the day of the kitchen god has arrived. the kitchen god, ong tao, returned to heaven at around 12:00 this noon to tell all the other gods what’s going on at home.
the kitchen god sits in the kitchen all year watching what the family does. he sees the good things, the bad things and records it all in a little book of some sorts. there is not statue for the kitchen god because no one knows exactly what he looks like. most other gods do have a statue to commemorate them. there is, however, an alter in most people’s houses somewhere in the kitchen. my friend allowed me to see the alter in his kitchen and take a picture of it. it is a small, incense holder with a plaque behind.
the kitchen god will return to the kitchen on the first day of the lunar new year. he will have told the gods all of the goings on in the kitchen and the family’s fate will be determined based on their past actions. if they were good, they’ll have a lucky year. if there was too much fighting or food wasted, the year won’t be that great, or possibly worse.
there is also a legend about the kitchen god. it goes like this: a long, long time ago there was a female kitchen god who fell in love with two male kitchen gods. she kept both loves a secret and the male kitchen gods were in the dark. one fateful day, when she was in the kitchen (presumably) with one of the male kitchen gods, the other male kitchen god decided he would stop over for something to eat (also, presumably). when she saw the other male kitchen god coming, she quickly ran and make the other male kitchen god that was already in her house go and hide. he hid in a pile of straw. the other male kitchen god came into the house and didn’t notice anything was awry. he chatted a bit with the female kitchen god and went outside. he lit the straw on fire. (this point was not clearly explained to me. i’m sure there was a reason for him lighting the straw on fire. i don’t know.) the male kitchen god that was hiding in the straw died. when the female kitchen god saw this, she quickly ran outside and dove in the pile of straw to try to save the other kitchen god. she also died. when the other male kitchen god saw his love dive into the fire, he also dove in and tried to save her. they all ended up perishing in the fire. this is one reason there is no statue to commemorate the kitchen god. he was burnt beyond recognition in the fire.
today, these three lovers can be found in the kitchen. they are represented by the three prongs that rise from the grill to support the pot. the three prongs represent the three kitchen gods and they will forever be remembered in millions of homes that cook with gas and happen to have a grill with three prongs that supports pots and pans and what not. the female kitchen god is always the middle prong.
so, the kitchen god returned to heaven to tell all of our little secrets. he will be away until the lunar new year arrives, in whole one week.
i asked people how much they believed in the god and i don’t get a very straight answer. my feeling is that it is just a part of tradition that people are happy to follow. it’s a day that brings the whole family together and a day to remind everyone to be good or else next year won’t be lucky at all.
this is a picture of the alter in my friend’s kitchen. the stove is located directly to it’s left. incense is normally burnt in the mornings and afternoons. the plaque is there to commemorate ‘ong tao’.
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