The twelve zodiac animals are paired in order with the twelve earthly branches, and those branches relate to each other through six combinations and three combinations as well as clashes and punishments. Folk custom makes a great deal of a zodiac clash, while in a complete chart-reading system it is only one relationship among many and has to be read in context.
Xiao Liu Ren lands on one of six named outcomes: Da An, Liu Lian, Su Xi, Chi Kou, Xiao Ji and Kong Wang, names that can be traced to the six-day cycle recorded in the old text Shilin Guangji. The method is simple, and that simplicity is exactly why a single outcome so often gets treated as a verdict.
Mid-Autumn is eight days away. When it comes to worshipping the moon — what to set out, what time to start, who may not take part — the old rules are quite clear: besides mooncakes there should be one large “reunion cake”, pomelo belongs on the offering table, and the line “men don’t worship the moon” has a definite source.
The scheme the Taiwan region is locally calling the domestic travel subsidy (guólǚ bǔzhù) includes a "birthday voucher": 1,000 winners drawn for each month from January to December, each worth NT$1,200 in accommodation credit, with results published on 9 September. Why would a subsidy that hands out money leave part of its quota to a lottery? And what weight "birthday" has always carried in tradition.
