【Haichuan: Going Home for the New Year】Celebrating the Lesser New Year by offering sacrifices to the God of the Kitchen and steaming New Year cakes
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The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the Minor New Year in the north, and it is also the day when the God of the Kitchen ascends to heaven. The God of the Kitchen, also known as the Lord of the Kitchen, is the deity who oversees and watches over each family. No matter how minor the sins committed by men, women, old or young in that family may be, they cannot escape the God of the Kitchen’s notice; all of them are recorded. On the 23rd, a report is submitted to the heavenly courts for a comprehensive review. On this day, the God of the Kitchen is worshipped in southern Liaoning. On the wall next to the farm households’ iron pots, holes are drilled and iron bars are inserted; wide wooden planks are laid over them, pictures of the God of the Kitchen are attached, incense burners are placed there, along with various sweets and fruits. At noon, light a stick of incense; the fire used to light it must not be from dirty wood, as that would be an insult to the gods. In the past, fire was started using a flint, but now it is lit with matches.
Traditional Chinese festivals are often related to eating. On the 23rd, it is customary to eat steamed New Year cakes or sticky bean buns. Rice cakes are made by soaking glutinous rice thoroughly, grinding it into powder, and then steaming it in a pot. In the countryside, where there are no modern kitchen steamer ovens, people use large iron pots for steaming. Water is poured into the pot, a steamer basket is placed on top of it, and the rice cakes are put in that basket.
Steaming rice cakes is done as a bribe to the Kitchen God, with the intention of sealing his mouth so that he cannot speak ill in heaven. However, if, as the common people pray, the Kitchen God becomes unable to open his mouth after eating the rice cakes, the Jade Emperor will surely investigate it. As for dust cleaning, in southern Liaoning, this is not done on the day of Xiao Nian; it’s done in advance. Think about it – in such a short day, one has to clean the dust inside the house as well as cut out window decorations. We also need to paste couplets. It’s all written for fun; it can be refuted. How is it possible to get so much done in one day? In the past, when cooking in the countryside, one had to sit on a mat and operate a bellows back and forth; it took half a day just to steam the rice cakes, so where was there any time to make dumplings? These writers are just making things up with wide eyes. You should know that in the past, making dumplings in the countryside was also a time-consuming task; it took half a day to wrap them and cook them.
We eat sugar melon candies https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-2278491-1-1.html
Learning*, learning*. But now they’ve started selling sticky candies, supposedly to stick them in the mouth of the God of the Kitchen
Is it like the sugar-coated candies mentioned above?
Yes, it’s very fragrant, sweet, and crisp – really delicious