Today (January 17th) is the ‘Little Chinese New Year‘ – also known as the Kitchen God Festival (北方小年)! It’s the day to start the ‘pre-new year’ preparations.
There are two versions of the holiday:
北方小年 or Běifāng xiǎo nián which represents the ‘Little Year’ to the north. Celebrated on January 17, 2020.
南方小年 or Nánfāng xiǎo nián which represents the ‘Little Year’ to the south. Celebrated on January 18, 2020.
*Based on students’ responses, it appears there is a difference in when the holiday is celebrated based on geographic location. Same holiday, different days.
In ancient Chinese culture, the stove was a very important part of the family’s wealth. Closely related to signs of prosperity and unity.
The home to house the stove and food to cook within were signs of abundance and wealth. While the family who ate food produced in the same oven represented a family at peace. When a younger son started his own family line, he would produce his own stove and carefully shift coals over to show that his household now stood independent. (Source)
It is little surprise then that myths surrounding a kitchen god formed.
The LegendBegins
The stories vary, but the most popular version is one which started in the BC era. There once was a man named Zao Jun (灶君) who for some reason did wrong by his wife. Some say he had an affair with a younger woman, other that he was poor and sold his wife to another man in marriage.
Whatever the reason, he then fell into greater poverty and misery. Wandering earth, he happened upon his wife again in later years and confessed his regret and sorrow at his past actions. A good cook and virtuous woman, his wife forgave him and offered him some food and aid.
Unfortunately, he is either overwhelmed with guilt at her kindness or misunderstands her good intentions (depends on the version) and commits suicide in grief. The heavens take pity on the poor man and turn him into a kitchen god where he is reunited with his wife.
The Current Myth
Modern versions of the tradition hold that each home hosts their own ‘Kitchen God’ who sits watch over the family throughout the year. He is assisted by his wife who keeps a careful written record of the family’s good and bad deeds. He and his wife may even by represented with a portrait or painting of his depiction placed in the kitchen where he keeps his watchful eye.
Then, during the week before the new year, the kitchen god and his wife take their account back to the immortal world. There he gives his report to the Jade Emperor who will pass judgment and issue corresponding rewards or punishments to the family.
The goal is to receive blessings, and make a good start for next year. It’s a time of reconciling, cleaning the house, and putting old misdeeds and history aside. A time to get everything ready for the new year to come.
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW
The Holiday Today
Door Hangings for the New Year
Even families who don’t believe in the legend anymore still participate in the fun traditions surrounding it. Some of the fun activities include:
Getting a hair cut ~ the young guys are out with dapper style in their new do’s.
Getting new clothes and putting aside worn out older sets. Time to clean out the closet!
Take down old decorations and put up new ones. In China, many of the new year decorations are left up all year long – particularly those on the doors and the Chinese lanterns hanging everywhere.
This includes taking down the old picture of the kitchen god, burning it, and replacing it with a new portrait.
Burn sacrifices, money, and foods for the ancestors & family gods in hopes that they will intervene with the heavens and help spread good stories about the family. Lots of burning in the streets right now up north.
Eating homemade dumplings
Giving the house a thorough scrubbing
Shoot fireworks to help encourage him on his way!
One of our favorites comes from a student who shared that many people will eat sticky maltose-based candies and offer them as sacrifices. Apparently their hope is to either bribe the kitchen god with sweets or stick the mouth shut of his wife because she’s too gossipy.
Either way, we’re always in where candy is involved!
It’s mostly a kind of ‘spring cleaning’ festival, but be careful – don’t clean on the first of the holiday or you’ll offend the kitchen god! As one student put it ‘don’t throw out the rubbish or he’ll think you see him as rubbish’. So get your cleaning in now!
Original Chinese Characters and the Korean representations in “A Korean Odyssey”:
Monkey King ~ Son Oh Gong
*The Monkey 🐵King’s Chinese name is Sun WuKong. Wu is the Chinese word for “5” while “Oh” is the Korean word for “5” So Son Oh Gong is just a rewrite of Sun WuKong. 😋
Today (January 24) is the Laba Festival ( 腊八) or Rice Porridge Festival in China! On the Chinese lunar calendar, La is the 12th month of the year, and ba represents the 8th day of that month. So basically Laba means 12th month, 8th day. And that day is today!!!
The Laba Festival (like so many Chinese festivals) is mostly famous as a food holiday, one where the Chinese cook and eat delicious foods like the Dumplings of the Ghost Festival, the Moon Cakes of the Moon Festival, etc. On the Laba Festival, people make different kinds of rice porridge filled with beans, nuts, dried fruit, etc.
