The Jade Emperor and Bean Curd

 

The Jade Emperor and Bean Curd

 

Chinese people have the custom of lighting silkworms in fields during the Spring Festival. "Photographing silkworms" is also called "burning silkworms" and "burning wealth". It is a folk custom of praying for good luck in the Jiangnan area. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, long poles tied with torches were erected in the fields to use the flames to divine the new year. A strong flame would herald a good harvest in the coming year. Some places hold this event on New Year's Eve.

Interestingly, the common people did not welcome the Kitchen God back until New Year's Eve after sending him to heaven. Therefore, during this period, there was no divine jurisdiction in the world, and there were no taboos. Many people got married, which was called the "chaotic New Year". "Chaosui" is a specific period of time designed by the people to adjust social life. At the end of the year, people have leisure and savings. For people who rarely have the energy to do big things, this is a good time for leisure and entertainment.

According to folklore, after the Kitchen God ascended to heaven, he said to the Jade Emperor that the people had wiped his mouth with honey because he had eaten and drank enough during the folk sacrifices to the stove. .

But some ministers also reported to the Jade Emperor: The Kitchen God is deceiving the emperor. Many people are starving to death. How can they eat hot tofu?

The Jade Emperor then decided to personally go down to the realm on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month to inspect the sufferings of the people and the good and evil in the world, and determine the fortunes and misfortune of the coming year.

As soon as the news came out, every family offered sacrifices to him to pray for blessings, which was called "receiving the Jade Emperor".

On this day, ordinary people must be cautious in their daily lives and words, and strive to perform well in order to win the favor of the Jade Emperor and bring blessings to the coming year.

There is a saying among Chinese people that the Jade Emperor of Taoism is equated with Shakti, and the ninth day of the first lunar month is regarded as the birthday of Lord Shakten.

According to the Southern Dynasty Liang. Tao Hongjing:

According to the "True Spirit Position and Industry Map", the Jade Emperor lives in the Jade Clear Realm (clear sky), above the three realms of Taoism and heaven (the realm of desire, the realm of color, and the realm of colorlessness).

In Taoism, the heavens and humans in the three realms of heaven and above are immediately separated from life and death, and the three disasters cannot reach them.

The "Emperor Shakti" mentioned in Buddhism is the God who belongs to the "Treacherous Heaven" on the second day of the Desire Realm in Buddhism. Still affected by three disasters.

Therefore, although the Jade Emperor is one of the six emperors after the Three Pure Ones according to the current common theory of Taoist immortal genealogy, it is obvious that the heaven he lives in is much higher than the realm of desire in Buddhism.

What is "Six Royals"? The six emperors refer to the six gods under the Taoist Three Pure Gods who dominate the world, namely: the Jade Emperor who controls the heavens, the Gouchen Emperor who controls the thunder, the Zihui Emperor who controls the stars, and the Yu The Qinghua Emperor who rules all kinds of things, the Changsheng Emperor who rules all spirits, and the Houtu Emperor Earth Emperor who rules all lands.

This statement originated from the ancient Chinese concept of "Liuhe". The so-called "Liuhe" refers to the huge space of the universe, that is, upper and lower, as well as the four directions of east, west, south and north.

After the Song Dynasty, due to the strengthening of the status and functions of the Jade Emperor in the Taoist pantheon, and in order to conform to the classification of the Four Assistants of the Taoist Scriptures (Taiqing, Taiping, Taixuan, and Zhengyi), the "Jade Emperor" and "Qinghua Emperor" were removed. ", became today's "Four Emperors", which are interpreted as the emperors of the four poles in the north, south, west and east, namely: the Ziwei Emperor in the North Pole, the Changsheng Emperor in the South Pole, the Taiji Emperor and the Qinghua Emperor in the East Pole.

"Indra" is also known as "Indra". He is the god of thunder and courage believed by ancient Indians. When the early Aryans invaded the Indian Peninsula, the status of "Indra" was higher than that of Brahma, the god of creation. The reason is At that time, the Aryans were constantly fighting wars, and Emperor Shakti had the image of a god of bravery and a god of battle.

Shakti was originally a Hindu god, but was later absorbed by Buddhism and became the protector of Buddhism. Buddhism believes that he is the Lord of the Trayastrim, and his mount is a six-tusked white elephant.

After Buddhism was introduced to China, due to the tendency of the three religions to unite, both Buddhism and Taoism tended to regard the other's gods as their own. Taoism equates the Jade Emperor with Shakti, and takes the birthday of the Jade Emperor on the ninth day of the first lunar month as Shakten's birthday.

In order to show his image of being close to the people, the Jade Emperor went down to earth to inspect the people before his birthday, which was the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Hearing that the Jade Emperor was going to inspect the people, officials of all sizes immediately took action and began to fake the prosperity.

"On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, every family has to grind tofu." This became a resounding slogan to welcome the Jade Emperor.

When the Jade Emperor came to the mortal world, he was very happy to see every household making tofu, and decreed that the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month would be designated as "Tofu Festival".

In fact, all the freshly ground tofu was plundered by landlords, rich people and officials.

Some rebellious poor people heard that the Jade Emperor was going to visit the lower world, so every household ate tofu dregs to show their poverty. I hope the Jade Emperor will pay attention to the suffering of the people. ​

The Jade Emperor was very angry when he saw that people could only eat tofu dregs before the Spring Festival. He thought that the report given to him by the Stove Lord had concealed the truth, so he called the Stove Lord to reprimand him.

The Kitchen God said: "Wow, Jade Emperor, those who eat tofu dregs are not because of poverty, but because they remember the bitterness and miss the sweetness. During the festival, they warn their families not to forget the bitter days of the past."

The Stove Lord hid the truth from the Jade Emperor, and not only was he not punished, but he also received hush money every year on Stove Day.