源於原始自然崇拜之竈神信仰，由火神、祖神逐漸成為人格化的民間俗神形貌。竈神形象深受社會制約概念而塑形，反映出民眾對於現實世界的觀感與批判，其眾多面貌具有社會認知和宗教意識之雙重內涵。以清代聖諭宣講之《宣講集要》作為當世竈君信仰的研究題材，藉以了解清代竈神的神格傾向、神性特點，探查竈神信仰的表現方式和宗教內涵。同屬普世大眾的社會階級，相同教化意識的傳誦形式，基於政治訴求與批判色彩的差異，讓宣講案證故事中的竈神角色，呈現出與民間故事中的竈王，全然不同的俗神形象：一為崇高尊榮的正面形象，一以鄙棄輕視的負面塑像為主。案證故事中的竈君，擁有至高無上的地位，具有神斷裁決的功能，但在人物描繪上卻是相當平面單調，僅剩故事推展的功能作用而無任何角色塑造的生動刻畫。民間流傳的精彩豐富之竈神故事並未出現在案證情節中，宣講聖諭選擇最貼近民眾生活的神明，編入故事情節加以運用，賦予竈君無所不能的統籌禍福權力，卻缺乏戲劇化的細節描寫，在社會教化的宣導前提下，成了平面單調的角色形象。由此可知《宣講集要》呈現出倫理觀念和政治勢力雙重制約的竈神形象，足為宣講文體的社會背景和民俗現象之觀察依據。

The belief of Kitchen God, originally comes from natural worship, has gradually become a personification god from Fire God and Ancestry Shrine. The image of Kitchen God has been shaped by the concept of social restriction, and it reflects the public's impression and criticism toward the real world. His numerous appearances contain two connotations of the social cognition and the religious awareness. This study takes The Traditional Popular Enlightening Collection of Sheng Yu Xuan Jiang in Chin dynasty as the subject of the research of contemporary Kitchen God belief. It aims at learning the Apotheoses of the Kitchen God, and its characteristics in Chin dynasty and investigating into the manifestation and the religious intention of the Kitchen God’s belief. According to the differences of political demands and criticism, the image of the Kitchen God in the tales of Sheng Yu Xuan Jiang and the Kitchen King in folk tales are contraries to each other. One is honorable with positive image, and the other is disdained and negative. Zao Jun (the Kitchen God) in case evidence tales has had the supreme status and is capable to be the divine judge. However, the portrait of the god is a flat and boring character. There is no lively description for this character except his function for advancing storylines. The splendid stories of the Kitchen God in folk tales are not applied in the plots of case evidence tales. In Sheng Yu Xuan Jian, Zao Jun (the Kitchen God), the most human god of all, has been added in the plot. It has been edited in the story and given almighty power to manipulate good fortune and adversities. Nevertheless, lacking of theatrical description, Zao Jun (the Kitchen God) becomes a flat character under the enlightening of the social moral reform. As a result, The Traditional Popular Enlightening Collection shows the image of the Kitchen God under both restrictions of moral concept and political power. It can be the bases to observe the social setting and custom phenomenon in the text of The Traditional Popular Enlightening Collection.