Historical Legend of the Festival of Sacrificing Kitchen Stove Legend of Kitchen God
Sacrificing stoves is a very popular custom in China. In the past, almost every kitchen had a kitchen god. Kitchen God is the kitchen god of ancient folk beliefs. "Huainan Pan Zi Lun Xun" contains that "Emperor Yan made a fire and died as a stove." Kitchen God was originally an old woman in charge of diet, and later he drew an image of a man or a beautiful woman. His authority expanded from managing a family's diet to controlling the fate of the whole family, and recorded the merits and demerits of others at any time and reported to the Jade Emperor at the end of the year. Therefore, the kitchen god is regarded as the patron saint of the family. The folk song "Twenty-three, cantaloupe stick" refers to the annual sacrifice on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month, and it is said that "officials, three people, four boatmen and five", that is, the official government held the sacrifice on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, ordinary people held it on the 24th, and houseboats held it on the 25th.
Related legends
According to legend, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will ascend to heaven to report the good deeds or evil deeds of a family to the Jade Emperor. According to Kitchen God's report, the Jade Emperor will hand over the good or bad fate that the family should get in the new year to Kitchen God. On New Year's Eve, Kitchen God will return to the world with the good and bad luck that the family deserves. Other gods ascended to heaven on the fourth day of the lunar new year, and only the kitchen god will stay in other people's kitchens for a long time.
Therefore, when delivering stoves, people put candy, water, beans and grass on the console table in front of the kitchen god statue. Among them, the last three are the mounts of the kitchen god ascending to heaven. When offering sacrifices to the stove, you should melt the Guandong sugar with fire and put it on the mouth of the kitchen god. In this way, he can't speak ill of the jade emperor There is a folk custom that "men don't Yue Bai, women don't offer sacrifices to stoves", so the owner of offering sacrifices to stoves is limited to men.
In addition, on New Year's Eve, the Kitchen God will bring the gods to the world for the New Year, and there will be ceremonies of "receiving the kitchen" and "receiving the gods" on that day. Every family burns sedan chairs and horses, sprinkles three glasses of wine, and sends away the kitchen god, so it's their turn to worship their ancestors.
Sacrificing a stove is a kind of custom with great influence and wide spread among the people in our country. In the past, almost every kitchen had a kitchen god. People call this god "the Bodhisattva who commands life" or "the stove commands life". It is said that he is the "Nine-day East Chef Commanding the Kitchen Palace" sealed by the Jade Emperor, who is responsible for managing the kitchen fires of various families and is worshipped as the patron saint of the family. Kitchen shrines are mostly located in the north or east of the kitchen, with the idol of Kitchen God in the middle. Some people who don't have the niche of the Kitchen King even put the idol directly on the wall. Some gods only draw a kitchen god, while others have two men and women. The goddess is called "Grandma Chef". This is probably an imitation of the image of human lovers. Most of the statues of Kitchen God are also printed with the calendar of this year, which reads the words "Oriental chef is in charge", "guardian of the world" and "head of the family" to show the status of Kitchen God. On both sides, there are couplets of "Heaven says yes, the lower bound is safe", wishing the whole family peace.
Kitchen God has been staying at home to protect and supervise his family since last year's Eve. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will ascend to heaven and report the good deeds or evil deeds of this family to the Jade Emperor in heaven. The ceremony of sending the kitchen god is called "sending the kitchen stove" or "resigning the kitchen stove". According to the report of Kitchen God, the Jade Emperor entrusted his family with the fate of good fortune and bad fortune in the new year. So for a family, Kitchen God's report is really interesting.
Sending stoves is usually held at dusk. The family went to the kitchen first, set the table, incense the kitchen god in the shrine on the kitchen wall, and present honeydew melons made of caramel and flour. Then tie the bamboo poles into paper horses and make them into animal feed. Sacrificing caramel to Kitchen God is to make his old man's mouth sweet. Some places still wrap sugar on the mouth of the kitchen god, saying, "Say more good things and don't say bad things." This is to block the kitchen god's mouth with sugar and tell him not to speak ill. In the Chronicle of the Old Times in the Tang Dynasty, there was an occasional record that "Siming (Kitchen God) got drunk by applying distiller's grains on the stove". After people coated the mouth of the kitchen god with sugar, they took off their idols and ascended to heaven with paper and cigarettes. In some places, sesame stalks and pine branches are piled in the yard at night, and then the statue of the kitchen god, which has been enshrined for a year, is taken out of the shrine and burned on the fire with paper horses and forage. The yard was brightly lit by the fire. At this time, the family kowtowed to the west around the fire. With strong horses and forage, you will arrive safely. Melon is sweet and sweet. Please speak kindly to the Jade Emperor.
