First, about the origin and customs of the Laba Festival.

Laba Festival is a traditional festival held at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month every year. "Laba" is a sacrificial ceremony in ancient times in our country. At that time, people used the animals obtained during winter hunting to sacrifice their ancestors and ancestors. Gods, hunting and wax are common in our ancient Chinese, so as time went by, people gradually called December the twelfth lunar month. The twelfth lunar month was used as a day of sacrifice. It was first in the Qin Dynasty. After the Han Dynasty, the third garrison day after the winter solstice became the twelfth lunar month. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was fixed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. There were generally five sacrifices on this day: the door god, the household god, the house god, and the stove. Later, Buddhism was introduced into our country. It is said that Sakyamuni attained enlightenment and became a Buddha on December 8, so in some places the Laba Festival is also called the "Enlightenment Festival".

Second, why do we drink porridge during the Laba Festival?

As for why we drink Laba porridge on the Laba Festival, there are probably many versions circulating. The earliest version started in the Song Dynasty. On the day of Laba, no matter it is the palace, government, monastery or ordinary people In ordinary people's homes, they all make Laba porridge. Because ordinary people mix all the food at home to make it, they don't have many requirements for the ingredients. In ordinary people's homes, since there are no richer ingredients, most of them are Millet, rice, sweet potatoes, mung beans, dates, etc. are used as raw materials, and some wealthy families also add lily, lotus seeds, white fungus and other ingredients.

The reason why drinking Laba is popular, some people say, is related to Sakyamuni’s life-saving food. This story is most popular in Yanshi, Henan. It is said that Sakyamuni was dissatisfied with the rule of the dynasty at that time, and later devoted himself to He cultivated Buddhism and finally attained enlightenment and became a Buddha under the bodhi tree. During these six years of hard practice, Sakyamuni only ate one grain of mama and one grain of rice every day. Finally, he achieved enlightenment and became a Buddha through his own hard work and perseverance. In order to commemorate Sakyamuni's spiritual practice, local people boiled rice with water to eat on this day. Gradually, on the eighth day of December, the habit of drinking porridge was passed down.