There is a custom of worshipping God in southern Fujian. What does God mean?

I'm from southern Fujian. Let me give my opinion. Minnan people believe in Buddhism very much, mainly from this special region of Minnan. Bamin was a wild land before the Tang Dynasty, and there were many immigrants from the Central Plains after the Tang Dynasty. Due to the lack of communication with the outside world and the limitation of science and technology at that time, most farming needs to rely on the sky for food, and many unexplained things are attributed to the arrangement of heaven, so Minnan people have a long history of reverence for Buddha.

The legendary Jade Emperor was born on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and is called "Heaven". The Jade Emperor is honored as a "god" by Minnan people, so there is a saying that he worships God on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Worshiping God usually chooses the night of the eighth day to the morning of the ninth day. Every household will hold a grand ceremony of worshipping God on this night to pray for good luck, family safety and prosperity in the new year.

Every year, the festival's sacrifices are grand, with meat and vegetables, five sacrifices and five fruits, and various desserts. It is also necessary to specially prepare a kind of "God-given gold" paper and silk to burn incense, and set off firecrackers on tobacco, alcohol and tea. Starting from the head of the family, the family took turns to bow down and pray for the safety of the whole family in the new year.

It is unknown when this custom began to spread. However, there is an interesting story in The Journey to the West: Tang Priest and his disciples passed by Fengxian County, and the official of Fengxian County offended the Jade Emperor because he was insincere when he worshipped the Jade Emperor, which caused no rain in Fengxian County for three years, and the people were miserable and hungry everywhere. Later, with the help of the Monkey King, I finally realized that this was a misunderstanding. It turned out that the wife of the county magistrate insulted the Jade Emperor in the county magistrate, knocked down the altar, and the offering was eaten by the dog. It happened that the jade emperor only saw what happened in the second half, thinking that the county magistrate had no sincerity to sacrifice. It seems that when Wu Cheng'en wrote The Journey to the West in his later years or earlier, there was a custom of offering sacrifices to the Jade Emperor. There is such a short story that he was condemned for his insincerity in worshiping the Jade Emperor.

But the story is a story after all, and the wishes of folk beliefs are all beautiful, that is, I hope that the weather will be good in the coming year, the crops will be bumper and the people will live and work in peace and contentment. Only these traditional festivals can we make our year more interesting, and traditions must be preserved. Finally, I wish you good health and all the best in the new year. thank you