The origin of Laba porridge

It's the twelfth month. I wish you great success in the new year, bright future, good luck, prosperous fortune, happy family, successful career, happiness, prosperous career and dreams come true! Happy Laba Festival! Next, I sorted out the origin of Laba porridge. I hope you like this article!

The origin of Laba porridge 1 The annual traditional festival Laba Festival is coming. Laba is an extremely important festival in China, because it is not only a typical festival with China folk culture tradition, but also a festival originated from Buddhism. From the first day of the twelfth lunar month to the eighth day, you can drink hot Laba porridge in major temples in Hangzhou.

Regarding the origin of Laba porridge, Buddhist scriptures say that before the Buddha became a monk, Sakyamuni tried to be ascetic for six years, but he was exhausted physically and mentally, so he gave up asceticism, accepted the chyle offered by the shepherdess, recovered his physical strength, sat quietly under the bodhi tree, and finally moved towards the right path of wisdom liberation. This day happens to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Since Sakyamuni became a monk on this day, the temple cooked porridge for the Buddha on this day with cereals such as rice and beans and dried fruits such as dates, millet and lotus seeds.

Li Fu, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote the poem Laba Porridge, "The porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month comes from the Vatican. Seven treasures are harmonious and five flavors are fragrant. Puyi used it for merit, indicating that Laba porridge originated from ancient Indian Buddhism, and Laba porridge is also called Qibao Wuwei porridge. Wu Manyun said in "Preface to Jiangxiang Festival", "Hangzhou custom Laba porridge is the seven treasures porridge, which was offered by monks in Zhai and is also made by people in bed today. "It can be seen that Hangzhou had the custom of sending Laba porridge to the citizens on Laba Festival a long time ago.

There is also a saying that Laba porridge is developed from "fasting rice". Monks in ancient temples used baskets to beg for food along the door, picked them back to the temple and dried their food collections. The morning of Laba Festival is used to cook porridge, repay the believers and bless them. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "one jar of cold rice for a thousand years makes laba porridge for one day".

Either way, it reflects the Buddhist spirit of gratitude to the society and the return of porridge to the public, and also reflects people's simple desire to pray for health, happiness and good luck.

The origin of Laba porridge 2 Laba porridge

In the old society, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, people always liked to cook a pot of delicious Laba porridge. The origin and customs of this Laba Festival have been the same as eating jiaozi in Lantern Festival, zongzi in Dragon Boat Festival and moon cakes in Mid-Autumn Festival.

Laba porridge is named after the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as Laba. "La" was originally the name of an ancient sacrificial vessel. As early as the Historical Records of Qin Benji, there was a record of "Hui Wenjun's twelfth lunar month". In ancient times, La Worship was often held in December, so December was called "twelfth month".

According to legend, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the day when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, became a monk. Therefore, on the day of Laba, ancient temples would cook porridge with fruits, vegetables and rice to worship the gods and buddhas, which was honored as "Buddha porridge". After offering porridge to the Buddha, they distributed it to the poor. With the spread of Buddhism, eating Laba porridge has gradually become a folk custom. In the Southern Song Dynasty, "Laba porridge" was a popular food among the people, which was not only offered to Buddha, but also given to each other. The great poet Lu You's poem: "At present, the Buddha porridge is in harmony with the tomb, and the matter in Jiangcun is more important" is a proof.

What material is Laba porridge made of? It's different everywhere. Some use seven kinds of dried vegetables, such as green vegetables, taro, broad beans, water chestnuts, ginkgo, fruits and soybeans, mixed with spices such as cinnamon and fennel, and cooked with rice. Therefore, it is also known as "Five Spices and Seven Treasures Porridge". This is probably the same as the origin of the famous "eight-treasure rice" in Jiangnan. But in many places, we don't stick to seven kinds of fruits and vegetables, but the more the better, which is good for everyone.

Laba porridge is sweet and salty. Usually northerners like to cook glutinous rice (or millet), red beans, candied dates, rice kernels, soybeans, longan, lotus seeds, walnuts, pine nuts and so on. Become sweet; On the other hand, southerners like to stew rice with all kinds of seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Laba porridge is easy to cook and the materials are easy to buy. Sweet and salty, full of color, flavor and high nutritional value. It's a good winter product.

Speaking of drinking Laba porridge on Laba Festival, everyone may be familiar with it, but there are only a handful of people who know the origin of Laba porridge.

