Zao Jun - God of the Kitchen

Zao Jun - The Kitchen God, from Myths and Legends of China, 1922 by E. T. C. Werner

In Chinese mythology Zao Jun (灶君 Pinyin: Zào Jūn), or Stove Master, is the kitchen god, the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods (gods of courtyards, wells, doorways, etc.). 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) who rewards or punishes each household accordingly. Image File history File links A drawing of the God of the Kitchen, Zao Jun This illustration is from The Joy of Chinese Cooking written and illustrated by Doreen Yen Hung Feng, which was published circa 1950 without any copyright notice at all. ... Image File history File links A drawing of the God of the Kitchen, Zao Jun This illustration is from The Joy of Chinese Cooking written and illustrated by Doreen Yen Hung Feng, which was published circa 1950 without any copyright notice at all. ... Image File history File links Zao Jun - The Kitchen God - Project Gutenberg eText 15250 From http://www. ... Image File history File links Zao Jun - The Kitchen God - Project Gutenberg eText 15250 From http://www. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... At the moment this page contains a list of links. ... Hanyu pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ... Chinese New Year decoration in London Chinatown A Chinese Lion ushers in the New Year to New York City. ... Michelangelos interpretation of Heaven Heaven is an afterlife concept found in many religions or spiritual philosophies. ... Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor (玉皇 Pinyin: Yù Huáng or 玉帝 Yù Dì), known informally by children and commoners as Grandpa Heaven (天公 Tiān Gōng) and known formally as the Pure August Jade Emperor or August Personage of Jade (玉皇上帝 Yu Huang Shangdi or 玉皇大帝 Yu Huang Dadi), is the ruler of...

Considering the current population of China, this would make him the most industrious god in most of the world.

The Story of Zao Jun

Zao Jun has been worshipped as a god in China since at least the 2nd century BCE. There are several stories as to how he became a god, the most popular being that he was once a mortal man named Zhang Dan (張單) (also known as Zhang Ziguo 張子郭) and was married to a virtuous woman. However Zhang Dan fell in love with a young girl and left his wife for her. From that day on he was plagued with bad luck to punish him for his betrayal. He was struck blind, the young girl left him and he had to resort to begging. (3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events BC 168 Battle of Pydna -- Macedonian phalanx defeated by Romans BC 148 Rome conquers Macedonia BC 146 Rome destroys Carthage in the Third Punic War BC 146 Rome conquers...

One day, while begging for alms, he happened across the house of his former wife, being blind he did not recognise her, and despite his shoddy treatment of her she took mercy on him and invited him in. She cooked him a fabulous meal and tended to him lovingly, he related to her his story and as he began to cry his eyesight was miraculously restored recognising his benefactress as his former wife he was overcome with shame and threw himself into the kitchen hearth not realising that it was lit!

His wife tried to save him but he was consumed by the fire and all that was left of him was a leg (to this day in China a fire poker is sometimes called Zhang Dan's Leg). His wife lovingly created a shrine to him above the fireplace where he died, this began Zao Jun's association with the stove in Chinese homes.

Alternatively Zao Jun was a man so poor he was forced to sell his wife. Years later he unwittingly became a servant in the house of her new husband. Taking pity on him she baked him some cakes into which she had hidden money, but he failed to notice this and sold the cakes for a pittance. When he realised what he had done he took his own life in despair. In both stories Heaven takes pity on Zhang Dan's tragic story and instead of becoming a vampirish Jiang Shi, the usual fate of suicides he was made the god of the Kitchen and was reunited with his wife. In popular Chinese mythology, hopping corpses (Traditional Chinese: 僵屍 or 殭屍; Simplified Chinese: 僵尸; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally stiff corpses) are reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorb life essence (qi) from their victims. ...

Worship and Customs

Traditionally every Chinese household would have a paper effigy of Zao Jun and his wife (who writes down everything that is said in the household over the year for her husbands report to Yu Huang) above the fireplace in the kitchen and this tradition is still widely practiced. Offerings of food and incense are made to Zao Jun on his birthday which is said to be the third day of the eighth lunar month and also on the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month when he returns to Heaven to give his New Year's report, on this day also the lips of Zao Jun's paper effigy may be smeared with honey to sweeten his words to Yu Huang (or keep his lips stuck together). After this the effigy will be burnt to be replaced by a new one on New Year's day and firecrackers are lit to speed him on his way to heaven. If the household has a statue or a nameplate of Zao Jun it will be taken down and cleaned on this day for the new year. Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor (玉皇 Pinyin: Yù Huáng or 玉帝 Yù Dì), known informally by children and commoners as Grandpa Heaven (天公 Tiān Gōng) and known formally as the Pure August Jade Emperor or August Personage of Jade (玉皇上帝 Yu Huang Shangdi or 玉皇大帝 Yu Huang Dadi), is the ruler of... Incense is a preparation of aromatic plant matter, often with the addition of essential oils extracted from plant or animal sources, intended to release fragrant smoke for religious, therapeutic, or aesthetic purposes as it smolders. ... Image showing the 4 stages of a 3 inch (7. ...

Zao Jun in Literature

Zao Jun's story is interwoven with a feminist spin into the protagonist's story in Amy Tan's novel The Kitchen God's Wife. Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi) (born February 19, 1952) is a Chinese American author. ...