《太上灵宝补谢灶王经》

The Scripture of the Supreme Numinous Treasure on Making Amends and Offering Thanks to the Stove King (Taishang Lingbao Buxie Zaowang Jing) records:

The Dao (the Way) says: Long ago, the Celestial Worthy ascended Mount Kunlun and saw an old woman living there alone, yet did not know her origins. At that time, the Perfected One of Wondrous Conduct addressed the Celestial Worthy: “Who exactly is this old woman? She lives alone on this mountain and seems utterly without fear.”

The Celestial Worthy said: “This old woman is named the Mother Who Kindles Fire. Above, she communicates with the celestial realm; below, she governs the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), the five fundamental forces that constitute heaven, earth, and the myriad things. She can reach the gods and spirits and observe the two Qi (vital energy) of Yin-Yang. In the celestial realm she is the Celestial Emperor; in the human world she is the Controller of Fate, the deity who governs human destiny. She is also the envoy of the Seven Primordials of the Northern Dipper, in charge of the length of human life, of wealth and honor or poverty and low station, and of official rank and salary. She is likewise the Stove Lord of the Five Emperors, who manages the dwellings of households. Throughout the twelve double-hours, the twelve periods of a day, she can perceive the affairs of the human world. On the first day of each month she records the good deeds, evil deeds, and merits that people have performed, weighs whether they are light or heavy, and at midnight memorializes them to the Celestial Bureau, the office in the celestial realm that oversees documents, so that the celestial realm may register them accordingly. All these duties are in the charge of this old woman. Every household stove has its taboos; if they are not observed, she may send down calamity that is hard to escape.”

The Perfected One of Wondrous Conduct asked: “What exactly are the taboos of a household stove? Please instruct me clearly. I see that living beings often do not know how they ought to act. I wish to make these known to the men and women of the mundane world, so that all may observe them and thereby enjoy peace and good fortune.”

At this point the original text repeats the Perfected One’s question; the above has been interpreted by combining the two according to their meaning.

The Celestial Worthy said: “Listen carefully. No household stove should ever be allowed to be offended by chicken feathers, dog bones, human hair, unclean knives and axes, impure firewood, or any other filthy thing that violates the Stove God (the deity who presides over the kitchen fire and a family’s food and drink). Otherwise the men and women of the house will find no peace; what they pray for will be hard to bring to a successful end; illness and sores will follow one upon another; and there may appear derangement of mind, the spread of miasmic pestilence, dimness of sight, and dreams turned upside down. Grain crops and the work of silkworms and mulberry will yield poorly, and domestic animals will be lost to no purpose. Once matters reach this point, ghosts and strange spirits from outside will no longer stand in fear and will dare to burst into the house; chickens and dogs will behave uncannily; thieves will come to harass and deceive; quarrels will arise without cause and without end; men and women will be beguiled by baleful Qi (vital energy); they may even be taken into custody by the authorities; and the family estate will decline while its members scatter. All of these are said to be the consequences brought on by offending the Stove God.

If one meets with such calamities, one ought at once to perform a rite of thanksgiving to the stove and, with a sincere heart, offer prayers and thanks to the Stove God. One may, with due ritual propriety, invite the Stove Lord of the Azure Emperor of the East, the Stove Lord of the Red Emperor of the South, the Stove Lord of the White Emperor of the West, the Stove Lord of the Black Emperor of the North, and the Stove Lord of the Yellow Emperor of the Center, together with the ladies of the Stove Lords of the emperors of the five directions, the Numinous Stove of the Celestial Kitchen, the Divine Stove of the Earthly Kitchen, the cherished sons and daughters of the Celestial Emperor, the youths within the chimney, the boys and girls, the great-grandparental stove and the ancestral stove, the Stove Lord and the Stove Mother, the stove husband and the stove wife, the stove sons and the stove grandsons, the household stove and the outer stove, the great stove and the small stove, the long stove and the short stove, the new stove and the old stove, the roving patrol Stove Lords of the five directions, the generals of the left and the right, the divine maidens of the cooking billows, the duty officers before and behind, the minor envoys of the Stove Lord, the Divine Mother Who Advances the Fire, the Youth Who Roams with the Fire, the matrons of the stove household, the sisters and the new brides, and the seventy-two attendant spirits of the Stove God, along with other such deities.

The husband and wife of a given household, together with their dependents, old and young alike, are ordinary mortals who do not understand the taboos, and so they have repeatedly given offense without perceiving it. For instance, they break ground and carry out building works beside the stove, or raise a knife toward the stove; after drinking they shout loudly and speak frivolous, disrespectful words; they feed the fire with their feet; they bare their bodies, or men and women do unclean things beside the stove; they slaughter livestock in the kitchen and leave behind a rank stench; they sing in the kitchen, or cry out before the stove. The scripture holds that such conduct startles the Stove God and causes every kind of calamity and uncanny event to follow in succession: wealth and goods are scattered and lost; illness never ceases; fields, silkworms, and mulberry do not prosper; advancement in office is hard to obtain; buying and selling bring no return; the household declines and fares ill; one suffers plots by wicked people; domestic animals fail to breed; dreams are tangled and confused; and what one seeks is hard to obtain as one wishes. One ought therefore, with reverence, to set forth one’s own faults and, with a sincere heart, to repent and offer apology for one’s offenses.”

The Celestial Worthy said: “If one can invoke the name in this way, calamity will certainly be driven off. For the living beings of the latter age, I shall summon this Stove Mother—the Stove God, also called the Stove Lord—so that she may display great spiritual efficacy, pardon faults and transgressions, bestow blessing and joy on everyone, and keep the members of each household sound and at peace, year after year. The Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Dark Warrior, the guardian spirits of the four directions, will each show their power: enemies will withdraw, thieves will hide, fires will die down, and every strange anomaly will disperse.”

At this, the Perfected One of Wondrous Practice, hearing the Celestial Worthy speak of this Venerable Mother—that is, the Controller of Destiny in the service of the Celestial Thearch, the deity who governs human lifespans together with fortune and misfortune—and of her power to preside over sin and blessing in the human world and to instruct and transform living beings, chanted:

“The Celestial Thearch descends to his place; the spirit who controls destiny secretly protects the human world. Fires die down, and every strange anomaly disperses.”

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice chanted again:

“The Celestial Thearch descends to his place; the Stove Lord who controls destiny protects the human world. When people of the world make offerings with reverence, blessing and prosperous fortune will both arrive; disaster will be removed, and pestilence will quietly recede. Relying on this teaching and guidance, all may pass their days in peace.”

The Celestial Worthy told the Perfected One of Wondrous Practice once more: “If men and women of the latter age offend the Stove Lord, they may meet with calamity and illness. Should this happen, they ought to clean the rooms and sweep the courtyard, light bright lamps and burn incense, invite a Daoist priest to recite the scripture (Jing), call upon the names of the Stove Lord’s retinue, and offer money or present food and drink. These practices benefit people, and the blessings received through them are something you must understand with care.”

The Perfected One of Wondrous Practice then bowed his head and received the charge, accepting it in sincerity and carrying it out as instructed.