Chinese Kitchen God

The kitchen god is a popular deity most chinese would worship every year.

Chinese kitchen god. The kitchen god is recognized in chinese folk religion chinese mythology and taoism under different names he is also celebrated in several other asian religions. The kitchen god other gods of the earthly domain. It s a chinese kitchen god. The god is said to report the affairs of each family to the emperor of gods in heaven.

For millennia every chinese household and restaurant kitchen exhibited a kitchen god in the form of a statue wood plaque or picture that was placed above the fireplace or stove. The kitchen god not only watches over the domestic affairs of a family but he is also a moral force in the lives of all family members. Each year during chinese new year the kitchen god returns to heaven to report on what the family has done throughout the year. The kitchen god also known as the stove god named zao jun zao shen or zhang lang is the most important of a plethora of chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family.

Today many chinese families hang pictures of zao jun above their stoves and give various offerings to him throughout the year. It is believed that if the kitchen god s mouth is full of glutinous rice he will not be able to speak about the. Also known as stove god his role extends to guarding against kitchen misfortunes and equally important to enhancing the nutrition and deliciousness of food. However the god can be mischievous so people offer him food and drink hoping that he reports good things about their family and brings back blessings for the coming new year.

And doesn t he fill you with confidence. The chinese kitchen god s job is to watch over the goings on in the home and report back to the jade emperor in heaven. According to the lore he should be surrounded by tangerines or oranges but i needed pears for a recipe. Many chinese homes have a paper image or picture of the deity hung throughout the year near the family s stove.

Zao shen wade giles romanization tsao shen in chinese religion the kitchen god literally god of the hearth who is believed to report to the celestial gods on family conduct and to have it within his power to bestow poverty or riches on individual families because he is also a protector of the home from evil spirits his periodic absences are thought to make the house especially. According to chinese popular religion there are three domains in the cosmos heaven earth and the underworld and each domain is populated by a host of important gods and goddesses. The family has a thank you dinner in which a bowl of sticky rice is placed in front of the kitchen god. He was a lovely gift from one of my blog readers hi jennifer and he s now sitting in his seat of honor above my stove.

Zao jun in chinese.