"Heaven says good things, return to the palace to bring auspiciousness! ”
is talking about the stove king, which is also the most respected god among the people. Legend has it that Zaojun was originally a mortal, a mason named Zhang Kui, he has a well-known craft, that is, the pot is built well, and people from ten miles and eight towns are looking for him to build the pot table.
And after his death, someone reported Zhang Kui's merits in the world to the Jade Emperor, so the Jade Emperor also admired him, it was he who made countless people eat fragrant food, so he named him the god of the stove.
and also assigned him a task, that is, "to judge the good and evil in the world, return good words, and ensure that disasters are avoided in the coming year". Therefore, on the 24th day of the lunar month every year, he must return to the Heavenly Palace to report to the Jade Emperor, and this day is also called Xiao Nian.
Later, in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, in order to save, the emperor's family worshiped the sacrificial stove and the god of heaven together, so the 23rd day of the lunar month was formed, and most of the southern regions retained the tradition, or on the 24th day of the lunar month, the stove was sacrificed, and the New Year was celebrated.
This is actually due to the worship of fire by the ancients, and there are many kinds of legends about the god of the stove in the folk, although the versions are different, but the customs of sacrificing the stove are almost the same.
Folklore has it that the god of the stove is the god of the Jade Emperor, and he was also sent to the mortal world by the Jade Emperor to supervise the good and evil of everyone in the world. At the end of each year, the god of the stove will return to the heavenly palace to report the people's feelings to the Jade Emperor, and then let the Jade Emperor reward and punish.
In order to let the king of the stove say more good things and bring more auspiciousness and peace in the coming year, there is a custom of sacrificing the stove in the folk, that is, "small year".
The meaning of this proverb is that the time of the sacrifice stove is "sooner rather than later", and if you can sacrifice the stove earlier, you will get more blessings from the god of the stove. And if the time of the sacrifice is late, it will damage their fortune.
In the past, there were many such proverbs, such as "The sacrifice stove is early, and the stove god is long; The sacrifice stove is late, and the stove god is short", which means that the people who sacrifice the stove in the morning, the stove god will always accompany them to help them and bring them long-term good luck; Those who sacrifice to the stove in the evening can only get a short period of good luck.
There is a similar proverb: "If the stove is early, the fortune is good; The sacrificial stove is late, and the fortune is poor"; "The sacrificial stove is early, and the wealth is continuous; The sacrificial stove is late, and the source of wealth is cut off"; "The sacrificial stove is early, and the rain is heavy; The sacrificial stove is late, and the rainfall is less", all of which say that the sacrificial stove should be earlier.
Regarding the sacrificial stove, in the northern region, it is basically on the 23rd day of the lunar month, while in the southern region, it is mostly on the 24th day of the lunar month. In addition, the festival is not as early as possible, it is usually held at dusk and nightfall, and in many places it is held in the evening, preferably around dinner, that is, between 6 and 8 o'clock in the evening.
On the day, the kitchen should be cleaned and offerings prepared. Then, at the time of the sacrifice to the stove, the king of the stove set up in the shrine on the wall of the stove offers incense, and the fruit of the sacrifice stove is offered. After the offering, the statue of the "Nine Heavens East Kitchen Si Ming Stove Jun" that had been pasted for a year was burned together with the paper horse, praying that he would do more good things in front of the Jade Emperor and bless the family with peace.
After that, the family shared the stove candy, thinking that if they ate the stove candy, they could get the blessing of the stove god. There is also a saying among the folk that "after eating the sacrificial stove fruit, the foot bones are healthy".
After that, it's time for the family to have dinner, but it is mainly vegetarian, such as noodles, dumplings, etc., and meat is taboo. And the more you eat, the more you will have a bumper harvest in the coming year, and this custom is also called "filling the warehouse".
After the sacrifice to the stove, until the day of the Chinese New Year's EveChinese New Year's Eve, the stove will be brought back again. The newly purchased statue of the Stove King is pasted on the stove. In the past, there was also a saying among the people that the first thing after the stove king went down to the lower realm was to count the roster, so the family members had to go home for the New Year to pray for the good fortune of the stove king to the whole family.
The reason why there should be sacrificial stoves in the folk sooner rather than later, is actually for fear that everyone will miss the custom of sacrificial stoves. Listening to the old generation, the Lord of the Stove is riding a horse to the sky, if the sacrifice is late, it may delay the trip, and then it will be blamed by the Jade Emperor, which will cause the Lord of the Stove to be unhappy and say bad things.
It is also because there are such legends and sayings in the folk, so every year many people rush to the sacrificial stove, thinking that whoever is the first to sacrifice the stove in the village can get more blessings from the god of the stove.
This is the same as many families in rural areas rushing to "open the door of wealth", thinking that the first to open the door of wealth, the god of wealth will bless more. It's just for a good fortune, you say?