To celebrate the harvest

Eating Laba porridge to celebrate the harvest has been passed down to this day. In ancient times, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, there was a custom among Chinese people to eat "Laba porridge" (or "Laba rice" in some places).

Laba porridge, like Laba rice, is a relic of the ancient wax sacrifice. "Book of Sacrifice: Jiao Te Sheng" says that the wax sacrifice is "in the twelfth month of the year, it is a gathering of all things and a feast." Laba porridge is a combination of food from all directions and boiled in a pot with rice. It is a gathering of all things. Harmonize the will of thousands of spirits.

The origin of the Laba Festival

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the most important month of the lunar calendar, was called "Laba Day" in ancient times and is commonly known as the "Laba Festival". Laba is an ancient sacrificial ceremony to celebrate the harvest and thank ancestors and gods (including door gods, household gods, house gods, kitchen gods, and well gods). Laba was called "Jiaping" in the Xia Dynasty, "Qingsi" in the Shang Dynasty, and "Daba" in the Zhou Dynasty. "; Because it is held in December, that month is called the twelfth lunar month, and the day of the twelfth lunar month is called the twelfth lunar month.

The twelfth day of the pre-Qin period was the third Xu day after the winter solstice. The Laba Festival is a festival used to worship ancestors and gods and pray for a good harvest and good luck. Later, Buddhism was introduced in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In order to expand its influence in the local area, the traditional culture adopted the Laba Festival as the day when the Buddha became enlightened. It is said that the founder of Buddhism achieved enlightenment on the eighth day of December, so Laba is also a festival for Buddhists, known as the Buddha’s Enlightenment Day.