The next Laba will fall on January 13, 2019.
The Legend
According to the old stories, the Laba Festival was traditionally a day of offering sacrifices to the ancestors in honor of celebrating the harvest season. I’m not really sure if this was the “upcoming planting for later harvest” festival or a “after the end of winter wheat harvest” festival, none of my students seemed to know either. However, we do know that in the old days, the word for ‘sacrificing to the ancestors’ was ‘La’ and it happened on the La month (January-ish).
Sometime during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (1st century AD) the festival was finally fixed to the 8th day of the La month. The myths say that the number 8 “Ba” was chosen because it was on that day (La Ba – 8th day of La month) that Sakyamuni (Gautama Buddha), an Indian prince, was able to finally achieve enlightenment and rise as a Buddha. Sakyamuni was the son of an emperor from northern India who grew sad when he saw his people’s suffering. He eventually abandoned the throne and chose to seek Buddhist enlightenment. One day, starving and tired, a young shepherd girl offered him porridge made of rice, giving him strength to continue on his way. A few years later, he attained enlightenment on the 8th day of the 12th month. In honor of his suffering and success, people began offering rice porridge to the Buddha every year on that day.
Over time, the harvest festival and the Buddhist festival came together in one big celebration.
Celebration
Here in Dongbei (Northeast China), my students are all wishing each other Laba Day greetings and reminding each other to eat porridge. The porridge they are talking about is sometimes called Laba Congee instead. There are different variations; for example, some have lotus seeds and others have peas, fruit or nuts in it. Some have all kinds of stuff mixed together. Apparently some areas of China have meat or tofu in it, and some vegetables, because my friend posted a picture of that kind.
Because it is the 8th day, the Chinese like to add in 8 ingredients to make the porridge (I love China and their love of numbers). So they boil it like normal porridge, with maybe some extra sugar to sweeten it. It takes several hours to make, especially the beans which have to soak.
The first bowl is offered to the ancestors (for those who still honor them — it’s not quite as common here in China anymore, but the thought is there). Then some can be sent to neighbors or friends, grandparents, etc. Then the family eats the remainder together. Hopefully, you have plenty! If there is some left over, it means next year will be bountiful! (Remember this is still a harvest festival).
Apparently in some of the old times, the businessmen and government officials would give it to the employees on Laba Festival as a treat, but it’s history goes even further back than that. Some say it was originally served only to the ancestors during the Hong dynasty and later became more commonly served in the Song dynasty. A few say that it is made in remembrance of an emperor who grew up poor eating only congee and later asked everyone in the empire to eat it once a year to remember their origins. Whatever the origins, Laba porridge has been part of the festival since the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).
Some people will also make Laba Garlic as well. A couple students I know have posted pictures of the process on their WeChat. They peel the garlic and add it to a jar. Then they fill the jar up with rice vinegar and sugar. Eventually it turns GREEN! They’ll keep it until the Spring Festival when they eat it for the holiday.
Obtained from ThaiYogaUp.com. Original Artist – I’m Not Sure
The Goddess of Mercy in Chinese Buddhism is named Guanshiyin (观世音菩萨 — Guān shì Yīn Pú Sà) or Guanyin for short. The name means “one who always hears the cries of the world. While many of the Buddhist deities are rather frightening (as seen in their paintings and depictions), Guanyin is actually very highly respected for being merciful to her followers.
There are many legends surrounding the lovely lady. Apparently, the original story (stemming from India) had her as a man called avalokitasvara. He was extremely kind and worked non-stop reaching out to those who cried out for help. Some actually claim he was the most powerful of all the Buddhist gods, and certainly most agree he was the nicest. It wasn’t until the Song dynasty (960 – 1279) that the deity was changed into a woman. The Indian name was translated into Guanyin, and the uniquely Chinese feminine version was born to become mother to the world.
In China, the story is that she was a human who eventually became immortal through her good deeds and worthy heart. According to one story, she was holy and kind enough to find herself at the gate of Heaven. But, upon hearing the weeping and tragic cries of sorrow and pain from those suffering on earth, her heart was moved. Turning back from her place in the joyous realm, she returned and devoted herself to helping those in need. Thus her name — she always listens to and helps those who call out to her.
