Worship the Kitchen God before the Spring Festival

 

Worship the Kitchen God before the Spring Festival

The 23rd or 24th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year is known as the "Little New Year" among the people. From the Little New Year, people start to "busy the New Year". Xiao Nian does not specifically refer to one day. Due to customs in various places, the days called "Little Nian" are also different. The main folk activities during the Little New Year period include sweeping dust, offering sacrifices to stoves, etc.

Before the Qing Dynasty, the traditional folk day for worshiping kitchen stoves during the Small New Year was the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Since the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the emperor's family has held a ceremony to worship the heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In order to "save expenses", they also worshiped the Stove God. Therefore, the people in the northern region followed suit and mostly celebrated Christmas on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. Year. Most areas in the south still maintain the tradition of celebrating the Small New Year on the 24th of the twelfth lunar month.

The main theme of the busy New Year is to get rid of the old and spread the new. Sweeping dust is one of the customs of getting rid of the old and spreading the new. Folk proverb says, "On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, dust the dust and sweep the house." On the 23rd/24th day of the year, preparations for the New Year officially begin. Sweeping dust is the year-end cleaning. It is called "house sweeping" in the north and "house sweeping" in the south. Every Spring Festival comes, every household has to clean the environment, wash all kinds of utensils, remove and wash bedding and curtains, sweep the Liulv courtyard, dust away dirt and cobwebs, and dredge open ditches and ditches. Everywhere is filled with the joyful atmosphere of doing hygiene and welcoming the new year cleanly.

According to folklore: because "dust" and "chen" are homophonic, sweeping dust in the New Year has the meaning of "removing the old and spreading the new". The purpose of sweeping dust is to sweep away all "bad luck" and "bad luck" in order to pray for good luck in the coming year. This custom entrusts people's prayers and wishes to ward off evil and eliminate disasters, bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, and welcome good fortune and blessings.

Worshiping the Kitchen God is a big event years ago.

On the 23rd or 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, the stove is worshipped. After nightfall, the stove must be cleaned, the old stove god must be taken down and burned, and the new statue must be put up on the morning of New Year's Eve. Place wine and meat, candies, sugar cane, rice crackers, etc., burn incense, light candles, set off paper cannons, etc. The folk custom activity of worshiping stoves can be traced back to the pre-Qin period, but at the beginning, the days of worshiping stoves were not on small New Year's Days. Zheng Xuan's annotation of "Book of Rites·Records" says: "(The Kitchen God) lives in the human world, and he is the one who oversees small mistakes and makes reprimands." Legend has it that from the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God returns to the palace these days. day. On New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God must be invited to descend again. People will first put up the statue of the Kitchen God and then start preparing for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Worshiping the Kitchen God is also a local custom. Fan Chengda, a poet from the Song Dynasty who was a sage in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, has handed down his Ci for Sacrifice to Stoves, which vividly describes the custom of sending stoves to people in Suzhou during the Song Dynasty.

Fan Chengda of the Song Dynasty once said in his "Poetry on Stove Sacrifice":

 

According to ancient legend, on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God looked up to the sky and wanted to say something.

The clouds, the carriages, the wind, the horses, the little ones linger, and there are cups and plates in the house for the feast.

The pig's head is overcooked, the fish is fresh, and the bean paste and nard powder are round.

A man offers his daughter a drink to escape, and he drinks wine and burns money to please the Lord...

 

In addition to "sugar ingots", the most important thing to give to Suzhou for stoves is other offerings, such as paper horses for the stove god, stove curtains, stove ingots, etc.

 

Worshiping the stove to celebrate the New Year

 

After the ancient Chinese discovered fire, people began to transition from consuming hair and drinking blood to eating cooked food and drinking boiled water, and their lives have further improved. However, there was no way to make matches at that time, and they all relied on drilling wood to make fire, or preserving natural fire. Fire is not easy to come by, so preserving fire has become a very important thing. People build stoves and dig fire pits where they live. If the fire is too big, it is easy to cause a fire; if the fire is small, it is easy to extinguish, so always choose someone to watch the fire and cook. In order to commend the achievements of those who watch the fires and cooks, remind people to pay attention to fire prevention, and clean up the accumulated ashes, a "Zao Memorial Meeting" is held every New Year's Eve. Later, people regarded the person who watched the fire and cooked rice as a god, saying that he was the "King of the Stove" who was in charge of the fire and the stove. "Ji Zao" became "Sacrifice to the Stove".

