What is the custom of offering sacrifices to stoves?

The sacrificial stove is on the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month. Customs include offering stoves, sweeping soil, eating sugar, taking a bath and buying new year's goods. Folk sacrificial stoves originated from the ancient custom of worshipping fire, and entrusted the good wishes of the working people of the Han nationality to ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters, and to welcome the auspicious and receive blessings.

What is the custom of offering sacrifices to stoves?

Due to different local customs, the days of offering sacrifices to stoves are not the same. In most areas, the 23rd or 24th of the twelfth lunar month is the day of offering sacrifices to stoves.

In different periods and regions, the dates of offering sacrifices to stoves are different. The date of offering sacrifices to the kitchen god in the Southern Dynasties was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in some places, and the 24th of the twelfth lunar month in the Song Dynasty.

No matter which day the stove is sacrificed, the purpose is to pray for the kitchen god to protect the family's safety. According to custom, he will offer candy to the kitchen god and clean the house.