It is said that Laba porridge originated from Indian Buddhist legends and was related to the founder of Buddhism, Shi Yingmuny. According to legend, before Sakyamuni became a Buddha, he had been ascetic for many years and was so hungry that he was only skin and bones. One day I practiced, and I fainted from hunger. At this time, a herding woman saw him, so she boiled the miscellaneous roots, picked wild fruits and cooked them into rotten porridge to feed him. After eating porridge, Sakyamuni regained his strength, sat down under the bodhi tree and became a Buddha on1February 8. December is the twelfth month in the summer calendar, so December 8 is called Laba. In the Han area of our country, this day is regarded as Sakyamuni's enlightenment day, so Laba became a Buddhist festival. After Buddhism was introduced into China, monasteries were built in various places, and the activity of cooking porridge to worship Buddha became popular. Especially on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, when Sakyamuni offered sacrifices to practice, all monasteries had to chant Buddhist scriptures, and followed the legend that shepherdess offered porridge before Buddhism became a Buddha, and boiled porridge for the Buddha with fragrant grains, named Laba porridge. This is the origin of Laba porridge.

There is also a legend that Laba Festival is related to Yue Fei, a loyal minister.

According to legend, Yue Fei led his troops to fight Jin Gan in Zhuxian Town. In the severe winter of September, Yue Jiajun was short of clothes and roots, hungry and cold. When the locals know, tell each other. After sending porridge continuously, Yue Jiajun had a hearty meal of "thousand porridge" and returned home with great success. It was the eighth day of December. After Yue Fei died, in order to commemorate him, people cooked porridge with miscellaneous beans and fruits on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Eventually it became a custom.

The origin of Laba porridge

Laba Festival is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. On this day in China, every household has the custom of eating Laba porridge. Laba porridge is also called Babao porridge.

According to legend, Laba porridge comes from India, and its popularity is attributed to Buddhism. As we all know, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is also the day when the Buddha realizes becoming a Buddha. According to folklore, Sakyamuni traveled to many places in India before becoming a Taoist. One day, he was tired and hungry and passed out on the side of the road. A shepherd girl found him and gave him food, and Sakyamuni quickly recovered his strength. Then, he took a bath in the nearby river, sat alone under the bodhi tree and looked at his thoughts. After six years of asceticism, I finally saw the stars on the night of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and became a Buddha. The shepherd girl's meal is made of rice and glutinous rice and some fresh wild fruits picked in the mountains. Since then, followers of Sakyamuni began to cook porridge with new grain rice and fresh fruit. Porridge should be cooked from the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month until dawn the next day. This kind of porridge is symbolically used to worship Buddha. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, it became the "Buddha Enlightenment Day".

About 900 years ago, during the Song Dynasty, Laba porridge began to spread to China. According to written records, in order to show loyalty to the Buddha, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, large Buddhist temples will provide porridge cooked with rice and other seasonings. About 500 years ago, in the Ming Dynasty, Laba porridge became a sacred food, so the emperor gave it to their officials during festivals. Because Laba porridge was favored by the upper class in feudal society, it soon spread throughout the country and has been respected as a traditional food until now.

Now, we are used to calling Laba porridge eight-treasure porridge, which means that it needs a variety of nutrients to make this porridge. Here is a special method of making eight-treasure porridge. First, cook glutinous rice, millet, sorghum, chestnuts, dried dates, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, melon seeds and other dried fruits together, and then add brown sugar. The porridge made in this way is not only delicious, but also nutritious. Red beans, kidney beans, pine nuts, lotus seeds or other nutritious or delicious things can also be added.

In this way, you will find that there are far more than eight ingredients in porridge. In fact, there are almost no restrictions on the materials used in eight-treasure porridge. "Eight" simply means "many" here. No wonder eight-treasure porridge is considered as a healthy food in China traditional medicine, which is especially beneficial to the spleen and stomach and blood. For many people in China, the formula of eight-treasure porridge has become a daily routine. In fact, this delicious porridge is not only eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, but also can be seen everywhere in China market, and can be enjoyed all year round.

The folk Laba Festival seems to be a fusion of the ancient Laba Festival and the Buddha's Enlightenment Day. Most people eat Laba porridge on this day. As the saying goes, "Laba doesn't eat Laba porridge, and the daughter-in-law makes her husband cry." Laba porridge is made of millet, rice, sweet potato, red dates, red beans and mung beans. The rich are made of glutinous rice, preserved fruit, lotus seeds, lilies, tremella, roses, moss, brown sugar or essence.

Laba porridge was popular as early as the Song Dynasty. There are many opinions about the origin of Laba porridge among Henan people: rigid teachers often refer to Laba porridge as the Buddha's "life-saving food for Siddhartha", saying that Siddhartha didn't starve to death because he ate a kind girl's fried noodles, so he made it a positive result and founded Buddhism. When Tang Xuan got Buddhist scriptures, he found out that it happened on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in China, so he called it Laba porridge. In Puyang area, it is said that Laba porridge originated from a farmer's story.

