In China, there are Laha Festival drink Laha congee, bubble Laha garlic custom, Henan and other places, Laha congee, also known as "everyone rice", is to commemorate the national hero Yue Fei, a holiday custom. It turns out that there is such a legend of Lapa congee

And Buddhist origin

According to our folklore, it is said that Lapa congee came from the invention of Zhu Yuanzhang. When Zhu Yuanzhang was a child, his family was poor and he worked as a cowherd for a rich man's family, he was often beaten and scolded, and he was starving. Once he led his ox across a wooden bridge, the old buffalo fell under the bridge and broke his leg. The rich man locked him up in a house and didn't feed him for three days and three nights. He was hungry and panicked, found a mouse hole, a digging found a mouse granary, which has rice, beans, corn, pearl rice, red dates ...... anything. He then cooked these things a pot of porridge to eat, feel more sweet than anything. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang fought the world, did the emperor, tired of eating sea food, one night, Zhu Yuanzhang remembered the year this porridge, ordered the Imperial Kitchen with all colors of grains and cereals cooked into a porridge into the service, a feast for the ministers, which is the day of the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, and thus give the name "Lapa congee".

There is also a kind of congee congee origin, it is said that the congee is from the people of Yue Fei's memory. In honor of Yue Fei, the national hero of the Song Dynasty, Yue Fei, insisted on fighting against the Jin Dynasty, and was framed by the treacherous Qin Hui. The court issued twelve gold medals to summon Yue Fei to the capital. Yue Fei had no choice but to leave in a hurry, and the food was not enough. The people heard about it, every household sent porridge, Yue army mixed and eat, thank you and go. This day is the eighth day of the Lunar New Year. After Yue Fei was killed, the people to show their remembrance of the meaning of the eighth day of the month every year, burned up the "hundred rice".

Another way of saying the origin of Lapa congee is this, it is said that Lapa congee from the Qin people to repair the Great Wall of the soul of mourning. Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall, the world's civilian workers were ordered to come, can not go home for many years, food rely on family members to send. Some of the workers were separated from their families by thousands of mountains, so the food could not be sent to them, which caused many of them to starve to death at the Great Wall site. One year on the eighth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, no food to eat the migrant workers have accumulated a few handfuls of grains and cereals, put in a pot of gruel, each person drank a bowl, and finally died of starvation under the Great Wall. In order to commemorate the death of starvation in the Great Wall site workers, people eat every year on the eighth day of the eighth month of Lunar New Year "Lahai congee", in order to commemorate.

Buddhist origin of Laha congee

According to Buddhist texts, Laha congee is said to have come from India in honor of Sakyamuni Buddha. Lapa congee is a kind of porridge made from a variety of ingredients on Lapa, also called seven treasures and five flavors porridge. Laha congee comes from India, India, the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is the anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment, commonly known as "Laha Festival", in Buddhism called "Dharma Treasure Festival". The custom of Laha congee is no longer Buddhist, as a folk custom, Laha congee is eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar to celebrate the harvest, has been passed down to the present day. The earliest Laha congee is red small beans to cook, after the evolution, plus local characteristics, gradually colorful.

"Karma scripture" records, Siddhartha Gautama due to six years of austerity, have no time to take care of personal food and clothing, and only eat some hemp wheat every day, perennial not enough to eat. At the end of his study period, he was already in rags, thin and bony, and his appearance was like withered wood.

He walked down Mount Kathu, sat by the river, and begged from the village people. A cowherd woman in the village boiled milk in a pot for Siddhartha to eat, which quickly restored his health. After the prosperity of Buddhism, in order to commemorate this incident, it is stipulated that this day for the ancient Indian people "fasting monks" and relief of the poor and the day of food and drink.

After the introduction of Buddhism to China in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the first eight days of Lunar New Year's alms this matter gradually became the custom of boiling "Lunar New Year's porridge". Some Buddhist temples in China boil "Laha congee", to commemorate the story of the cowherd woman on the banks of the Nilian River relief Siddhartha Gautama.

With the prosperity of Buddhism, Laha congee is also popular among the people. Rich people's congee to dozens of kinds of rice, beans and fruits simmered, family and friends also give each other. Poor people also want to use millet red dates on this day to simmer a pot of porridge should be seasonal. Legend has it that "Lahai not congee, next year will be poorer". During the Qing Dynasty, the palace to drink congee is the Yonghe Palace Lama boiled after the tribute.

Folktales Laha congee legend

A long time ago, there is a monk called A two, carrying a red cloth made of Qiankun bag, came to the temple. The monk in charge saw that he was loyal and honest, and let him be a fire head monk.

Ah Er and diligent, and hard work, every day, in addition to serving five, six hundred monks eat, but also take the time to dill the vegetable garden. He burned the fire, see the straw on the head of a spike, then put up in the Qiankun bag. When washing rice and vegetables, a grain of rice, a grain of beans, a vegetable are collected and washed and dried. Days long, he collected dozens of bags of things.

One year on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year in the lunar calendar, the monks of the temple are to the main hall to preach, outside the almsgiver there are hundreds of people, a time very lively. Coincidentally, on that day, the monk in charge of money and food before preaching, forgot to open the warehouse to get rice. A second and do not take to break into the scripture hall, on the street to buy also too late, how to do? He looked at the empty rice pot, remembering that hundreds of people will have to use the rice, really anxious. Finally, thought of the side of the Qiankun bag, heart: if the years of savings of food, to the pot to cook, not to solve this emergency? This idea makes him happy to close his mouth. Not long after, the opening of the meal "cloud board" knocked. Five or six hundred monks entered the fasting hall.

They thought: Today is the day of the Buddha's enlightenment, you can eat a hearty vegetarian meal. But into the fasting hall to see, rice is not like rice, dishes are not like vegetables are staying. Because the monks have a rule short, eating can not talk too much, also did not squeak, who knows until the mouth to eat a taste especially good. Later, we all agreed, every year on the eighth of Lunar New Year to burn this kind of rice, and take the name of Laha congee.