The most important festival in the month of Lunar New Year is the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, which was known as "Lunar New Year's Day" in ancient times, commonly known as "Lunar New Year's Day". From the pre-Qin Dynasty onwards, the Lahai Festival was used to worship ancestors and gods, and to pray for a good harvest and good luck. Lahai Festival in addition to ancestral worship activities, people have to expel the epidemic. This activity comes from the ancient exorcism (ancient rituals to drive away ghosts and epidemics). Prehistoric times, one of the medical methods that drive away ghosts to cure diseases. As sorcery activities in the waxing moon drumming epidemic customs, now in Hunan Xinhua and other areas still remain. It is said that the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni's day of enlightenment is also in the eighth day of December, so Lapa is also a Buddhist festival, also known as the "Buddha's Day of Enlightenment. Legend a Lapa Festival is the lunar month (December) the eighth, originated in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty, it is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang fell in prison suffering, when the cold days, cold and hungry Zhu Yuanzhang even from the prison of the rat hole planing out some red beans, rice, jujubes and other seven or eight kinds of grains and miscellaneous grains. Zhu Yuanzhang these things into a porridge, because that day is the eighth day of the eighth month of the waxing moon, Zhu Yuanzhang will be beautifully named this pot of miscellaneous grain porridge for the waxing gruel. Enjoy a beautiful meal. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang pacified the world, sitting in the north towards the south as the emperor, in order to commemorate that special day in prison, he then set the day as Lahai Festival, to eat their own day of grain porridge formally named Lahai congee. Legend two The eighth day of the first month of Lunar New Year, our people have eaten Laha congee custom. It is said that Laha congee came from India. The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was the son of King Jinyan of Gavilavi country in the northern part of India (now in Nepal), who saw all beings suffering from old age, sickness, death and other pains and sufferings and was dissatisfied with the theocratic rule of the Brahmins at that time, gave up his throne and went out to cultivate his own home. After six years of asceticism, he attained enlightenment and became a Buddha under the Bodhi tree on the eighth day of the waxing moon. During these six years of asceticism, he ate only one flax and one rice a day. The descendants did not forget his suffering and ate porridge on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year every year to commemorate him. "The eighth day of the eighth month of the Lunar New Year has become the "anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment". "Lapa" is a grand festival of Buddhism. Before the liberation of all over the Buddhist temple for the bathing Buddha will be, held chanting, and follow the example of Sakyamuni before he became a Taoist, the shepherdess offer milch legend story, with fragrant grain, fruit, such as porridge for the Buddha, called "Lahai congee". And Laha congee will be given to the disciples and the good men and women, and then it will be in the folk custom. It is said that in some monasteries, before the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the monks hold the bowl and go along the streets to collect rice, chestnuts, jujubes, nuts and other materials to be boiled into Laha congee and distribute it to the poor. Legend has it that after eating it, they can get the blessing of Buddha, so the poor people call it "Buddha congee". Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote in his poem: "The Buddha congee is given to each other this morning, and the festival in the river village is new." It is said that the famous Hangzhou Tianning Temple has a storage of leftovers in the "stacks of rice building," usually the temple monks daily leftovers dried in the sun, the accumulation of a year's surplus, to the eighth day of the eighth month of the Lunar New Year into Lahua congee distributed to believers, known as "Fukushou congee" "Fude congee "It means that after eating it, you can increase your happiness and longevity. Visible at that time the monks of the temple love the virtue of food. Lapa congee in ancient times was cooked with red small beans, glutinous rice, and then the material gradually increased. The Southern Song Dynasty people Zhou Mi wrote "Old Story of Wulin", said: "with walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmon mushrooms, persimmon chestnuts and other types of congee, called 'Lahai congee'". To date, people in the south, northeast and northwest of China still retain the custom of eating Laha congee, Guangdong area is not common. The materials used vary, mostly with glutinous rice, red beans, dates, chestnuts, peanuts, white fruit, lotus seeds, lilies and other sweet porridge. There are also added cinnamon, longan meat, candied fruit and other cooking. Eat a bowl of steaming hot Lapa congee in winter, both delicious and nutritious, can indeed increase the blessing of life. Legend 3 The Lapa Festival comes from the custom of "beating ghosts with red beans". Legend has it that Zhuan Xu, one of the five ancient emperors, had three sons who turned into evil spirits after their deaths, specializing in scaring children. In ancient times, people generally believed in superstition and were afraid of ghosts and gods, believing that adults and children who suffered from strokes and illnesses and were in poor health were all due to epidemics and ghosts. These evil spirits are not afraid of the world, single afraid of red (red) beans, so there is a "red beans to beat the ghosts," said. Therefore, on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year to red small beans, red small beans porridge, in order to get rid of the disease to welcome the good luck. Legend four Lunar New Year's Day out of people's nostalgia for the loyal minister Yue Fei. That year, Yue Fei led the Department of Jin in Zhu Xianzhen, when the nine winter, Yue's army food and clothing, starvation and freezing, the people sent congee, Yue's army full of a meal sent by the people of the "thousands of porridge", the result of a great victory and return. This day is the eighth day of the twelfth month. After the death of Yue Fei, the people in order to commemorate him, every Lunar New Year's Eve, it will be mixed grains, beans and fruits porridge, and finally become a custom. Legend five Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall, the world's workers were ordered to come, can not go home for many years, food by the family to send. Some of the workers were separated from their families by thousands of mountains, so food could not be sent to them, which caused many of them to starve to death on the site of the Great Wall. 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 at the Great Wall site, people eat "Laha congee" on the eighth day of the eighth month of the year, in order to commemorate the death of starvation. Legend six is said that the old couple of life, hard-working, thrifty, save a large property, but the baby son is not good, marry a daughter-in-law is not virtuous, soon lost the family business, to the eighth day of the eighth of Lunar New Year, the two are freezing and starvation, but fortunately there are the village people, neighbors to help, cooking a pot of rice, noodles, beans, vegetables, etc., mixed together in the "miscellaneous congee The meaning is: "Eat a good meal". Meaning: "Eat a meal of mixed porridge, lessons remembered." This porridge so that the young couple changed their vices, on the right path, rely on hard work to hold the family, day by day better. Popular folk custom of eating congee on the eighth day of the month, is that people in order to warn the future generations of this lesson and follow.