Tsao-wang ("prince of the hearth"), Tsao-shen ("god of the hearth"), Tsao-jun ("lord of the hearth"), Tsao-pusa ("bodhisattva of the hearth"), Dongchu siming zhu ("lord of the destinies of the eastern (corner) of the kitchen") - the god of the kitchen - the spirit living above the hearth. He observes the behavior of all the inhabitants of the house, and at the end of the year he presents a report to the Jade Emperor. Before Tsao-wang goes to heaven, household members usually smear honey on the lips of the image of this god so that only sweet words flow from his lips.
In different eras, there were different versions of the origin of Zao-wang. In late medieval folklore, a certain poor lazy man Zhang, who fed at the expense of his wife, turned into him. On New Year's Eve, his wife sent him to her parents for rice, and they, feeling sorry for their needy daughter, put silver at the bottom of the bag. The lazy man got tired of carrying a heavy burden, and he gave the bag to a beggar he met. The enraged wife beat him to death, but since it was New Year's Eve, she temporarily buried the corpse under the hearth. Regretting what she had done, she then hung a memorial plaque with her husband’s name over the fireplace and began to pray in front of it. Since then, the custom of honoring Zhang as Tsao-wang has spread, according to legend, throughout China. There are other versions of this story. In religious texts reflecting the beliefs of various sects, the origin of Zao-wang is explained in this way: in response to complaints from the spirits that they had difficulty keeping track of the affairs of people, the Supreme Jade Sovereign, Yu-di, invited the saint Zhang Zhang from Mount Kunlun and commanded him to become Zao-wang. Having received this command, Zhang transformed into 5 lords of the hearth, corresponding to the 4 cardinal directions and the center, who in turn turned into 10 thousand Zao-wans, who began to watch people in all houses.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru