The Tiangong censer (Chinese: 天公爐, tian gong lu) is a special type of incense burner used for worshiping the Jade Emperor. "Because he is the highest-ranking deity in the deity world, most of the people in Taiwan do not make statues of the deity, but instead use the deity as a representative. When it comes to the shape of censers, people usually think of round tripods with three legs. However, there are also square ones. The design of the censer typically features two dragons grabbing pearls, with patterns of dragons rising or descending on the censer's ears. In the past, most censers were made of stone or iron. Nowadays, it's rare to find large metal censers from before the Japanese rule, as many have been melted down and reused..
The form of the Tiangong censer may vary depending on the region or location, and is adjusted according to Customs and other factors.
In addition, in general, families mainly worship the family gods, so they do not set up a four-legged floor standing censer at home. According to folklore, if you set up such a censer in your home, you are setting up a palace altar for fear of attracting Goryo to your home to seek justice.
The location and size of the Tiangong censer be changed depending on the building, such as in the courtyard or in front of the pavilion outside the temple, but there are still several common points in their setup.