December 23rd and 24th of the lunar calendar are the traditional days of offering sacrifices to stoves of the Han nationality, also known as "off-year". Legend has it that the Kitchen God was originally a commoner, Zhang Sheng. After he got married, he spent all his time drinking and drinking, and he lost all his possessions and went to the streets to beg. One day, he begged at his ex-wife Guo Dingxiang's house, ashamed, and burned to death under the stove and pot.
When the Jade Emperor knew about it, he thought that Zhang Sheng could come to their senses, and it was not bad to the end. Since he died at the bottom of the pot, he was named the kitchen king, reported to heaven on the 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month every year, and returned to the kitchen bottom on the New Year's Eve. The people think that the kitchen king must be respected because he wants to report to heaven. As a result, the Han people have a "small year" for the 23 rd and 24 th of the twelfth lunar month, praying for peace and wealth in the coming year.
On the festival of offering sacrifices to stoves, people pay attention to eating jiaozi, which means "seeing off the windward side of jiaozi". Eat more cakes and buckwheat noodles in mountainous areas. In the southeast of Shanxi, the custom of eating fried corn is popular, and the folk proverb says, "Twenty-three, don't eat fried, on the New Year's Eve-one pot pours." People like to bond fried corn with maltose and freeze it into chunks, which tastes crisp and sweet.