By Natashe Yang
Kitchen God
Traditional Chinese culture is a divinely inspired culture in which people revered Heaven and divine beings for five thousand years. In the legend of the Kitchen God, it is said that the Kitchen God was dispatched to Earth by the Jade Emperor from Heaven. Kitchen God would monitor human’s behavior and record their daily deeds of good and bad. On December 23 of the lunar calendar – Kitchen God’s day – the Kitchen God would report to the Emperor. Therefore, on Kitchen God’s day, every household makes sacrificial offerings to him. The saying, “When Kitchen God spreads good words in Heaven, peace prevails on Earth” is wide spread among Chinese people.
During the Ming Dynasty, there was a teacher named Yu Du. He was quite a scholar and passed a first level official exam at age 17. He and several of his friends established a school and taught students for a living. For several years, he tried to pass a high level exam seven times, but failed.
Mr Yu had five sons and four daughters. Four of his sons died at a young age due to illness, but the third son was healthy and intelligent. However, when the third son was eight years old, he went missing while playing outside. Only one of his four daughters survived. Mr Yu’s wife was so sad that she cried a lot and eventually became blind. Mr Yu’s school had to close for lack of students. He had a hard time supporting his family, so he pondered: “I have not made big mistakes in my life, but why have I been punished so severely?”
Mr Yu wrote to the Kitchen God every day and asked him to forward his message to the Jade Emperor. A few years passed, but nothing changed. When he was 47 years old, he even had to borrow grain from his neighbor for his family to eat on New Year’s Eve. Then he heard someone knocking on the door; it was an old man outside. The old man said: “I heard that you were sad and worry about life. I want to come to comfort you.” Mr Yu said to the old man: “I studied all my life, but I have not gotten anywhere. I cannot even support my family.”
The old man said: “I’ve known you for quite a while! You love to do window dressing and your intentions are bad. Your letters to the Jade Emperor were full of complaints. Your punishment is far from over!” Mr Yu was very surprised and said: “I have promised to do good deeds for a long time. How can you say that is only window dressing?” The old man said: “Take cherishing paper for example. Your friends and students often use pages from old books to wrap things or clean the table, but you never enlighten them to do differently. You picked up a few pages on the street and burned them at home to show others. You love to argue; your heart is filled with jealousy, injustice, and your words are sharp and mean. You expect to get profit quickly for anything you do. Although you have never seduced a woman, you stare at every attractive woman with lust in your heart. All of your bad notions have also been recorded. You cannot even avoid the hardships ahead of you and yet you expect gods’ blessings.”
After hearing this, Mr Yu was very scared and cried: “Since you know what I did, you must be the Kitchen God. Please have pity on me and help me!” The old man said: “You studied those books for years and, of course, you understand the principle of doing good deeds for joy. Because you cannot persevere, all your good deeds and kind words are only superficial. Why don’t you do something solidly, expect nothing in return and let go of profit and fame. Disregard whether a good deed is big or small, just do it. As time goes by, you will see the results. As long as you hurry to do kind deeds, you may reverse Heaven’s decision!” After saying that, the old man walked to the stove and disappeared.
Mr Yu totally changed himself after that day and constantly purified his notions; he would do his best to help others.
Three years later, Mr Yu was recommended to teach in the palace. The prime minister really respected him and he was promoted again and again. He found his lost son accidentally and his wife regained her eyesight. People respected him for his noble character and sent their children to study with him.
The story of Mr Yu and the Kitchen God tells us that our fortune or misery in life have a direct connection to our character. “Good begets good and evil begets evil” is a principle from Heaven.
As the saying goes: “Once you have a notion in your heart, Heaven and Earth will know it. If you do not see good being rewarded and evil being punished, then there must be an unseen reason on your part.”
