Tsao Chun / god of the kitchen

The Kitchen God

Many Chinese homes all over China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia have a picture of the Kitchen God Tsao Chun hanging above the stove. Tsao Chun not only watches over the domestic affairs of a family, but he is a moral force in the lives of all family members. It is Tsao Chun who ascends to heaven every year during the Chinese new year to present a report to the Jade Emperor as to the good or bad behavior of each family member. Customarily, family members then try to "bribe" Tsao chun by smearing his mouth with sugar or honey so that he may present a "sweetened" version of their deeds or misdeeds as the case may be. Tsao Chun's ascent to heaven is accomplished by burning his image: the smoke rising to the heavens symbolically representing his journey to the Jade Emperor. A new picture of him is then placed above the stove for the coming year.

In the above representation of Tsao Chun, we see him and his wife flanked by two servants holding jars in which are stored the the rewards or punishments for the deeds or misdeeds that have occured during the year. Two other servants stand in the foreground:they serve both Tsao Chun and the Jade Emperor and are intermediaries between the heavenly and earthly world.

The Taoist notion of balanced yin and yang energies is symbolized by the rooster and the dog who stand guard on either side of the a jar filled with money and other riches the family hope will come to them in the coming year.