The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month is also commonly known as the Xiaonian. As the old saying goes, "Twenty-three, the sugar melons are sticky, and the Kitchen Lord wants to go to heaven."

The Chinese Spring Festival usually kicks off with a sacrifice to the stove. Therefore, there is a saying that "officials, three people, four boat owners and five" hold sacrifices to the stove on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, ordinary people hold sacrifices to the stove on the 24th, and people on the water hold sacrifices to the stove on the 25th. Because the political center was in the north before the Northern Song Dynasty, people in the north celebrated the twenty-third day with officials. In the south of the Yangtze River, folk customs celebrated the twenty-fourth day. The fishermen in the Poyang Lake area celebrated the twenty-fifth day, which continues to this day. But generally speaking, December 24th of the lunar calendar is commonly known as "Little New Year's Eve". On this day, the old folk custom of "sacrifice to the Kitchen God" is widely spread.

Xiaonian does not specifically refer to one festival. Due to different customs in different places, the festivals called Xiaonian are also different. But the small year means that people start to prepare new year's goods and prepare to have a good new year, which means that the new year will have a new atmosphere. It mainly includes three aspects of meaning: 1. It refers to the year of Xiaojian in the twelfth lunar month; 2. Festival, on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month, the old custom is to worship the stove on this day; 3. It refers to the growth of fruit trees, bamboo, etc. A slow year. The period from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve is also known as "Spring Welcome Day" among the people. Xiaonian is regarded as the beginning of the New Year.

During the Small New Year, it is a festival to worship the Kitchen God. Xiaonian is a traditional festival of the Han people in my country, also known as the Kitchen Festival, the Kitchen Festival, the Kitchen King Festival, and the Kitchen Festival. The Kitchen King, also known as the Kitchen God among the people, should not be underestimated. He has become a great god respected by the people as far back as the Xia Dynasty. Zao Lord himself was said to be Emperor Yan and Zhu Rong in the early days. Later, many theories were derived, including male and female.

According to relevant records: Starting from the Yongzheng period, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty would routinely offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God in Kunning Palace every year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. At the same time, they would install the heaven and earth god tablets. The emperor would bow nine times in front of the god tablets to welcome him. Happy New Year. On the day of offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove, a confession table is set up in Kunning Palace, a sacred tablet is placed, incense and candle offerings are placed in front of the sacred tablet, and a furnace and a worship mat are set up in the palace. Later, the royal family and Baylor followed suit and offered sacrifices to the stove on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. From then on, there began to be a distinction between the officials and the people celebrating the Small New Year on different days.

  "Kitchen God" was called Kitchen Lord and Kitchen Lord Bodhisattva in the old days. In myths and legends, Emperor Huang and Emperor Yan "die as kitchen gods" and are responsible for good and evil in the world. "The Kitchen God's name is Zen, whose name is Zi Guo. He comes out of the stove with his hair hanging at night." ("Miscellaneous Five Elements Book")

Kong Yingdashu in "Book of Rites and Rituals" states: "Zhuanxu's family had a son named Li, named Zhurong, and he was worshiped as the Kitchen God." The Kitchen God was regarded as the son of Emperor Zhuanxu. "Zhuangzi Dasheng". "The stove has a bun." Sima Biao noted: "The stove god is in a bun, dressed in red, and looks like a beautiful woman." Some people compare the stove god to a beautiful woman, and some say that Jiang Ziya was named the stove god after Du Kui's death.

Legend has it that the Kitchen God was originally a star in the sky. Because of his mistakes, he was demoted to the human world by the Jade Emperor and became the "East Chef". It sits in the middle of the kitchen stove of each household, watching how people live and behave, and records in detail all the good and bad things. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it returns to heaven and reports to the Jade Emperor about the good and evil in the world. He would wait until the 30th night of the twelfth lunar month before returning to the human world, punishing evil and promoting good according to the Jade Emperor's will.

Since Chinese people basically consume rice, cooked food is generally not easy to preserve and must be cooked at any time. Unlike Western bread, many can be baked at once and preserved for consumption. Therefore, for the Chinese, "firewood" (fuel) is the first important thing among the "seven things" in life (firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea). Without fuel, even if there is basic food, there is no way to eat it. In the West, one bread oven is usually enough for a village, but in China every household must have a stove. Because every Chinese family in ancient times had a stove, a legend arose that on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Jade Emperor asked the Kitchen Gods (Siming Zaojun, Kitchen Lord, Kitchen Lord, Kitchen God, Kitchen God) who were stationed in every house in the world. King), will supervise and inspect the family's behavior for a year, and report to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor will then decide based on the report whether to reward or punish the family in the next year. The Kitchen God will return in the second year of the New Year to continue to supervise the family. as. The Kitchen Worship Festival is actually a festival for families to send off the Kitchen God to heaven.

