s a stellar
god. Therefore an altar is raised to him and sacrifices are offered
on it under the open sky. This practice dates from the beginning of
the Ming dynasty, when the Emperor T'ai Tsu ordered sacrifices to
this god to be made throughout the Empire. According to some authors,
he corresponds to the god of the twelve sidereal mansions. He is also
variously represented as the moon, which turns to the left in the sky,
and the sun, which turns to the right. The diviners gave to T'ai Sui
the title of Grand Marshal, following the example of the usurper Wang
Mang (A.D. 9-23) of the Western Han dynasty, who gave that title to
the year-star.

Legend of T'ai Sui

The following is the legend of T'ai Sui.

T'ai Sui was the son of the Emperor Chou, the last of the Yin
dynasty. His mother was Queen Chiang. When he was born he looked
like a lump of formless flesh. The infamous Ta Chi, the favourite
concubine of this wicked Emperor, at once informed him that a monster
had been born in the palace, and the over-credulous sovereign ordered
that it should immediately be cast outside the city. Shen Chen-jen,
who was passing, saw the small abandoned one, and said: "This is an
Immortal who has just been born." With his knife he cut open the caul
which enveloped it, and the child was exposed.

His protector carried him to the cave Shui Lien, where he led the
life of a hermit, and entrusted the infant to Ho Hsien-ku, who acted
as his nurse and brought him up.

The child's hermit-name was Yin Ting-nu, his ordinary name Yin
No-cha, but during his boyhood he was known as Yin Chiao, _i.e._
'Yin the Deserted of the Suburb,' When he had reached an age when he
was sufficiently intelligent, his nurse informed him that he was not
her son, but really the son of the Emperor Chou, who, deceived by the
calumnies of his favourite Ta Chi, had taken him for an evil monster
and had him cast out of the palace. His mother had been thrown down
from an upper storey and killed. Yin Chiao went to his rescuer and
begged him to allow him to avenge his mother's death. The Goddess
T'ien Fei, the Heavenly Concubine, picked out two magic weapons from
the armoury in the cave, a battle-axe and club, both of gold, and
gave them to Yin Chiao. When the Shang army was defeated at Mu Yeh,
Yin Chiao broke into a tower where Ta Chi was, seized her, and brought
her before the victor, King Wu, who gave him permission to split her
head open with his battle-axe. But Ta C