm of years. Over time, this astronomical principle transformed into living deities — sixty in total — each ruling over a specific year in the sexagenary cycle.

The first in the sequence stands at the helm of cosmic order: Yang Ren, the* Jiazi Tai Sui,* who oversees renewal and new beginnings. Each *Tai Sui’s *reign is brief — just one year — yet their influence is profound, shaping fortunes, fates, and even the right moments to build, marry, or embark on a journey. Those whose zodiac signs clash with the ruling Tai Sui may offer prayers and incense in the hope of smoothing the year’s path.

Two Pillars of the Cosmic Order

In the vast architecture of Chinese cosmology, Pangu and *Tai Sui *hold different but perfectly matched roles. Pangu is the architect — the one who brought space itself into being, separating chaos into the sky above and the earth below. Tai Sui is the caretaker — the keeper of time’s flow, ensuring that the universe’s great cycles remain in motion.

Together, they embody the twin forces of creation and continuity, as well as space and time. Without Pangu, there is no world to inhabit. Without Tai Sui, the world drifts without rhythm, unmoored from the celestial clock. In myth and in ritual, they remind us that the cosmos is not just something we live in — it is something that lives through us, year after year, cycle after cycle.

Offering up Prayers to Tai Sui today

Praying to Tai Sui (太岁, Grand Duke Jupiter)** **in 2025 still carries relevance in both traditional religious life and contemporary cultural practice, though the meanings and motivations have shifted somewhat in the modern context. Praying to Tai Sui is not just about superstition but also about negotiating modern anxieties within a traditional cultural framework. It has become as much a symbolic act of self-alignment and cultural belonging as it is a ritual of divine supplication.

As Tai Sui is believed to govern yearly fortune, overseeing matters like health, career, family, and obstacles, appeasement of Tai Sui is especially important for those in conflict with the year’s zodiac.

For example, in 2025, we herald the year of the Snake. Zodiac signs said to clash with Tai Sui in 2025 are traditionally are Snake (本命年, “Ben Ming Nian”, directly facing Tai Sui), the Pig (directly opposing) as well as the Monkey and Tiger, considered in conflict. People born under these signs may seek to pray to Tai Sui for protection and a smooth passage through the year.

Many Taoist and Chinese Buddhist temples hold annual Tai Sui ceremonies on a specific day during the 15 days of the Chinese New Year. Devotees register their names and birth details, then offer incense, candles, and symbolic offerings to the year’s Tai Sui deity. Paper talismans (太岁符 tàisuì fú) or amulets are distributed for personal protection. Increasingly, temples in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Taiwan allow online registration for Tai Sui prayers, reflecting how people integrate tradition into their busy city lives.

Woodblock Printing in Modern Times

Zhuxian Zhen (朱仙鎮) lies a short drive from Kaifeng, but stepping into its narrow lanes feels like entering another time. This little town has been famous for woodblock prints for centuries, and traces of that past are still everywhere. In shopfronts, bold images glare back in red, green, yellow, and purple—tight, compact designs that leap off plain backgrounds, each carrying layers of auspicious meaning.

One can visit the Tiancheng Workshop (天成畫店) and Museum, where the smell of ink and fresh paper fills the air. Behind the counter stands Yin Guofa, a wiry man with quick hands and a proud smile. “My grandfather’s grandfather founded this studio in 1812!” he says, his voice ringing with pride. He leads the curious visitor past shelves stacked with worn blocks, pausing at one enormous plank carved with the fearsome face of a door guardian. Just around the corner, the Tiancheng Old Workshop—an offshoot run by family and disciples—keeps its own archive of treasures.

In both places, the rhythm of craft continues. A carver leans over a block, gouging delicate lines into the wood. Another worker brushes on colour, the bristles rasping softly. Sheets are pressed, lifted, then pegged to dry in neat rows on bamboo racks, filling the room with the scent of damp paper. It’s easy to lose track of time, watching image after image come alive.

Out in the shops, the offerings range from stately guardian figures to zodiac animals and even cheeky patterns copied from other regions. Tourists haggle, collectors linger, and business is brisk enough. Yet the prices tell a different story: several hundred yuan for a single print. A decade ago, these were household decorations; today, no farmer would dream of spending so much when cheap machine-printed nianhua are stacked high at every market stall.

Zhuxian Zhen still hums with colour and tradition, but its woodblock prints now straddle two worlds—no longer the everyday folk art of village homes, but a heritage craft surviving on pride, memory, and the hands of craftsmen like Mr Yin.

Though *Pangu and Tai Sui *operate in different cosmic domains—one as an ancient cosmic architect, the other as an ever-present temporal governor—they reflect complementary components of Chinese cosmology: the establishment of order and its cyclic maintenance. Together, they map a worldview that is both origin-oriented and rhythmically engaged with human destinies.

References and additional reading materials

• Two Door Gods from Fengxiang

• Xu Zheng. Sanwu Liji (三五歷紀) – on Pangu’s emergence and actions, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, alienchina.org.

• Wuyun Linian Ji (五運歷年紀) – detailing Pangu’s transformation into cosmic elements, Oral Tradition.

• Wu Xiaodong. “Pangu and the Origin of the Universe.” Analysis of early textual intentions beyond cosmogony: Brill.

• Early Han references to Tai Sui in Lunheng and the astronomical context, as well as Wikipedia’s Dao World.

About Angela Sim

Angela Sim is an Australia-based researcher of Asian heritage and culture. She uses her platform as a media content creator to explore areas such as folk religion, Peranakan culture, and sunset industries, including Chinese woodblock printing, effigy restoration, and lantern making, to name a few. Watch youtube.com/@HakkaMoi

Tags

Angela Sim | China | G41 | printmaking | temple

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