According to traditional folk customs, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, people have to offer sacrifices to the Stove King to send him to heaven. Since every house usually has a portrait of the Kitchen God near the stove, sometimes accompanied by a portrait of the Kitchen God's grandmother, after a year of smoke and fire, the portrait is old and dark. People would take off the old statue, tie a straw horse with straw for the Kitchen God, and then burn it together with the straw horse. This process is called Ci Zao. Legend has it that at this time, the Kitchen God went to make a year-end report to the Jade Emperor. In order to prevent the Kitchen God from speaking ill of him, people specially offered maltose and snacks to please him and let him say something nice in front of the Jade Emperor. On New Year's Eve, people put up a new portrait of the Stove Lord, which is called "Bringing the Stove Lord home", which is what the couplet says, "God says good things, and the lower world brings good luck." Interestingly, during the few days before the Kitchen God is sent to heaven, without the Kitchen God's supervision, most people will indulge in overeating, gambling, and indulge themselves in small mistakes that they usually think they should not make.

However, in ancient times, there was a custom that "men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the stove". Therefore, worshiping the stove prince was limited to men.

Like the common people, the royal family also seals the mouth of the Stove Lord with sugar before he reports his work to heaven to prevent him from talking nonsense in front of the Jade Emperor. When offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove, the palace supervisor invited the emperor to burn incense and salute in front of the Buddha statues, deity statues and the Kitchen God in Kunning Palace. After the ceremony, the palace supervisor asked the queen to bow to the Kitchen God and other gods in turn.

 

Bribery of the Kitchen God and full of evil

 

The most important thing during the Spring Festival is to worship the Kitchen God. The Kitchen God is also called the Kitchen King, and after the Tang Dynasty, he was also called the Kitchen King. It is a deity that is universally believed and respected by the Chinese people. It is worshiped in every household from the emperor down to the common people. People before the Han Dynasty believed that the Kitchen God was the God of Fire, because the main function of the stove was to use fire to cook food. The belief that Emperor Yan and Zhu Rong were gods of fire and kitchen god was a later interpretation, because these two mythical figures were humanized gods that were only established after the Warring States Period. Beliefs in the Kitchen God as the God of Fire originate from the natural attributes of the stove and its practical role in people's lives. At that time, people believed that the Kitchen God was the revered Emperor Yan and the Yellow Emperor, and was transformed from the God of Fire Zhu Rong, so they regarded the Kitchen God as the god in charge of food.

The Kitchen God has become the "head of the family" since the Han Dynasty. He controls food and drink, and then controls people's longevity, disaster, and blessings. People worship the Kitchen God, on the one hand they want to gain happiness through this sacrificial activity, but on the other hand they are afraid that the Kitchen God will bring disaster to them.

"The Complete Book of Jingzao·Zhenjun Encouraging Good Deeds" says: "Zaojun is the chef of the East. He receives incense from the family, protects the well-being of the family, observes the good and evil of the family, and reports the merits and demerits of the family. Every Gengshen day, he goes to the Jade Emperor. At the end of the month, If you have too much merit, God will send you blessings and longevity in three years. If you have too much merit, God will send disasters in three years." In this way, the Kitchen King became the supervisor sent by the Jade Emperor to each family to monitor each family. Every household's words, deeds, and faults, big or small, will be secretly recorded once they discover any behavior that makes them dissatisfied. On the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, it returned to heaven to make a general report to the Jade Emperor.

As early as a few days before the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, people would wash the side of the kitchen where the Stove Lord's portrait is posted. This is called "washing the face" of the Stove Lord, and then go to the market to invite him (say "please" instead of "buy"). ) Come to the portrait of the Stove Prince. After dinner on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the portrait is temporarily pinned to the place where the face was washed (there are still seven or eight days before New Year's Eve and the portrait has not yet been officially posted). Set up an incense table in front of the portrait, place dishes, wine, fire and various offerings.

It is worth noting that the main food for worshiping ancestors and gods during the New Year is either steamed buns or dumplings. The only food given to the Stove Lord when he bids farewell to the stove is Huoshao. This may be because the Stove Lord has a long way to go to heaven, and Huoshao food has less water and will not Hungry early on the road.

