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[1:03] The Fourth Day of Chinese Lunar New Year: Traditions and Significance of Welcoming the Kitchen God

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This article introduces the traditions and significance of welcoming the Kitchen God on the fourth day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. It explains the traditional offerings, household rituals, and their symbolic meaning for safety and happiness in the New Year, while providing beginner English reading practice to help learners improve their listening skills.

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Learn English in just 1 minute a day! This website offers short English reading materials suitable for beginners, each accompanied by audio and original text. The content is engaging and moderately challenging. By reading one short article daily, learners can develop language intuition and improve reading and listening skills. Start your English learning journey today! Below is the beginner English reading practice compiled by the Qicai website editor, featuring daily short articles and listening exercises.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, people in China welcome the kitchen God. The kitchen God is considered a deity in Chinese culture, responsible for overseeing household activities and ensuring moral behavior is reported to higher celestial authorities. People believe that by honoring this god, they can invite blessings and protection for their family throughout the year.

In Chinese folklore, the kitchen God plays a significant role. He is believed to observe the behavior of each household throughout the year and then make a report to the Jade Emperor, who is the supreme ruler of heaven. This practice reflects the deep-rooted cultural value of accountability and the importance of maintaining harmony within the home.

On this day, families prepare offerings such as candies, fruits, and sweets for the kitchen God. These offerings are intended to please the deity and show respect. Performing these rituals is seen as a way to gain favor and ensure that the household experiences safety, prosperity, and happiness in the New Year. The rituals may vary in different regions, but the underlying purpose remains the same: to celebrate, respect, and seek blessings from the kitchen God.

That is all from Qicai website editor Xiao Wu, who collected this beginner English reading practice with daily short articles and listening content. We hope you gain some benefits from listening!

Listening Comprehension

perform
verb
1. carry out or perform an action
e.g. John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters
the skater executed a triple pirouette
she did a little dance
Synonym: executedo
2. give a performance (of something)
e.g. Horowitz is performing at Carnegie Hall tonight
We performed a popular Gilbert and Sullivan opera
3. perform a function
e.g. Who will perform the wedding?
4. get (something) done
e.g. I did my job
Synonym: do
folklore
noun
1. the unwritten lore (stories and proverbs and riddles and songs) of a culture
annually
adv
1. without missing a year
e.g. they travel to China annually
Synonym: yearlyevery yeareach year
2. by the year
every year (usually with reference to a sum of money paid or received)
e.g. he earned $100,000 per annum
we issue six volumes per annum
Synonym: per annump.a.per yeareach year
rituals
deity
noun
1. any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force
Synonym: divinitygodimmortal
households