What are the origins and customs of Laba Festival in 2022?
The origin of Laba Festival
Laba Festival, commonly known as Laba, refers to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Laba Festival is a festival to worship ancestors and gods and pray for good harvest and good luck. According to legend, this day is the day when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, became a monk and founded Buddhism under the bodhi of Buddha, that is, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so it is also called "Buddhist and Taoist Festival".
In China, Laba Festival has the traditional custom of drinking Laba porridge and soaking Laba garlic. In Henan and other places, Laba porridge is also called "everyone's meal". It is a holiday food custom to commemorate the national hero Yue Fei.
Traditional customs of Laba Festival
1. Labazhou
Laba has the custom of drinking Laba porridge on this day. Laba porridge is also called "Qibao Wuwei porridge". China has been drinking Laba porridge for more than 1000 years. It first started in the Song Dynasty. On Laba Day, Laba porridge was cooked in court, yamen, temples and people's homes. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge was very popular.
At court, emperors, queens and princes give laba porridge to civil and military ministers and attendants, and distribute rice and fruit to monasteries for monks to eat.
After laba porridge is cooked, you should sacrifice to God and ancestors first. After that, you can give it to your relatives and friends, and you must send it out before noon. Finally, the whole family eats together. It is a very good sign that leftover Laba porridge will be preserved after eating for a few days, which means "more than one year". If you give porridge to the poor, it will be better for you.
2. Laba garlic
In most parts of northern China, there is a traditional custom of soaking garlic in vinegar on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is called "Laba garlic". Pickling Laba garlic is a custom in northern China. More than ten days after Laba, it happens to be the Spring Festival. Due to the soaking of vinegar, the whole garlic is green and very beautiful, and vinegar also has the spicy taste of garlic. On New Year's Eve, before and after the Spring Festival, jiaozi with laba garlic vinegar mixed with cold dishes will be delicious.
3. Laba tofu
"Laba Tofu" is a special product with folk flavor in Anhui County. On the eve of the Spring Festival, Laba, that is, around the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household in Guizhou county has to dry tofu, which is called "Laba tofu" by the people.
4. Laba noodles
In some places in northern China that produce little or no rice, people eat laba noodles instead of laba porridge. The next day, on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the whole family got together to eat Laba noodles.
The Significance and Value of Laba Festival
(1) Express good wishes for a bumper harvest and good luck.
Laba Festival, in the name of "La Worship", expresses a kind of good wishes of people who have worked in agriculture for one year for the new year. On the surface, people worship the gods and ancestors with the harvested crops, thanking the gods for their agricultural fruits and their ancestors for their blessings in production and life. At the same time, they pray for good weather, bumper crops, prosperous livestock and developed careers in the coming year.
Show the joy of celebrating the agricultural harvest.
Laba porridge, the symbolic custom of Laba Festival, is actually a big display of agricultural harvest results. As Lao She said in the article "Spring Festival in Beijing": "Laba Festival, people have to cook Laba porridge at home and in temples. This special porridge is used to worship ancestors, but when you think about it, it is a pride of agricultural society-this porridge is made of all kinds of rice, all kinds of beans and all kinds of dried fruits (almonds, walnuts, melon seeds, lychee meat, lotus seeds, peanuts, raisins, water chestnut rice ...). This is not porridge but a small agricultural exhibition. "
This kind of Laba porridge, which mainly reflects the rich and comprehensive food of farmers, can truly reflect the gratifying scene of agricultural harvest, the joy of people creating a better life, and the special interest of people enjoying a happy life.
(C) an effective means to create harmonious interpersonal relationships
The traditional festivals in China are always reserved and reserved, and the circle is generally limited to the joy among family members. However, Laba Festival seems to be out of the small circle of family members, and people have established a wider emotional connection through the gift and acceptance of Laba porridge.
In Song Dynasty, whenever Laba Festival, Laba porridge was cooked in court, government, temples or people's homes. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge became more popular. At court, emperors, queens and princes send laba porridge to ladies-in-waiting and ministers of civil and military affairs, and distribute rice and dried fruits to monasteries for monks to eat.
In the folk, every family should also sacrifice Laba porridge to their ancestors, and at the same time, family groups get together to eat and give it to relatives and friends. With the help of agricultural achievements of land production, Laba Festival has effectively promoted the communication between people and the harmony of interpersonal relationships.
(4) Including the pursuit of good health.
Farming requires a strong body, and Laba porridge has many health functions. The porridge spectrum written by Cao Yanshan, a nutritionist in the Qing Dynasty, made a detailed and clear record of the health care and nutritional functions of Laba porridge. It regulates nutrition and is easy to be absorbed. It is a good dietotherapy product and has the functions of regulating stomach, invigorating spleen, nourishing heart, clearing away lung-heat, benefiting kidney, benefiting liver, quenching thirst, improving eyesight, relaxing bowels and calming nerves.
