Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a farmer named Zhang Dan, who had a beautiful wife and six daughters, but no sons.
One night, Zhang Shan and his wife played a game together and quarreled over winning or losing. The quarrel became more and more intense, and Zhang Shan began to blame his wife for not giving him a son, and his wife felt aggrieved and decided to leave. Although Zhang Shan wanted to keep him in his heart, he was unwilling to bow his head because of his manly dignity, so he let his wife run away from home.
Zhang Dan's wife had nowhere to go after leaving home, and finally came to the house of a poor old lady. Because the old lady was lonely, she felt sympathy for Zhang Dan's wife, so she took him in. A few years later, because of the blessings of Zhang Dan's wife, the old lady's family became rich.
During the time she ran away from home, Zhang Dan's wife was always worried about her husband and daughter, so she sent someone to inquire about the news of the family. However, he never expected that less than a year after he was away from home, Zhang Shan sold his only land and house because of poverty, and wandered around with his daughter.
Fate arranged for them to wander to the door of the kind old lady's house. When his wife recognized him from afar, she was both sad and happy. In order to take care of Zhang Dan's face, she did not come forward to recognize her, but asked her subordinates to take them to the kitchen for dinner. After the meal, Zhang Shan was very ashamed to learn that the hostess was his wife who had been away from home for many years, so he crashed into the stove and died on the spot.
When the Jade Emperor learned of this, he was deeply sympathetic and appointed Zhang Dan as the god of the hearth, responsible for overseeing the dialogue between the husband and wife in order to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
Later, the responsibilities of the Stove God gradually expanded, and he was responsible for reporting everything in the family to the Jade Emperor. It is said that every year in the lunar year, that is, on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, he will go to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the good and evil in the world. Therefore, people would worship him on this day and see him off. Although it was ostensibly a send-off, it was actually to guard against him. There is usually some sugar in the food offered to him, called stove sugar. The purpose is to stick to his mouth, so that he can't speak when he goes to the heavenly court, and he can't tell the Jade Emperor.