The Kitchen God, also known as “Lord of the Kitchen,” “King of the Kitchen,” “Lord of the Hearth,” “Hearth Master,” “Master of the Eastern Kitchen,” etc., is extremely popular in folk beliefs due to his special status and role. Since the Han Dynasty, he has been worshipped with great piety, both in the palace and among the common people.
Legend has it that the earliest beliefs in the Kitchen God were inseparable from the natural attributes of the stove, which is cooking food with fire, so naturally the God of Fire, Yan Emperor Zhurong, became the Kitchen God's leader. According to “Zhou Li,” “Zhuanshu had a son named Li, who was Zhurong, the God of Fire. He was worshipped as the Kitchen God.” According to “Huai Nan Zi · Shi Zhe Xun,” “Yan Emperor made fire, and died and became the stove.”
Some say that worshiping the kitchen god is a way of repaying the kindness of the “first cook”. The Book of Rites: “When the meal is almost finished, the sacrifice to the fire god and the kitchen god is made.” Zheng Xuan's commentary says: “The kitchen god is the old woman's sacrifice.” Kong Yingda's commentary says: “The old woman is the first cook. This sacrifice is to the first cook, not the fire god.” The first cook is the old woman who takes charge of the kitchen and makes it function. In matrilineal clans, women held a considerable position. As cooking was less laborious than hunting, fishing, farming and war, it was left to the old woman to preside over it. They held the power of food distribution. It can be seen that the worship of the old woman is a relic of the matrilineal clan society's sharing of food.
Taoism calls the Kitchen God “Kunlun Old Mother” or “Old Mother of Cloud Seed Fire” or “Old Mother of Seed Fire Yuanjun”. In fact, according to Taoist scriptures, the Kitchen God is different according to time, place and position.
The “Zao Wang Jing” (Zao Wang Sutra) says: “The Zao Jun of the Eastern Green Emperor, the Zao Jun of the Southern Red Emperor, the Zao Jun of the Western White Emperor, the Zao Jun of the Northern Black Emperor, and the Zao Jun of the Central Yellow Emperor. The Zao Juns of the Five Emperors and the Five Directions. The Kitchen God of the Heavens, the Kitchen God of the Earth, the Kitchen God of the Ancestors, the Kitchen God of the Ancestors' Ancestors, the Kitchen God of the Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors, the Kitchen God of the Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors, the Kitchen God of the Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancestors' Ancest Among them, “The Five Emperors of the Five Directions” are dedicated to the kitchen god, “The Wandering Kitchen God of the Five Directions” is a spare kitchen god, “The Kitchen God of the Family” is the family kitchen god, and “The Kitchen Maid, the General of the Fire, the Kitchen God's Wife, and the Fire Boy” are the kitchen god's subordinates, each with their own duties. Even the chimney has a boy to protect it from malfunctioning.
The role of the Kitchen God was originally to be in charge of the family's food, but later became the guardian deity in charge of the family's fortunes. According to Hong Mai's “Yijian Yizhi · Xiuzhou Silu Ting” (Record of the Xiuzhou Silu), a ghost entered the kitchen, and the Kitchen God asked what it was doing there. The ghost replied that it was just hanging out, and the Kitchen God shouted, “Don't do anything wrong!” The ghost replied that it wouldn't dare. Another record, “Yijian Dingzhi · Yang's Kitchen God”, says that Yang's son was unfilial and was driven out by his father and took refuge in a dilapidated house. One night, a tiger broke in and threatened Yang's son, but Yang's Kitchen God drove it away, and Yang's son was saved. Later, Taoism adopted this belief and regarded it as the messenger of the Jade Emperor, who is always in people's homes, monitoring good and evil, recording people's merits and demerits, and reporting regularly. As Ge Hong said in “Baopuzi Weizhi”: “On the night of the last day of the month, the Kitchen God goes to Heaven to report the crimes of humans. The most serious crimes are recorded for 300 days, while minor crimes are recorded for three days.” The date of the report is said to be the 30th day of each lunar month, the first half of the night of each month, the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, or every day of the twelfth lunar month. Since the Song Dynasty, most people have believed that it is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month. They are afraid that the Kitchen God will report something inappropriate and suffer, so on the day of the Kitchen God Festival (the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month), they use sticky sugar paste to seal the Kitchen God's mouth, thus forming a unique Chinese custom of worshiping the Kitchen God.

灶神，又称“灶君”、“灶王”、“灶王爷”、“灶界”、“灶界老爷”、“东厨司命”等，因其特殊的地位和作用，在民间信仰极为昔遍，自汉代以来无论是在宫廷还是在民间，信仰都十分虔诚。
传说，灶神的最早信仰是与灶的自然属性分不开的，而灶的自然属性则是用火烧煮食物，因此火神炎帝祝融自然而然地成了灶神的总领。据《周礼》曰：“颛顼氏有子曰黎，为祝融，火神也。祀以为灶神。”又据《淮南子·时则训》曰：“炎帝作火，死而为灶。”
或说祀灶是报“先炊”之德。《仪礼·物牲馈食礼》云：“尸卒食而祭熹爨雍爨。”郑玄注曰：“爨者，老妇之祭。”孔颖达疏曰：“老妇，先炊也。此祭先炊，非祭火神。”先炊即为主持灶以发挥其功能的老妇人。母系氏族社会中，妇女有相当的地位，比渔猎耕战轻的炊事即自老妇来主持，她们执掌着食品的分配大权。由此可见，祭老妇人，是由母系氏族社会母祖分食的遗迹。
道教称灶君为“昆仑老母”或“云种火老母”、“种火老母元君”。其实据道经记载，灶神因时因地因职而有别。
《灶王经》云：“东方青帝灶君，南方赤帝灶君，西方白帝灶君，北方黑帝灶君，中央黄帝灶君。五方五帝灶君夫人。天厨灵灶神君，地厨神灶神君，曾灶祖灶神君，灶公灶母神君，灶夫灶妇神君，灶子灶孙神君，灶家姊妹媳妇眷属神君，灶下炊涛神女，运火左右将军，进火神母，游火童子，天帝娇男，地常娇女，囱中童子童男童女。”其中“五方五帝灶君”为专门的灶君，“五方游奕灶君”为闲散灶君，“灶子灶孙神君”为家族灶君，“炊涛神女、运火将军、进火神母、游火童子”为灶之衙门，各司其职，连烟囱也有童子存在，保护正常工作。
灶神之职先是主管一家的伙食，以后变为操掌一家祸福的保护神。据洪迈《夷坚乙志·秀州司录厅》记载，一鬼入厨，灶神喝问何干，鬼答逍闲，灶神叱曰：“不得作过！”鬼云不敢。又《夷坚丁志·杨氏灶神》记载，杨氏子不肖，为父所逐，栖身于一破屋中。某夜，一虎闯入，危及杨氏子，杨氏灶神遂驱之，杨氏子转危为安。后来道教吸收了这一信仰，将其视为玉皇大帝的使者，令其常住人家，监察善恶，录人功过，定期上报。如葛洪《抱朴子·微旨》曰：“又月晦之夜，灶神亦上天白人罪状，大者夺纪。纪者，三百日也。算者，三日也。”上报日期或云农历每月三十日上报，或每月初一半夜，或云腊月廿三，或云腊月廿四，或云每逢庚申日。宋代以后，大都认为是腊月廿三，人们怕灶神报奏不妥而遭殃，故祀灶之日(腊月廿三)用粘糖糊封灶神的嘴，从而形成了中国特有的祭灶风俗。