Origins and legends about the kitchen god of The Little New year
2 min readStudies of popular Chinese religion indicate that the Kitchen God did not appear until after the invention of the brick cooking stove.The cooking stove was a fairly late development in the history of human civilization Ancient writings indicate that the Fire God，the earliest form of the Kitchen God，was worshipped long beforehe stove was invented.Zhu Rong，China’s ancient Fire God was a popular folk deity and had many temples built in his honor.Stone lined firepits，an early form of the brick stove，are still commonly used among China’s ethnic minorities.People in these regions make offerings to the Firepit God.
The Firepit God appeared between the Kitchen God and the Fire God in the history of Chinese folk deities.The Kitchen God appeared soon after the invention of the brick stove.The Kitchen God was originally believed to reside in the stove，and only later took on human form.Legend has it that during the Later Han Dynasty，a poor farmer named Yin Zifang was making breakfast one day shortly before the Lunar New Year，when the Kitchen God appeared to him.Although all Yin Zifang had was one yellow sheep，he sacrificed it to the Kitchen God.Yin Zifang soon became rich.
To show his gratitude，Yin Zifang started sacrificing a yellow goat to the Kitchen God every winter on the day of the divine visitation，rather than during the summer as had been customary.This is the origin of the Kitchen God Festival or little New Year.
Origins and legends about the kitchen god of The Little New year.
