The Kitchen God
In Chinese folk religion and Chinese mythology, the Kitchen god, named Zao Jun (Chinese: 灶君; Mandarin Pinyin: Zào Jūn; Jyutping: Joe3 Gwan4; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chàu-kun or Chàu-kun-kong (灶君公); literally "stove master") or Zao Shen (Chinese: 灶神; pinyin: Zào Shén; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chàu-sîn; literally "stove god or stove spirit"), is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. In addition he is celebrated in Vietnamese culture as well.
It is believed that on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year he returns to Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang). The Jade Emperor, emperor of the heavens, either rewards or punishes a family based on Zao Jun's yearly report.
Read more about The Kitchen God: The Story of Zao Jun, Worship and Customs, Family, Zao Jun in Literature, In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words the kitchen, kitchen and/or god:
“Anton Petrovich turned into the passage, followed the arrow to men, mankind, human beings, marched past the toilet, past the kitchen, gave a start when a cat darted under his feet, quickened his step, reached the end of the passage, pushed open a door, and a shower of sunlight splashed his face.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“A certain minor light may still
Leap incandescent
Out of kitchen table or chair
As if a celestial burning took
Possession of the most obtuse objects now and then—”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“The mirror-scalèd serpent is multiplicity,
But all that run in couples, on earth, in flood or air, share God that is but three,
And could beget or bear themselves could they but love as He.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)