Lahai Festival, commonly known as "Lahai", that is, the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. Since the first ancient times, Lahai is used to worship ancestors and gods (including the gods of the door, the gods of the house, the gods of the house, the gods of the stove, the gods of the well) sacrificial rituals, praying for a good harvest and good luck. According to "Rituals - Suburban Special Adoption", the Lahat Festival is "the twelfth month of the year, gathering all things together and soliciting food and drink." Xia dynasty called the wax day for "Jia Ping", the Shang dynasty for the "clear sacrifice", the Zhou dynasty for the "big wax"; held in December, it is called the month for the wax month, the day of the wax festival for the wax day. Pre-qin waxing day in the winter solstice after the third day of the 11th, and later the introduction of Buddhism, in order to expand the influence in the local community so attached to the traditional culture of the waxing festival as the day of the Buddha's path to enlightenment. Later, with the prevalence of Buddhism, the day of the Buddha and Lapa Day fusion, in the field of Buddhism is known as "Dharma Treasure Festival". Only from the North and South Dynasties was it fixed on the eighth day of the first month of the Lunar New Year.
Second, the Lahai Festival food culture
In China's food culture, Lahai Festival food culture occupies a place. There are many dietary customs in various places, which are used to worship ancestors and gods.
1, Laha congee. The history of drinking Laha congee in China has been more than a thousand years. The earliest began in the Song Dynasty. Every Laha day, whether the court, government, temples or the people's homes to do Laha porridge. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laha congee was even more prevalent. In the court, the emperor, the empress, the emperor's son and so on to the civil and military ministers, court ladies give Laha congee, and to the various monasteries to distribute rice, fruit and so on for the monks to eat. In the folk, every family should also do Laha congee, worship ancestors; at the same time, the family reunion together to eat, gifts to friends and relatives. The ingredients used in Laha congee vary from region to region, but basically include rice, millet, glutinous rice, sorghum rice, purple rice, barley and other grains, soybeans, red beans, green beans, kidney beans, cowpeas and other legumes, jujubes, peanuts, lotus seeds, goji berries, chestnuts, walnuts, almonds, cinnamon, raisins, white fruit and other dried fruits. Lapa congee is not only a seasonal food, but also a good health food, especially suitable for maintaining the spleen and stomach in cold weather.
2, cooking "five beans". Some places over the congee, not called "congee", but called cooking "five beans", some cooked on the day of the eighth, some in the first five months of the month to cook, but also pinch some of the noodles "bird head", and rice, beans (five kinds of), and the head of the rice, beans (five kinds of). The first thing you need to do is to make some "bird's head" with noodles, and cook them with rice and beans (five kinds of beans).
3, Lahai vinegar. Lapa vinegar is a Han Chinese Lapa custom. In northern China, the Han Chinese region in the Lahai this day with vinegar soaked garlic custom, the name "Lahai vinegar". Laha vinegar, to soak to the first day of the New Year, the first day to eat dumplings, to eat vegetarian dumplings, take the meaning of a year of vegetarian net net, dipped in Laha vinegar to eat,
4, Laha garlic. Lahai garlic is the day of the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar to soak garlic, is a custom in the north, especially in northern China. Its material is vinegar and garlic cloves. On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year on the lunar calendar to soak garlic. In fact, the material is very simple, is vinegar and garlic cloves. The practice is also extremely simple, the peeled garlic cloves will be put into a can, bottle or other containers can be sealed inside, and then poured into the vinegar, seal the mouth to a cold place. Slowly, soaked in vinegar in the garlic will become green, and finally will become a body turquoise, as jade jasper.
5, eat ice. The day before Lahai, people generally use steel pots to scoop water to ice, wait until the Lahai Festival will be off the pots of ice and knock the ice into pieces. It is said that the day of the ice is very magical, eat it in the following year will not have a stomach ache. [4]
6, Lahai tofu. Lapa tofu is one of the traditional Han Chinese folk snacks in the Yixian County area of Anhui Province, holiday food customs. In the Spring Festival on the eve of the eighth day of the eighth month, families have to sunshine tofu, the folk will be this sunshine tofu, it is called "Laha tofu". Production method is first made of top quality soybean tofu, and cut into round or square blocks, and then smeared with brine, dug a small hole in the middle of the upper part, into the appropriate amount of salt, placed in the mild winter sun slowly baked, so that the salt is gradually absorbed, the water is also gradually dried up, that is, Laha tofu. The finished product is yellow and moist like jade, soft in the mouth, taste salty with sweet, fragrant and fresh. If you add shrimp and other ingredients in the sun, taste is better.