Another story comes from 827-840AD (the Tang Dynasty) in the city of Xi’an. According to the legend, the Emperor at the time was a man called Wenzong. Now, Wenzong had the unfortunate love of clams, asking from clams day after day, three meals a day! But, if you’ve ever lived in Xi’an, you would know that it is very far from the sea–so clams were hard to find. And of course, he was not happy with any clams – they had to be fresh and delicious! So, every day before the light came up, the poor fishermen in Zhejiang’s ports would collect up clams and rush them inland. Then, finally a miracle happened! One of the clams they found was HUGE (20x the normal clam size). All agreed, this clam must absolutely go to the emperor. But when they tried to open it, they found that the clam was shut up and would not budge. When he heard of this strange even, the emperor himself came to see it. At last! Right before his eyes, the clam shell opened and inside was an elaborate carving of Guanyin. Looking into the statue’s eyes, he heard her beautiful voice echo in his ear — “These poor workers have sacrificed much to satisfy your simple pleasures. You are abusing your people and wasting their money.” The people had prayed for someone to save them from the painful, meaningless labor and the goddess had responded. The emperor learned his lesson!
As a Buddhist deity, she seems to be an all around lovely person. She is known for reaching out to those who are ill, lost, abandoned, elderly, orphaned, and just generally in a tough spot. She is recognized for having eternal, unending love for people and the kindest of hearts. She is often a fertility goddess who gives children to those who need them. Always there to help, she is the supporter and defender of the unfortunate. She also helps guide the lost and missing, and has become one of the “sailor’s” deities. The fact that legend has her living on an Island in the South of China has contributed to this theory — thus the frequent depiction of her with pearls from the ocean or rising from a shell or lotus blossom like Venus. Even here in Xinzheng, Henan we have a statue of her–you’ll find them scattered all over China. I’ve been told both the Shaolin Temple (China) and Kiyomizu-dera (Japan) are dedicated to her.
My good friend Harry in front of a Statue of Quan Yin in the Zheng Garden.
Most images of Quan Yin show her in bare feet with ancient Chinese-style thin, blowing in the wind kind of clothes. They always bring to mind the lovely ladies of wuxia (Chinese historical) dramas or the old films. Lithe, graceful, elegant — an all around perfectly kind, beautiful, and gracious woman inside and out. Usually, the pictures show her alone or with two other people. Sometimes she has a child in her arms. At other times, it is two soldiers who defend the faith. The first is general Guan Yu, a real man made famous in the fictionalized story “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” Honored for being very loyal and virtuous, he is still prominent in the Buddhist faith. According to the believers, he not only fought of enemies of the country, he defended the righteous from demons as well. The second is Wei Tuo, a young prince who proved faithful to Buddha by protecting the holy relics. Together they stand guard as the goddess works her wonders.
Sometimes you’ll see the goddess of mercy in a different way, with several heads and hundreds of arms. There are several versions of the story as to why she has so many arms and heads. You can read one version here. Another version says that she dedicated her life to helping people in need, promising that she would not stop until she had helped everyone. Eventually, she realized that no matter what she did, there were still too many people. Frantically thinking about all that was left to be done, her head finally exploded into eleven parts. Concerned, one of the buddhas came to help her and ended up offering her eleven heads to hold the eleven parts. But now, hearing the cries so much better with her 22 ears, she became even more upset–pulling herself in many directions trying to read everyone at once. Reaching. . . reaching . . . finally her arms just shattered. Again the buddha reached out to the poor, good-hearted goddess and offered her one thousand arms to hold all those pieces so she could help more people. Thus the statue in Kaifeng has 1000 arms (although they follow the first version of the story instead of the second)!
Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Today in #China we are celebrating the Duanwu #端午 festival! It’s been a Holiday here for more than 2000 years!
It celebrates the Famous #poet #quyuan. Devoted to #China 🇨🇳, he wrote beautiful poems about its history, nature, and people. When the invading Qin armies approached, he chose to drown himself rather than see his beloved country fall. Although they sent out many #dragon boats to look for him, they could not save him in time.
So to commemorate his memory, every year they eat #粽子 (aka Zongzi), a sticky #rice #treat wrapped in banana leaves. And the big cities send out Dragon #boats for big battles and races on the lakes and rivers! Cool!
Wanna climb the pagoda? 😊 The beautiful sight greeted me on the way to classes. It’s a lovely pagoda up on the hill and part of a park in the middle of our campus. I love all the #colors!
**Just don’t go up there at night. 😂 It’s pretty much destined to live as a kind of ‘kissing kastle’ sort of place at night. When all the students have 7 other kids in their rooms, couples find privacy here 😜
Wanna climb the pagoda? 😊 The beautiful sight greeted me on the way to classes. It’s a lovely pagoda up on the hill and part of a park in the middle of our campus. I love all the #colors!
Deceptively Blonde 