When sending the Kitchen God, there are several beggars in some places, dressed up, singing and dancing to send the Kitchen God door to door, named "Send the Kitchen God" in exchange for food.
The custom of sending stoves is common all over China. Mr. Lu Xun once wrote the poem "A boxer sends a stove as a fact": only chicken glue smells good, and clothes smell good. If there is nothing at home, there are only a few antelopes.
He said in the article "The Day of Sending Kitchen Stoves": "On the day when the chef ascended to heaven, there was still a kind of sugar on the street, which was as big as a citrus, and we also had it there, but it was flat and flat, like a thick pancake. That's the so-called' gum teeth'. The original intention is to invite the kitchen god to eat and stick his teeth, so that he can't adjust his mouth to speak ill of the jade emperor. " The allusion to "antelope" in Lu Xun's poems comes from The Biography of Yin Shi in the Later Han Dynasty: "When Xuan Di proclaimed himself emperor, Yin Zifang was the most filial and kind. Cooking in the morning of the twelfth day, seeing the kitchen god, the children have to worship and celebrate; There is an antelope at home, so it is worshipped. After the third one, he naturally became extremely rich. I know the third world, but I am prosperous. Therefore, I often recommend antelope to sacrifice the stove on the twelfth day. " Yin Zifang met the Kitchen God and sacrificed the antelope. Later, she got lucky. Since then, the custom of killing antelopes to sacrifice stoves has been handed down.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the offerings for offering sacrifices to stoves were quite rich. Fan Chengda, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote a poem about offering sacrifices to stoves, which vividly described the folk activities of offering sacrifices to stoves at that time. Clouds, cars and horses linger, and there are cups and plates at home. The pig's head is cooked, the fish is fresh, and the bean paste and Gan Song bait are round. When a man asks his daughter to avoid it, he drinks and burns money. You can't smell your servant's struggle, and your cat and dog don't feel angry when they touch you. Send you to Tianmen to get drunk, and don't repeat the clouds with long spoons and short spoons, begging for points from the market.
The sacrificial furnace on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is closely related to the New Year in China. Because, a week later, on New Year's Eve, Kitchen God came to earth with the good and bad luck that his family deserved. Kitchen God is considered to guide the gods in the sky. Other gods have ascended to heaven after the Chinese New Year, and only Kitchen God will stay in other people's kitchens for a long time. The ceremony of welcoming God is called "receiving God", and the kitchen god is called "receiving kitchen". Generally, it is New Year's Eve to pick up the kitchen, and the ceremony is much simpler. At that time, just put on a new stove lamp and burn incense in front of the stove niche.
As the saying goes, "Men don't Yue Bai, women don't sacrifice to the kitchen". In some places, women don't sacrifice stoves. It is said that the kitchen god looks like a small white face and is afraid of women offering sacrifices to the kitchen stove, which is suspected of men and women. The origin of Kitchen God has a long history. Among the folk gods in China, the qualification of Kitchen God has a long history. As early as the Xia Dynasty, he was already a great god revered by the people. According to the ancient book The Book of Rites, Confucius said, "The son of Zhuan Xu was named Li and worshipped as the kitchen god." "Zhuangzi Sheng Da" records: "The stove has a bun." Sima Biao commented: "bun, kitchen god, dressed in red, looks like a beautiful woman." "Bao Puzi Wei Zhi" also records: "On a dark and windy night, Kitchen God also accuses the white man in heaven." These records are probably the source of Kitchen God. Also, or the kitchen god is a "suiren" who drills wood to make a fire; Or Shennong's "fire official"; Or "Su Liji" in "The Yellow Emperor Cooking Ren"; Or the kitchen god surnamed Zhang, the name list, the word Guo; Opinions vary. There is an interesting story circulating among the people.
