The ancients had a tradition of offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods and praying for a bumper harvest. In some areas, they have the custom of drinking Laba porridge. According to legend, this day is also the day when Buddha Sakyamuni became a monk and became a Taoist. It is called "Magic Weapon Festival" and is one of the grand festivals in Buddhism.
At the end of the year, "La" has three meanings: one is "La, then it is also", which means the alternation of old and new (recorded in the Book of Rites of Sui Shu); The second is "wax hunters hunt together", which means that hunting in the wild can make animals sacrifice their ancestors and gods. "wax" comes from "meat", which means meat for "winter sacrifice"; Third, "Wax people, chasing the epidemic to welcome the spring."
Laba Festival is also called "Buddhist Enlightenment Festival" and "Enlightenment Meeting". In fact, it can be said that the eighth day of December is the origin of Laba Festival.
Since ancient times, Laba has been used to worship ancestors and gods (including door gods, household gods, house gods, kitchen gods and well gods) in order to pray for good harvest and good luck. According to the Book of Rites, La Worship was "the year of December, when everything gathered and everything wanted something."
The Xia dynasty called Lari "Jiaping", the Shang dynasty called it "moss" and the Zhou dynasty called it "big wax". Because it is held in December, it is called the twelfth lunar month, and La Worship is called the twelfth lunar month.
The twelfth lunar month in the pre-Qin period was the third day after the winter solstice, and then Buddhism was introduced. In order to expand its influence in the local area, traditional culture attaches Laba Festival as the Buddhist calendar enlightenment day.
Later, with the prevalence of Buddhism, the Buddha's enlightenment day merged with the twelfth day, which was called the "magic weapon festival" in Buddhism. The Northern and Southern Dynasties began to be fixed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.