On December 23, the Chinese will offer Tao Quan candy made from millet and barley so that the kitchen god can talk sweetly to the Jade Emperor about the owner.
The Chinese started the custom of sending Cong Ong Tao back to heaven from the time of Confucius (551 to 479 BC). In Chinese beliefs, Mr. Tao is considered the god who governs the kitchen in every home.
In Chinese history, from the Tien Qin Dynasty to the Ming Qing Dynasty, the worship of the God of God was considered an important sacrifice of the feudal court. Ancient Chinese bibliographies have many records of the custom of making sacrifices to the God of God.
According to legend, every year on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, the Tao Quan goes to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor about the past 1 year. Based on this report, jade will prolong or shorten the life of the owner.
There is also a legend in China that in the past, the god of the kitchen went to heaven once a month on the last day of the lunar month to report on each person in each family, but later on, the god of the kitchen god ascended to heaven only once on the 23rd or 24th. December.
“23 offering sweets, 24 cleaning the house, 25 grinding beans…” , is a rhyme that plays at the end of every year in China, with the meaning of “little year” (small new year) coming, according to Xinhua.
A Chinese folk painting depicts a baby reaching up to the Apple altar to get candy. (Photo: Sina).
“Tieu Nien” is also known as the day of thanksgiving to the kitchen god, the day to clean the kitchen, the New Year of the Apple King … According to Chinese folk custom, the Tao Quan is the person who oversees all the activities in a family for the whole year and will incite perform on the Jade Emperor on the “teenager” ceremony on December 23, so that the Jade Emperor can reward or condemn the family. Therefore, on this day, the homeowner must clean the kitchen and offer Tao Quan candy.
The Chinese believe that because the candy is very sticky, it has the effect of “sticking the mouth” of T ‘s shirt, preventing him from saying bad things to the Jade Emperor. In some parts of southern China, people believe that offering sweets for Mr. Tao to eat will bring a happy mood, “speak sweet” and only mutter good things to the Jade Emperor.
After offering, the owner will take down the Tao Quan statue and burn it to “send him to heaven” until New Year’s Eve, before welcoming him home to celebrate the new year. On the 30th of December, they will celebrate the “Welcoming the Apples”.
People in Ninh Hai village, Zhejiang province, offer Tao Quan candy during the “young age” ceremony. (Photo: China News).
Mr. Zhao Xingli, a native of Beijing, said that according to tradition, on this day Chinese families will go to buy meat, soy sauce … to prepare for Tet, then clean the house and finally is offering candy to Mr. Apple.
However, according to Chinese culture experts, the customs of the Chinese people to celebrate the New Year are becoming more and more simple due to the development of society.
The kinds of candy used to worship Mr. Tao are very rich, made from malt, millet, barley, and pumpkin seeds. (Photo: Sina).
“Along with the development of the times, the progress of society, the stove is increasingly absent in Chinese families, the ritual of cleaning the stove is therefore gradually disappearing. Nowadays, many people just make offerings to them. symbolic candy, stick red letters on the house, that’s the end of worshiping and cleaning the house on New Year’s Day,” commented Mr. Do Quoc Khanh, a Chinese folklore expert in Tianjin city.