If I'm not mistaken, you're referring to Kitchen God (灶君).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_God

Zao Jun/灶君, the Kitchen God, is considered the lord of the household - this is a throwback to ancient times, where the hearth, the stove, the kitchen, was considered the central feature of every home, as it was from the stove that the family's sustenance was derived. He is considered the personification of the hearth. The importance of the kitchen has obviously changed in this day and age, thus explaining why he is less worshiped in recent times. Just because you do not worship the Kitchen God in your home does not mean that he is absent, however.

It is the Kitchen God's job to oversee goings-on amongst the family inhabiting the house he resides in, and report back to the Jade Emperor and/or the local spiritual authorities. This reporting he normally does just before each New Year.

Most legends state that the Kitchen God is a singular deity, but I think the notion of multiple Kitchen Gods or at least multiple aspects/clones of one original Kitchen God, is quite an attractive possibility.

Here is a statue of the Kitchen God, plus an example of how his image is placed near the region of the stove.





Now for the 'bed deities'.

Chuang Gong/床公 and his wife Chuang Mu/床母 are domestic deities who specialise in the protection of the home's children aged 12 and below. Their domain is the bed or beds where the children sleep.



The couple have always been fairly obscure deities, mainly prayed to by rural and country folk, and only once a month - on the last night of the month, to be exact. But you can worship them if you are so inclined, particularly if you have young children whom would like them to watch over. It is nice to remind obscure deities that they are remembered.

All you need for this procedure is a 'huat kueh' brown sugar steamed cake, three sticks of incense, a cup of tea, a small bowl of vegetarian food (rice and vegetables will do), two red candles and three stacks of gold incense paper.

On the night in question (8 p.m. and onwards), place the items on a large tray and put the tray on the child's bed. Light the candles and stick them into each side of the huat kueh; then light the incense sticks, kneel before the bed and make your prayer; you must specify the child's name, date and time of birth for this.

Then stick the incense into the huat kueh, between the candles, and let the offerings stand for as long as it takes for the incense and candles to burn out. In the meanwhile, remove the gold paper from the tray and burn it outdoors. Once the incense and candles have burnt out, you're done - you may take everything away.

IF altar is not an option, tablets or some even poster is good enough as long as you have the proper heart and intention to worship them.

I would like to know your primary concern before I can advise you further on the alternatives.

I have never before heard of a '马路将军'.

Ma Zhu the sea goddess (see below) is the traditional patron of travelers, although she is primarily associated with sea travel or travel across water.

Alternatively, you may install in your vehicle a statue of whichever deity you regard as your special patron, as a protective item. A talisman issued by them will also do just fine.

Praying to the Kitchen God at home need not involve anything fancy-schmancy. A small printed picture of him, or even a piece of paper bearing his title/name, pasted on the wall near your stove, will do just fine. This will have to be blessed before installation, however.

As per the sintua tradition, ritual items related to worship of any particular god have to be blessed by the selfsame god when he manifests via a medium. A god who outranks him or is otherwise given the authority to act on his behalf can also bless the items. It is not common for Hell deities to bless items related to Heavenly gods, nor is it common for Heavenly gods to bless Hell-related items. The general rule of thumb is Heavenly deities for Heavenly items, and Hell deities for Hell items.

As the Kitchen God is not a god that mediums channel, any other Heavenly god should be able to help you bless the items that you will use to worship him. Consult whichever reputable temples or sintuas that might be present in your area.

Incense or candles, while traditional, are not an absolute must for worship. What matters more than anything else is that you possess deep faith and a virtuous heart, which will more than suffice. Simply placing offerings before the Kitchen God's picture will be fine.

The 4 Great Classical Novel of China
- Water Margin 水浒传
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三国演义
- Journey to the West 西游记
- Dream of the Red Chamber 红楼梦

Other than the last book, all of them is wriiten/finish in the Ming Dynasty, which is a dynasty with empires that craves for power, and lurk with notorious special agent department 特务机构

COINCIDENTLY, all of the three books involves in rebelling to the authority, up rising power of the grass roots, defaming the government and etc. 

can tell me story of 灶神 and 床母娘 old ppl always pray to this as well

Who are the Bamboo Warriors?

The Zhu Jun/竹军 or Bamboo Warriors are often lumped under the '阴神' or Netherworld deities umbrella, although in fact they strictly speaking are not. While often commanded by Hell beings, they do not actually originate from Hell. Rather, they are shadowy spirit creatures, nature spirits, if you will, of a semi-neutral disposition.

They dwell mostly within old-growth plants and trees (such as bamboo, hence their name), but also inhabit other deserted or wilderness areas. They can be summoned by deities to provide extra security detail and labour during major ceremonies and other sizable ritual events - mercenaries or casual workers of sorts, you could say.

Shoots of thick bamboo are used as anchor objects for them to manifest, or to house them (see first pic below). The bamboo shoots are placed in the five cardinal directions of North, South, East, West and Centre during the abovementioned ceremonies and rituals, thus assigning the warriors to work within each relevant sector (see second pic below).

Spirits that inhabit plants can be of many different types.

Some are spirits of dead people.

Others are non human spirits - elemental beings, animal spirits, nature spirits, earth deities, and so on.

The Bamboo Troopers belong to the second category, and are considered to be a homogeneous type of spirit creature - a distinct 'species', if you will.

They could potentially coexist with other types, but have a wild streak that would probably rule this out in most cases.

And yes, they can inhabit all sorts of old growth plants, although bamboo is their favourite haunt.

What do you want to eradicate their dwelling places for?

Most spirits are quite content to keep themselves to themselves and not poke their noses in our affairs.

If you have a tree in your garden that spirits inhabit, but they do nothing to bother you, my advice would be to leave them be and peacefully co-exist.

That being said, if you absolutely have to clear some old-growth plants, make an apology to whomever resides in them, set out offerings for them and make provision to accommodate them someplace else - by planting new trees nearby, for instance.

Here's a case in point; look at the placard above these Datuk statues.

Ah well. A rose by any other name, eh?

Tonight marks the beginning of the Hungry Ghost Festival, everyone. The Gates of Hell open at eleven p.m.; stay safe, have fun and spare a thought for the unfortunate spirits as most of them enjoy what will be their only time of reprieve from the trials and tribulations of the Netherworld.