The origin and festival customs of Laba Festival
Laba Festival is a traditional festival with a very long history.According to folklore, this festival It was first related to Buddhism and slowly evolved into a folk festival.Whenever the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month comes, people eat Laba porridge to celebrate.
History of Laba Festival
Laba Festival, the festival falls on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month every year, and the main custom is "drinking Laba porridge".Laba Festival is one of the grand festivals of Buddhism.According to Buddhist records, Sakyamuni practiced asceticism for many years before he became enlightened, and his form was broken.At this time, I met a shepherd who presented milk chyme.After eating, I regained my strength and sat under the Bodhi tree to meditate.On December 8th, I became enlightened.To commemorate this event, Buddhists held a dharma meeting on this day to make porridge with rice and fruit as offerings to the Buddha.The Southern Song Dynasty Wu Zimu’s "Dream Lianglu" contains:"On the eighth day of this month, the temple is called Laba.Temples such as Dasha have five-flavored porridge, which is called Laba porridge." It is made into porridge and presented to disciples and good men and women.On the day of Laba, various monasteries hold pujas, imitating the allusions of the shepherds offering milk chyme before the Buddha’s enlightenment, and cooking porridge with fragrant grains and fruits as offerings to the Buddha, which is called Laba porridge.It is said that after drinking this kind of porridge, you can get the blessing of the Buddha.Therefore, Laba porridge is also called "Fu Shou porridge", "Fu Shou porridge", and "Buddha porridge"."Laba" was originally a Buddhist festival, but it has evolved from generation to generation and has gradually become a well-known folk festival.
Festival customs of Laba Festival
1.Customs of Beijing Laba Festival
Beijing Laba porridge can be said to be the most particular.There are many things mixed in white rice, such as red dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, longan, grapes, ginkgo, green silk, roses, red beans, peanuts...no less than 20 kinds.On the seventh night of the twelfth lunar month, people start to wash the rice, soak the fruit, remove the skin, and remove the core, and start to simmer on a low fire in the middle of the night.The Laba porridge is not cooked until the next morning.
2.The customs of the Laba Festival in Jiangsu and Zhejiang
Jiangsu people eat Laba porridge in two types, sweet and salty.Laba porridge should be added with wild rice, water chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, Gorgon, red dates, chestnuts, fungus, green vegetables, enoki mushrooms, etc.If you are cooking salty porridge, add vegetables and oil in it.Zhejiang people usually use walnut kernels, pine nuts, lotus seeds, red dates, longan meat, lychee meat, etc.to cook Laba porridge, which is fragrant and delicious.It is said that this method of cooking porridge was passed down from Nanjing.
3.The custom of Shaanxi Laba Festival
After the Laba porridge is cooked, it is necessary to worship the gods and worship the ancestors.After that, if you want to give it to relatives and friends, it must be sent out before noon.Finally, the whole family eats it.The leftover Laba porridge is stored for a few days and there are still leftovers, but it is a good sign, whichever is the meaning of "more than enough every year".If you give porridge to the poor to eat, you will accumulate virtue for yourself.In some places where there is no or little rice production, people eat Laba noodles instead of Laba porridge.Use various fruits and vegetables to make sambal, and roll out the noodles.On the eighth morning of the twelfth lunar month, the whole family eats together.
4.Customs of the Laba Festival in Gansu
Traditionally, five grains and vegetables are used to cook Laba porridge.The Wuwei area of Gansu has paid attention to "Vegetarian Laba", eating rice thick rice, lentil rice or thick rice.After cooking, it is eaten with fried sanzi and twist.
5.Customs of Xining Laba Festival
Laba Festival does not drink porridge, but eats wheat kernel rice.On the evening of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the freshly ground wheat kernels are boiled with beef and mutton, and seasonings such as green salt, ginger skin, peppercorns, grass fruits, and sprouts are added.After simmering overnight, the wheat kernel rice is fragrant and delicious..
6.Customs of the Laba Festival in Northwest China
Laba Festival is in the northern Shaanxi Plateau.In addition to a variety of rice and beans, various dried fruits, tofu and meat must be added to the porridge.Mix and cook.After eating, the porridge should be smeared on the door, on the stove and on the trees outside the door to exorcise evil spirits and avoid disasters, and welcome the bumper agricultural harvest in the coming year.Moreover, Laba is not allowed to eat vegetables on this day.If you eat vegetables on this day, there will be many weeds in the crops.In addition to eating Laba porridge on Laba day, people also have to use porridge to worship ancestors and granaries.
7.The custom of Laba Festival in Ningxia
To make Laba rice, it is usually made with various beans, rice, potatoes, porridge, and wheat noodles or buckwheat noodles cut into diamond-shaped willows.The "wheat ears" of the leaves, or the "queer heads" made into small round eggs, add chopped green onion oil before serving.Just like in northern Shaanxi, the whole family only eats Laba rice, not vegetables.
微信扫码关注
更新实时通知