The Kitchen God

Name: The Kitchen God
ISBN: 9787201110677

熊亮Tianjin People's Publishing House · ChinaMar 2022

4.3

Word count: 450 words
Chapters: 3
ISBN: 9787201110677

Report an error Find this book

Summary

We have a big stove at home, always full of fragrant food, and stuck right in the middle is a big picture of the Kitchen God. His eyes are always wide open, and strangely, wherever you go, he seems to be watching you. I want to sneak a bite—but oh, the Kitchen God is watching me! When Grandpa and Grandma argue, he knows perfectly well who's right and who's wrong. I broke a vase—should I say the cat did it? The Kitchen God immediately glares with his big eyes, so I have no choice but to admit my mistake. But the Kitchen God isn't always so strict. At holiday meals, he looks at us with a smile. Every year on the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, he leaves us to report on our life to the Jade Emperor, chewing on sticky sugar melons. Oh, when he's gone, we actually miss him a little.

Editor's review

Xiong Liang brings the Kitchen God down from his shrine and turns him into a family member who glares, smiles, and is missed when absent. Told from a child's perspective, everyday mishaps—sneaking food, quarrels, a broken vase—are all linked to the Kitchen God's gaze, so discipline and closeness coexist. The book does not present folklore as a list of facts but lets details such as the Little New Year offering on the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month and sugar melons fall naturally into scenes of daily life; readers first feel "there is such a figure in the home" and then understand where the custom comes from. Pictures and text work together with restraint, making it ideal for slow reading in family settings around the festival. Its value lies in turning traditional belief into affection and self-reflection that children can understand, rather than preaching. Parents can use the story to talk with children about whether to admit mistakes, and about the different ways the Kitchen God custom is observed in different places.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Children aged 4 to 9 curious about family stories and folklore
Parents who want traditional festival education before Spring Festival
Teachers planning festival-themed activities in kindergartens and lower primary grades
Readers who enjoy gentle, humorous original picture books

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic folklore or religious knowledge books
Readers expecting a complete guide to performing the Kitchen God ritual
Families uncomfortable with the premise of a deity watching over them

Reading tips

Before reading, have the child find the Kitchen God on the cover or in the pictures and guess why his eyes are always wide open.
Pause at scenes of sneaking food, quarrels, or the broken vase, and let the child say what they would do in a similar situation.
After reading together before Spring Festival, observe the kitchen at home or discuss the different customs of honoring the Kitchen God and eating sugar melons in different regions.
Treat the Kitchen God as a story character rather than a tool to frighten children; after reading, talk about why the child misses him when he is away.

About the publisher

Tianjin People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1950

Tianjin People's Publishing House publishes across such fields as classic works, foreign literature, architecture, social culture and social sciences, with 749 relevant titles in the collection. In the areas of classics and scholarship, works such as Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua and Fei Xiaotong's From the Soil and Fertility and Reproduction reflect a sustained attention to social culture and classic texts of thought. Architectural books are represented by Liang Sicheng's Annotated Yingzao Fashi and A History of Chinese Architecture, showing an emphasis on architectural heritage and building traditions. In foreign literature, translations of Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don and Tolstoy's War and Peace and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, through the work of translators such as Li Gang and Yu Dawei, form a substantial series of translated works. Overall, the press combines classic texts, scholarly works and fine translations, with a publishing character oriented toward humanistic depth and the dissemination of knowledge.

版权信息
正文1
正文2

FAQ

Is this book about the knowledge of the Kitchen God custom?

Not exactly. It is first of all a family story about a child and the Kitchen God, with customs such as the offering and sugar melons appearing as details of daily life. Readers can feel the festival atmosphere and the presence of folklore, but a systematic understanding of the ritual's procedures and regional variations requires other folklore sources.

The Kitchen God always watching the child—will that frighten children?

In the story the Kitchen God is stern at times and smiling during the festival, and in the end the child misses him; the overall tone is gentle and humorous. When reading together, parents can emphasize that he is "an old member of the family" rather than a watcher, helping children understand this relationship that is both familial and respectful.

When is the best time to read this book?

Reading together around the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month or before Spring Festival is most fitting, as children can easily connect the story with the household's offerings, cleaning, and New Year preparations. It can be read at other times too, but the festival-season scenes make details like sugar melons and sending off the Kitchen God more vivid.

When a child breaks something or makes a mistake, can the Kitchen God be used to teach them?

Using the Kitchen God as a scare tactic is not recommended. In the book the child admits fault because of the Kitchen God's glare, but the focus is self-awareness. Parents can use the plot to ask "why do you think he feels embarrassed," guiding the child to express feelings—more appropriate than saying "the Kitchen God is watching you."

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

熊亮 Author

Xiong Liang is an author active in the field of Chinese picture books and illustrated books. Public information about him is limited: his nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background are not clearly recorded. Five of his works are included in the collection—Zaowang Ye (The Kitchen God), Xiong Liang's Chinese Picture Books, Changbanpo, Jingang Shi (Master Jingang), and Meiyu Guai (The Plum Rain Monster)—and they are commonly classified under social sciences. Judging from their subject matter, he often draws on traditional Chinese folk customs, popular beliefs, and classical stories, such as the worship of the Kitchen God and the Changbanpo episode from the Three Kingdoms, retelling them through visual narrative with both traditional flavor and personal imagination, while works such as Jingang Shi and Meiyu Guai show a stronger fantastical vein. Overall, his creations use the picture book as a medium to bridge traditional culture and children's reading, emphasizing the interplay of text and image and visual storytelling, and are representative of explorations of indigenous themes in original Chinese picture books.