According to legend, Buddha Sakyamuni still achieved nothing after years of practice. One day, he jumped into the river to clear his head, but after taking a bath, he couldn't climb back to the shore. Then a woman named Su Yeda passed by and pulled him ashore. Su Yeda also made him a bowl of rice and chestnut porridge. After the Buddha ate it, he was full of energy and came to wake up under the bodhi tree. This day happens to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Since then, Buddhist disciples have called the eighth day of December "Buddhist and Taoist Festival". On this day, temples will distribute gruel to the world. Affected by this, the folk also gradually formed the custom of eating Laba porridge on Laba Festival.

Laba Festival, that is, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, is also called "Magic Weapon Festival", "Buddhist Enlightenment Festival" and "Enlightenment Meeting". Originally a Buddhist festival to commemorate the enlightenment of Sakyamuni Buddha, it gradually became a folk festival.