7, Laha noodles. Lapa noodles, that is, Lapa Festival seasonal food. Traditional Han Chinese noodles, popular in the north of Shaanxi Province, around the Chengcheng area, Laha Festival is generally not drink porridge, the morning of the eighth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar every year, families have to eat a bowl of Laha noodles. To noodles and a variety of beans (red beans for residence) as raw materials, the noodles need to be made into leek leaf noodles (leek leaves of equal width of the noodles) standby; red beans soak one night in advance, Laha this day used to simmer soup, when the water is open to turn the heat to red beans cooked through, medium heat cooking noodles. At the same time the cooked oil will be scallion popping incense, the noodles cooked after the scallion oil splashed into the pot.
8, wheat kernel rice. Xining people do not drink porridge on Lunar New Year's Day, but eat wheat kernel rice. The seventh night of the first day of the lunar month will be newly milled wheat kernels, and beef and mutton with cooking, plus green salt, ginger, pepper, grass nuts, Miao incense and other condiments, after a night of cooking and simmering by the fire. Qinghai legend says that the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is Shakyamuni's day of initiation, before the initiation of the shepherdess to offer milk, with incense and fruit porridge for the Buddha, that porridge is wheat porridge, later became the Qinghai "Lahai congee". According to this practice, later generations created this flavor in the Qinghai people's diet. It also became popular in restaurants.
Three, Lahai Festival customs
1, Shaanxi Lahai Festival customs. After the Laha congee is boiled, it is necessary to honor the gods and ancestors first. After that, it should be given to friends and relatives, and must be sent out before noon. It is finally consumed by the whole family. The leftover Laha congee is kept for a few days, but it is a good omen, taking the meaning of "year after year". If the porridge is given to the poor to eat, it is even more for their own virtue. Some places that do not produce or less rice, people do not eat congee, but to eat Laha noodles. Use all kinds of fruits and vegetables to make bashfulness, and roll the noodles well. By the morning of the eighth day of the eighth month of Lunar New Year, the whole family ate together.
2, Gansu Laha custom. Traditionally cooked congee with grains, vegetables, cooked in addition to the family to eat, but also sent to the neighbors, but also used to feed livestock. Gansu Wuwei area is concerned about the "vegetarian Lahai", eat rice thick rice, lentil rice or thick rice, cooked with fried loose seeds, sesame flowers with food, folklore called it "lentil porridge bubble loose".
3, Xining Lahai Festival customs. Lahai Festival does not drink congee, but to eat wheat rice. On the seventh night of the first day of the lunar month will be newly crushed wheat kernels, and beef and mutton with cooking, plus green salt, ginger, pepper, fruits, Miao incense and other condiments, after a night of simmering fire, wheat kernel rice is fragrant, very tasty.
4, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Lahai Festival customs. Jiangsu people eat Lapa congee sweet and salty two kinds. Laha congee should be added to zygomorphia, water chestnut, walnut kernel, pine nut kernel, Gorgon fruit, jujube, chestnut, fungus, bok choy, enoki mushrooms and so on. If the congee is savory, add greens and oil to it. Zhejiang people generally use walnuts, pine nuts, lotus seeds, jujubes, cinnamon meat, lychee meat, etc., which is sweet and flavorful. It is said that this method of cooking congee is still handed down from Nanjing.
5, Northwest Lahai Festival customs. Lahai Festival in northern Shaanxi plateau, porridge in addition to a variety of rice, beans, but also have to add a variety of dried fruits, tofu and meat mixed and cooked. After eating, but also the porridge will be wiped on the door, stove and outside the door on the tree, in order to drive away evil spirits and disasters, to meet the next year's agricultural harvest. Moreover, the day avoid eating vegetables. If you eat vegetables on this day, there will be many weeds in the crop field. In addition to eating Lapa congee on Lapa day, people also have to offer congee to their ancestors and granaries.
6, Ningxia Laha custom. Do Lahai rice generally use a variety of beans with rice, potatoes, porridge, plus wheat flour or buckwheat noodles cut into rhombic willow blade "wheat", or made into a small round egg "bird's head", and then into the onion oil before leaving the pot. As in northern Shaanxi, the whole family will only eat Lahai rice on this day, no food.
7, Beijing Lahai Festival customs. Beijing's Laha congee can be said to be the most elaborate. Mixed in the white rice more things, such as red dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, cinnamon, grapes, white fruit, green silk, roses, red beans, peanuts ...... no less than 20 kinds. People in the seventh night of the first day of the month of wax began to wash the rice, soak the fruit, dialing the skin, remove the nucleus, the middle of the night began to stew with a slight fire, until early the next morning, Laha congee is considered to be simmering well.