In fact, Laba drinking porridge is just a symbol and plays an advocacy role. Drinking porridge at ordinary times is also good for health. Just like people set up Arbor Day when it is suitable for planting trees in spring. During Laba Festival, the whole country loves to eat Laba porridge. Drinking porridge is good for health, which can be said to be one of the important reasons.
(5) Open the time window of busy farming in the new year.
After "beginning of winter", the countryside turned into a "winter leisure" period. More than two months from beginning of winter to the Great Cold is a good time for farmers to recharge their batteries. Because as soon as the slight cold is over, every household will begin to prepare for the "New Year" and the New Year.
What should Laba eat?
Laba porridge
Laba porridge, also known as "seven treasures and five flavors porridge", "Buddha porridge" and "everyone's meal", is a kind of porridge made of various ingredients. The origin of the custom of drinking Laba porridge on Laba Festival is related to the story of Buddha becoming a Buddha. Therefore, Li Fu, a scholar in Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem: "The porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month came from the Vatican, and the seven treasures were beautiful and fragrant." The custom of drinking Laba porridge on Laba Festival comes from Buddhism. The eighth day of December is the day when Buddha Sakyamuni became a Buddha. In order not to forget the suffering of the Buddha before he became a Buddha, but also to commemorate the enlightenment of the Buddha on the eighth day of December, ancient Indians ate mixed porridge as a souvenir.
Laba vinegar [vinegar soaked with garlic]
Laba vinegar is a traditional custom of Laba Festival. The custom of soaking garlic with vinegar on Laba Day is called Laba vinegar. Laba vinegar should be soaked on New Year's Day, jiaozi should be eaten on the first day, and jiaozi should be a vegetarian. You should be a vegetarian for a year, and dip it in Laba vinegar, which will have a unique taste. "Laba vinegar" not only tastes mellow, but also does not go bad after a long time.
Laba garlic [garlic pickled with Laba vinegar]
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the atmosphere of the New Year is getting worse every day. In most parts of northern China, the custom of soaking garlic with vinegar is called Laba garlic. It is a custom in northern China to brew Laba garlic on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Its materials are vinegar and garlic cloves.
Pickled Laba garlic is a traditional snack mainly popular in northern China, and it is a festival food custom of Laba Festival. Laba garlic material is actually very simple, that is, vinegar and garlic cloves. The method is also extremely simple. Put the peeled garlic cloves in a sealable container, such as a jar or bottle, then pour in vinegar, seal the mouth and put it in a cold place. Slowly, the garlic soaked in vinegar will turn green, and finally the whole body will turn green, like jade and jasper.
Eat ice
On the day before Laba Festival, people usually scoop water in steel pots and freeze it. When Laba Festival comes, they will remove the ice and break it. It is said that the ice on this day is magical, and it won't hurt your stomach for a year after eating it.
Laba tofu
"Laba Tofu" is made from tender small soybeans, cut into round or square blocks, then smeared with salt water, dug a small hole in the middle of the upper part, added with appropriate amount of salt, and baked slowly in the mild sunshine in winter, so that the salt is gradually absorbed and the water is gradually dried, thus making Laba Tofu. The finished product is yellow as jade, soft at the entrance, salty and sweet, and fragrant and fresh. If shrimp and other ingredients are added during drying, the taste will be better.
"Laba Tofu" is usually hung in a ventilated place with straw rope to dry. You can pick it when you eat it, and it won't go bad or taste for three months. You can eat it alone or stir-fry it with meat. When people in Yixian entertain distinguished guests, they also carve them into animals and flowers, pour sesame oil, mix with seasonings such as onions, ginger and garlic, and make them into cold dishes, which becomes a feast.
Laba noodles
Laba noodles, seasonal food for Laba Festival. Traditional pasta is popular in Guanzhong area of Shaanxi Province. In Chengcheng area around Weibei, Shaanxi Province, porridge is generally not drunk on Laba Festival. Every year on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household eats several bowls of laba noodles.
Noodles and various beans (mainly red beans) are used as raw materials, and the noodles need to be made into leek leaves (noodles with the same width as leek leaves) for use; Red beans are soaked for one night in advance, and soup is made on the day of Laba. When the water boils, turn to low heat until the red beans are cooked, and cook the noodles on medium heat. At the same time, the cooked oil will stir-fry chopped green onion. After the noodles are cooked, the chopped green onion oil will be poured into the pot.
Mai renfan
Xining Laba Festival does not drink porridge, but eats wheat kernel rice. On the night of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the newly ground wheat grains are cooked with beef and mutton, with green salt, ginger skin, pepper, tsaoko, Miao Xiang and other condiments, and cooked overnight with slow fire. According to the legend in Qinghai, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when Sakyamuni became a monk. Before the Taoist priest became a monk, a shepherdess offered chyle and cooked porridge with fragrant grains for the Buddha. That porridge is wheat kernel porridge, which later became "Laba porridge" in Qinghai. According to this practice, later generations made this diet into a recipe for Qinghai people, and it also became a popular dish in restaurants.
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