According to custom, Laba porridge is eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year.

Laba porridge is a kind of porridge made with a variety of ingredients during the Laba Festival. It is also called Qibao and five-flavor porridge. 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). In Henan, Laba porridge, also known as "everyone's meal", is a festive food custom in memory of the national hero Yue Fei.

"Yanjing Chronicles·Laba Porridge": "Laba porridge is made of yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut rice, chestnuts, red river beans, peeled jujube paste, etc., cooked in boiling water, and used externally. Dye red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar, and grapes for dyeing." Laba porridge, like Laba rice, is a remnant of the ancient wax festival.

In ancient my country, the emperor made wax sacrifices with dry objects every December in the lunar calendar to offer sacrifices to the gods. The wax offering includes two aspects: one is sacrifice; the other is prayer.

Sacrifice is to worship the Eight Grain Star God, and offer dry objects to express the meaning of celebrating the harvest. The dry thing is called Laba, and Ba is the Eight Grain Star God, so it is called Laba. In terms of time, the December Festival is held on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year. The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is also called Laba.

Prayers are an important aspect of the wax festival. The content is to pray for good weather in the coming year and ensure a good agricultural harvest. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year, dry objects are used to sacrifice to the Baku star god and pray, which is called Laba Blessing or wax eight blessings. Blessing is the same as porridge, so on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year, dried fruits and vegetables are mixed together and cooked. Ripe porridge and offer it to the God of Agriculture to express harvest celebration and pray. Laba porridge is used to homophonize the meaning of Laba blessing. This is the origin of Laba porridge. The meaning is to cook porridge with dry things, offer it to the God of Agriculture, pray for blessings, and celebrate a good harvest.

Extended information

In Henan, Laba porridge, also known as "everyone's rice", is a festive food custom in memory of the national hero Yue Fei. It is said that the Yue family army was victorious against the Jinlu in Zhuxian Town, but was chased back by the imperial court with twelve gold medals. On the way back to the army, the soldiers were hungry and hungry. The people in Henan along the way took the meals sent by each family. Pour it into a big pot, boil it into porridge and distribute it to the soldiers to satisfy their hunger and keep out the cold. This day happens to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Later, Yue Fei was killed in Fengbo Pavilion. In order to commemorate this national hero, the people of Henan Province eat "everyone's meal" every Laba day to show their memory.

Another theory is that Laba porridge was originally cooked by Buddhist temples to offer to Bodhisattvas - the eighteen kinds of dried fruits symbolize the eighteen Arhats. Later, this custom became popular among the people. The story of Laba porridge in Buddhism comes from the allusion of a cowherd girl offering milk. Later, Chinese Buddhist disciples followed suit and cooked porridge with grains and fruits as an offering to the Buddha on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year. It was called "Laba porridge". Also called "Qibao Five Flavors Porridge". Up to now, this custom has gradually spread to the people, and most people cook Laba porridge on this day, which has become one of the folk customs.

On the night of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, people start to get busy, washing rice, soaking fruits, peeling, removing cores, sorting, and then start cooking at midnight, then stew over low heat until In the early morning of the next day, the Laba porridge was finally ready.

After the Laba porridge is cooked, it must first be offered to the Buddha and the monks. If you want to give the porridge to relatives and friends later, you must give it out before noon. If you give the porridge to the poor, it will be a good thing for yourself. Finally, the whole family eats it. Leftover Laba porridge, which is kept for several days and still has leftovers, is considered a good sign, taking its meaning of "more than enough every year".

Baidu Encyclopedia-Laba Porridge (porridge cooked with a variety of ingredients during the Laba Festival)