It is said that in ancient times there was a family named Zhang, two brothers. The elder brother was a plasterer and the younger brother was a painter. My brother's specialty is cooking pots and pans. He was invited by East Street and West Square, and they all praised his cooking. He has been famous for a long time, and Fiona Fang called him "King Zhang Zao" thousands of miles away. Strangely, Wang said that no matter who built a stove, he liked to interfere in other people's homes if there was any dispute. When he meets a noisy daughter-in-law, he will persuade him. When he meets a fierce mother-in-law, he will say that he seems to be an old elder. In the future, neighbors will look for him if they have anything, and everyone respects him. The king lived seventy years, and when he died, it happened to be late at night on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. After the death of Wang, Zhang Jiake fell into chaos. It turns out that the king is the head of the family and everything in the family is under his command. After the death of the eldest brother, the younger brother only knew poetry and painting. Although he spends a lot of time, he never does housework. The daughters-in-law in several rooms clamored for separation, and the painter was stirred helplessly and frowned all day. One day, he finally came up with a good idea On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the first anniversary of Wang's death, late at night, the painter suddenly called to wake up the whole family and said that the eldest brother had appeared. He led his son, daughter-in-law and the whole family to the kitchen, only to see the king and his late wife appear in the flickering candlelight on the dark kitchen wall, and his family were shocked. The painter said, "When I slept, I dreamed that my eldest brother and sister-in-law had become immortals, and the Jade Emperor named him' Nine Days East Chef ordered the chef to be the king of the palace'. You are always lazy, lazy, and your sister-in-law is not harmonious, disrespectful and unfilial, which makes your family uneasy. My brother is very angry when he knows that you are going to break up. He is going to tell the Jade Emperor that he will come down on the evening of the 30th to punish you. " Hearing these words, the children's nephews and daughters-in-law were frightened. They immediately knelt down and kowtowed again and again, and hurriedly brought Wang Pingping's favorite candy to the stove and begged the kitchen king to forgive them. Since then, uncles, brothers and daughters-in-law who often make noise have never dared to make trouble again. The whole family lives in harmony, young and old. Neighbors knew about it, and the news spread. They all came to Zhang's house and wanted to know the truth. In fact, the kitchen god on the kitchen wall on the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month was painted by the painter in advance. He came to town to scare his children's nephews and daughters-in-law, but this method really worked. So the neighbor came to the painter to inquire about the situation, so he had to pretend and distribute the painted kitchen god to the neighbors. As a result, it spread along the countryside, and the kitchen of every household was labeled as the kitchen god. Over time, the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month and praying for the safety of the family was formed. After the custom of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god spread, from the Zhou Dynasty, the palace also included it in the sacrificial ceremony, and formulated the rules of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god nationwide, which became a fixed ceremony.
Zaojun legend
Kitchen God, also known as Kitchen King, Kitchen King, Kitchen God, Chef, Chef, etc. , is the god of catering in ancient Chinese myths and legends. Kitchen God himself has long been known as Yan Di and Zhu Rong. Later, many statements were derived. After the Jin Dynasty, it was listed as a god who supervised the good and evil on earth. With the development of social production, since humans broke away from eating animals and drinking blood and invented fire food, stoves have gradually become closely related to human life. The worship of Kitchen God has become an important part of many worship activities. Therefore, in the Book of Rites Sacrifice Law, "Wang made seven sacrifices", that is, one sacrifice was a "stove", while Shu Ren made a sacrifice, "or set up a household or a stove".
In ancient China, there were activities of offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God. After Wei and Jin Dynasties, Kitchen God had a name. Sui Du Taiqing's Collection of Jade Candles quoted the Kitchen Book as saying, "Kitchen God, surnamed Su, has a lucky name, but her female name is unfortunate". Tang Lixian quoted "Miscellaneous Five Elements Book", also known as "The kitchen god is named Zen, and the word Guo Zi."
Taoist culture and the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves
Dressed in yellow and with her hair tied, she came out of the stove. "There are many sayings that Kitchen God was a goddess at first, or an old woman or a beautiful woman. About the Qing Dynasty's "Jing Zao Quan Shu", it is said that the chef's surname is Zhang, the name list and the word Guo, and he is a male god. Chef Dong, who is worshipped by the people, is destined to be Fu Zaojun, an old couple sitting together, or a man and two women sitting side by side, which is the portrait of Zao Jun and his wife.
After the prosperity of Taoism in China, the kitchen god was described as the mother god in Jing Shuo. "People's residence. At twelve o'clock, be good at knowing human affairs. Remember good and evil and their merits and demerits every month, remember their severity, play Cao Shen in the middle of the night and set his book. " Later, it developed into both grandparents. In different regions, Zhao Jun and his wife are played by different candidates, accompanied by popular local folklore stories.
Legend of Kitchen God: According to legend, Kitchen God is the supervisor sent by the Jade Emperor to every family, and will go to heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to report the good deeds or evil deeds of this family to the Jade Emperor in the sky. Hearing this, the Jade Emperor gave the family all the good and bad fortune they should get in the new year to the Kitchen God. Therefore, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, when people "send stoves", they should present honeydew melons made of caramel and flour, paper horses made of bamboo sticks and fodder for animals, so that the kitchen god can be sweet, the god can speak well and enter the palace with good luck!