Why “sacrifice the Kitchen God”?

An extra chapter of "Huainanzi", "Wanbishu", records that "The Kitchen God returns to heaven at dusk, and white people are guilty." "Book of the Later Han·Yinshi Zhuan" records such a story: During the reign of Emperor Xuan, a man named Yin Zifang, because On this day, when he saw the Kitchen God, he killed a yellow sheep as a sacrifice to the Kitchen God and became rich. From then on, in people's eyes, the "Kitchen God" was a very powerful prince. Whoever is kind to it will be safe and even be promoted and rich in the coming year; whoever offends it will inevitably suffer misfortune.

Therefore, in order to prevent this "white sin" prince from talking about his family's shortcomings in front of the Jade Emperor, people used various methods to deal with him. Some use gum gum to worship it, so as to stick the teeth of the Kitchen God so that he can't talk nonsense; some use wine dregs to smear the stove door, which is called "drunk commander", and the Kitchen God is so drunk that he can't talk nonsense; some use yellow wine to smear the stove door with wine dregs. During the sheep sacrifice, during the wine and food ceremony, one prays to the Kitchen God, saying, "If you don't like it, say it a lot." The Kitchen God receives special treatment from people and "takes advantage of others", so of course it is difficult for him to say bad things.

The Kitchen God is a god in ancient mythology. He is an official sent to every household by the Jade Emperor in heaven. The Kitchen God has to report to the emperor every year, so people can't help but respect him a little. But do the people worship the Stove Lord just to please him and let him say good things instead of bad things?

But why eat Tangguaer? It is said that the sugar melon is very sticky, so it can stick to the mouth of the Kitchen God and prevent him from talking nonsense in front of the Jade Emperor. Therefore, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, people have to offer sacrifices to the Stove God, and offer sticky and sweet sugar melons to the Stove God, so that they can stick to the Stove God's mouth so that he can "speak good things to heaven and ensure peace to the earth."

This statement should be changed. It is because the people place their hope on the Kitchen God. They hope that when the Kitchen God reports to the Jade Emperor, he will tell the truth and let his subordinates report the sufferings of the people's livelihood to the Jade Emperor. Only because of the trust of the people in the Stove Lord, the custom of worshiping the Stove every year will be formed in the world.

When the ceremony of resigning from the stove begins, the whole family gathers in the kitchen and stands in front of the Stove Lord. First, the parents burn incense and paper. While burning incense and burning paper, they recite something to the effect that under the care of the Stove Lord, this year, the population will be safe and the grain will be abundant. I hope that the Kitchen God will go to heaven to speak kindly to the Jade Emperor, and when he comes back, he will send down auspicious signs, burn incense and paper, and the whole family will kowtow.

When leaving the stove, other offerings on the incense table include hawthorn, persimmon cakes, red dates and maltose (maltose is made into a round cake, commonly known as sugar melon). Hawthorn, persimmons and red dates are Mengyin's local specialties. As the head of the family, the Kitchen God is entrusted by the people and should enjoy them.

Children will regard this day as the prelude and "rehearsal" of the Spring Festival. As soon as it gets dark, firecrackers are set off. Amidst the sound of firecrackers, the man of the house offers a plate of sugar melons and a bowl of tea in front of the statue of the Stove King, lights candles and incense, prays and salutes, and then puts the Stove God in front of the statue. Like peeling off the wall and burning it, and then pouring tea on the paper ashes, the sugar melons were divided and eaten by the children. "Ji Zao" was first called "Ji Zao". Ji Zao commemorates the "first cook" who taught people to eat cooked food. Because he made contributions to others, people said they would not forget his contributions.

When it comes to worshiping the Kitchen God, modern people always joke that the Kitchen God is suspected of taking bribes. In fact, the Kitchen God also has the power to punish evil, but little is known about it. There is a Chinese idiom: the evil is full. The origin of this idiom is related to the Stove Lord.

Legend has it that when the Jade Emperor sent the Kitchen God to live among the people, he gave him two storage tanks. After the Kitchen God records the good deeds and sufferings of good people, he puts them into one jar; the other jar is dedicated to collecting records of the evil deeds of evil people. That jar is also called the "evil jar". There are so many records of evil deeds by evil people that even the evil jar cannot fit in them. This is called: full of evil. In ancient times, "jar" could pass through "guan".