Why send Vulcan on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month?

Vulcan is commonly known as "Kitchen God". Legend has it that in ancient times, people were very dissolute and rude. The earthly world was in chaos, and the Emperor of Heaven couldn't stand it, so he ordered Vulcan to set fire to the earthly world on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, so that everything burned without a trace.

Vulcan actually didn't want to set fire, but he was afraid that the emperor would set fire to kill ordinary people himself, so he disguised himself as a fortune teller and told all fortune tellers: "The Emperor of Heaven will burn the world to ashes on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. If you want to stop this disaster, you must light the lights of the whole city on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month and dress up the city as if a fire had been discovered. In this way, the Emperor of Heaven will mistakenly think that it is a fire and will not set fire again. "

People are very scared, so everyone lights all the lights and candles at home on the 23rd night of the twelfth lunar month. When the Emperor of Heaven passed by, he saw the "fire" on earth and thought that Vulcan had finished his task, so he stopped talking about it. Later, people realized that this Taoist was Vulcan. In order to thank him for saving his life, a grand ceremony was held that day to send him back to heaven. This custom has continued.