Wen | Wang Xiaohui Editor | Swallow Photo | Network
"A wisp of tea and a wisp of smoke, the Emperor of the Stove King went to the blue sky." It's the twenty-third day of the lunar month again. This day is commonly known as the "Festival of Sacrifice Stoves", which is a traditional festival of our Chinese nation, also known as the "Little Year". The worship of the gods has a great influence and spread in our local area.
I remember when I was a child, I just finished the Eighth Festival. Grandma and mother began to get busy, washing, buying things, and preparing new year goods. Soon it was the twenty-third day of the waxing moon, that is, the emperor of the stove would return to the heavenly court to report to the Jade Emperor and tell the Jade Emperor about the right and wrong of good and evil in the world, as a basis for rewarding and punishing human beings. Now that I think about it, the discipline of the Heavenly Court at that time was quite strict, just like our current unit, every year at the end of the year, there must be a debriefing report.
When I was a child, the kitchen, the bellows, the earth stove, the firewood and bituminous coal, there was no range hood, and after a year of smoke and fire, the stove king and the stove king grandmother on the New Year painting were gray-headed. Grandma would always gently wipe it with a clean rag, saying that it was to let the stove king and the stove king grandmother go to the sky cleanly. There is also a custom on this day, people outside must rush home to resign the new year's custom, which means the reunion of the family. On this day every year, no matter where the wanderer is, he can imagine the expectant eyes of his relatives at home, and the wanderers in a foreign land are also like arrows, always thinking of reuniting with their relatives in the twenty-third day of the 23rd month. The moment they arrived home, each other's eyes were already filled with tears of excitement and happiness, and the sour, sweet, bittersweet and grievances of a year outside were also relieved by the tears that flowed.
I remember that my father was working in the city at that time, and no matter how busy and tired he was, he would always ride his "big golden deer" bicycle home. When my father returned home, the ritual of sacrificing the stove in my house began. In my memory, it was always my grandmother who was in charge of the sacrificial stove at the beginning. Later, when Grandma left us, my mother took care of it. First, put fruit and stove sugar (sesame candy) in front of the stove and light a pillar of incense. Then he knelt down and prostrated his head reverently. Then remove the New Year painting and put it on the "horse" that was tied with sorghum oranges early, so that the old man of the stove prince can walk, and then light the sesame pole to ignite the "horse" and the New Year painting. Grandma and Mother prostrated their heads reverently and prayed: King Stove, Heaven says good deeds, and the Netherworld keeps peace. Say more about our family's goodness in Grandpa Tian, and bless our family with peace and security... My younger siblings and I also imitated it, perhaps because of my young age, and the stove prince was a little disgusted, so I became a bland and tasteless mortal.
Our family's stove is made of sesame stalks, and Grandma said that there is a meaning of rising and rising. My family's stove king will bring us good luck step by step. Put stove sugar for the stove king, let the stove king eat sweet mouth, mostly for my family's good words. After the sacrifice of the stove candy, Grandma and mother let the three of us eat it, saying that they could talk when they grew up and could say nice things. It was great to think of Grandma, as if everything was going according to Grandma's wishes.
"According to ancient legend, on the twenty-third day of the lunar month, the king of the stove wanted to say something to the heavens. The cloud car wind horse small stay, the family has cups and plates of abundant ceremonies. Pork head rotten hot pisces fresh, bean sand and pine powder bait balls. The boy offered his daughter to avoid, and the wine burned money stove Junxi.
The son-in-law struggles Jun Mo Wen, the cat and dog horns the Dirty Jun Mo Hate; send the Jun drunk and full to the gate of heaven, the long and short do not return to the clouds, and beg for the return of the city to share." This is a poem by Fan Chengda, "Sacrifice Stove Words", when I was a child, my father taught me to recite it to my three brothers and sisters. At that time, I was young, and I could only recite and not understand the deep meaning, but now I have a different taste in my heart when I read it.
The old house was clean and bright. Although Grandma left us and My Mother grew older, looking at the picture of Grandma on the table of the Eight Immortals in the hall, she smiled kindly and looked at us, and I knew that she had never left us, she just changed her appearance and continued to guard our home. Mother also slowly grows old, quits the stove, goes home, it is like the root of our memory, no matter when and where, it is always deeply rooted in our hearts.
2022.1.24
About author:Wang Xiaohui' pen name is Peaceful Ruhua and works for Yuncheng Tobacco Company. Heze City Writers Association member, Heze City Book Association member. His works can be found in Qilu Evening News, Heze Daily, Heze Radio and Television News, Water Margin Culture, Yuncheng Literature and Art, Chengxin Yuncheng, Caozhou Poetry Newspaper, and Lao Ji Poetry Anthology
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