Tiangong censer

The Tian Gong Stove (Chinese: 天公爐) refers to a special incense burner used for placing incense, symbolizing the worship of the Jade Emperor. "Because he is the highest-ranking deity in the deity world, most of the people in Taiwan do not make statues of the deity, but instead use the deity as a representative. In terms of shape, most see three-legged round tripods, but there are also square ones. The body of the stove is dominated by two dragons snatching pearls, supplemented by echoes of the rising dragon or descending dragon stove ear patterns. In terms of material, most early stone or iron stoves. In terms of material, most early stone or iron stoves. Nowadays, large metal furnaces before the Japanese rule can be said to be quite rare, most have been melted and reused.

Tiangong stove at Nan Yao Palace, Changhua

Classification

The form of the Tengong stove may vary depending on the region or location, and is adjusted according to Customs and other factors.

Domestic

• Taiwanese hang the Tiangong stove in the middle of the hall beam. The four chains are suspended from the sky and the earth, and the four heavenly ministers are in charge of the four directions, the four seasons, and the four seasons. In addition, since Zhangzhou immigrants believe that in ancient times only King authorized or edict-quota Temple allowed Sacrifice to Heaven, some Taiwanese changed to hang three chains to symbolize inviting the Three Great Emperor-Officials Therefore, some Taiwanese people hang three chains to symbolize inviting San Guan Da Di, who is in charge of the three realms of heaven, earth, and water, to pay respect to Yu Huang Da Di, which is also called "Three Realm Furnace" or "Three Realm Gong Furnace", etc.

• Taiwan Hakka's Tian Gong stove is also known as wall Buddha, sky worship, and Tian Gong Pagoda. The incense burner is usually placed on the inside left side of the door or in the recess of the wall pillar, and the words "Jade Emperor's Divine Position" or "Heavenly God's Blessing Incense Position" are written on red paper. It is also said that the Hakka people also called the Tian Gong stove as "Sun Gong" or "Sun God", which is a metaphor for "Anti-Qing sentiment". "Since the Hakka ancestors regarded themselves as a Central Plains scholar and considered the Qing dynasty Manchus as a foreign nationality, they placed the Tian Gong stove outdoors and worshipped the Sun God in the name of worshipping the Ming dynasty as Han Chinese.

• Matsu people who worship gods and ancestors in their homes will put incense burners in front of their doors to worship the gods of heaven. The location is on the left hand side of the doorway, that is, the dragon side of the main door of the residence (dragon side is large) Some shapes also reflect the occupation of the owner, such as fish-shaped incense burners representing fishermen and scroll-shaped incense burners representing public educators; generally, clean iron cans wrapped in red paper are commonly used to nail the sides of the doors or decorated with paper-cut flowers. Before worshipping the gods (or ancestors), incense should be offered to the gods (or ancestors) in order.

In addition, in general, families mainly worship the family gods, so they do not set up a four-legged floor standing stove at home. According to folklore, if you set up such a stove in your home, you are setting up a palace altar for fear of attracting Goryō to your home to seek justice.

Temples

The location and size of the Tiangong stove be changed depending on the building, such as in the courtyard or in front of the pavilion outside the temple, but there are still several common points in their setup.

Arrangement of the Tiangong stove at the ancestral temple of Dongsei Qiaosheng Sensei

• The Tiangong stove must be set up with the sky in view.
• The stove has three feet, symbolizing the triad of Tiger, Horse, and Dog, i.e., the triad of heaven, earth, and man.
• Most of the three feet are placed with both feet facing inward and one foot facing outward.