Not long before Chinese New Year, this god prepares a yearly report for the Jade Emperor, so to ensure his good graces, worshipers smear effigies of this god with honey and burn them to hasten his journey to heaven.
An analogue of this god is represented wearing a long robe and shorts, because he was too busy to put on pants on his way down to Earth. This god grants a boon to the priest Li Shao Jun, ensuring that he would never grow old and would never have to eat again, and he supposedly taught Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, alchemy. In one story, this god foolishly sells cakes with money baked into them. This blind god ambles his way to the house of his wife, whom he had cheated upon, and is treated so hospitably that he is moved to commit suicide, leaving behind only his (*) leg. Not long before Chinese New Year, this god prepares a yearly report for the Jade Emperor, so to ensure his good graces, worshipers smear effigies of this god with honey and burn them to hasten his journey to heaven. Fire pokers are often referred to as the "leg" of this god, whose namesake festival, also known as the "Little New Year," is celebrated with yard and house work. For 10 points, name this popular Chinese god, the protector of the hearth
An analogue of this god is represented wearing a long robe and shorts, because he was too busy to put on pants on his way down to Earth.
Kitchen God [or Stove God; or Zao Jun; or Zao Shen; or Zhang Lang; or Ong Tao; or Mandarin God]