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was an old couple who worked hard all their lives and lived a comfortable life, but they had no children. When my wife was fifty years old, she gave birth to a chubby son on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The old couple named her son Rabbah. The old couple doted on their son since childhood, giving him whatever he wanted and doing whatever he said. He said he would spill urine in the pot, and his father said, spit, less. He used the method of rowing to record numbers. His mother was afraid that he was tired, so she gave him a broom, which could row many roads at a time. In this way, Laba developed the habit of being willful, lazy, eating with his mouth open and reaching for clothes. When Rabbah came of age, his parents married him a daughter-in-law, thinking that she would persuade him to get rid of his bad habits. Who knows the daughter-in-law is as lazy as he is? The old couple had no choice but to let them stand on their own feet and want them to know that things were hard-won. Unexpectedly, after a year, they couldn't even open the pot. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone buys new year's goods, but they don't have rice and want noodles. They swept the bottom of the jar, dusted the jar, gathered some miscellaneous grains, cooked some porridge and went to sleep, but they still felt cold and hungry. The next day, people found that they were frozen to death. Since then, the folk song "Laba, Laba, freeze to death" has spread. Every household cooks Laba porridge on Laba Festival, so that the whole family can learn the lessons of Laba nationality, manage the family diligently and get rich through labor.

The origin theory of Laba porridge in Qinyang area is similar to that in Huaiyang, which is to persuade people to be diligent and thrifty, but the fabricated story is slightly different. It is said that the young couple were poor and begging for a living because of laziness, but in winter, the door was blocked by the wind and snow, so they couldn't go out, so they dug up the food hidden by the mouse in the hole while their parents were away, and the house collapsed and was killed alive. The neighbor said, "The land is still the land of the past, and the house is still the house of the past. The old couple live more diligently than others, and the young couple are lazy." In Shangqiu area, people call Laba porridge "hero porridge". It is said that Yue Fei was framed by Qin Gui during the Song Dynasty's resistance to gold. The court called him back to Beijing for eight gold a day. On his way home, he was short of food and noodles. The common people sent porridge and rice to the soldiers who resisted gold. Later, Yue Fei was killed, and the villagers took this porridge as a souvenir. In some places, the origin of Laba porridge is also related to Liu Xiu and Wang Mang in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

According to legend, after Wang Mang usurped the throne, he hunted down people named Liu everywhere. On the way to escape, Liu Xiu fainted from hunger on the side of the road, just as an old lady begging for food helped him up and gave him half a can of leftovers. After eating, Liu Xiu was full of energy and ran away again. Later, Liu Xiu became emperor, and several years passed. In the palace, there are delicious food, nectar and nectar every day, and Liu Xiu is very tired. One day, he suddenly thought of the rice that the old lady gave him. Everyone thinks it's delicious and their mouths are watering. So he immediately ordered the chef to make that kind of "mixed porridge". The chef cooked a bowl carefully and sent it over. When Liu Xiu ate it, it didn't taste like that at all. After losing his temper, he cut the cook. He also ordered the courtiers to choose another famous chef to cook and eat, but it was not that smell, and it was cut. After several years, I don't know how many chefs I killed. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, an old lady came to see Emperor Liu Xiu with a crock in her hand and said that she was best at cooking mixed porridge. Liu Xiuchuan was surprised when he saw it. This is the old lady who brought him porridge. Liu Xiu was busy giving her seat and said that she had been visited many times. Today, she will fulfill her promise-repay her kindness.

The old lady said that this was not a good deed, but only begged the emperor not to kill people for the porridge, and said: When people are hungry, chaff is as sweet as honey, but when they are full, they are not greedy. In a word, Liu Xiu suddenly realized that he would never kill the chef again. Because this day is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, in order to remember this lesson and the old lady's saving life, Liu Xiu made an imperial decree: eat Laba porridge in the court on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year. When this incident spread to the people, it formed the custom of eating "Laba porridge".

Since Buddhism was introduced to China, famous monasteries have made porridge from fragrant grains and fruits to offer sacrifices to the Buddha. Laba porridge is also called "Buddha porridge", as well as "Five-flavor porridge" and "Qibao porridge". Laba on this day, the court, government, temples will do Laba porridge, Yuan careful "Wulin past" volume three said:

"On the eighth day, temples and people used walnuts, pine nuts, milk, persimmons and millet as porridge, which is called Laba porridge." In the Ming and Qing dynasties, not only did the palace have the custom of cooking Laba porridge, but it was also distributed to officials. Due to the official promotion, the production level of Laba porridge has also been greatly improved. The Chronicle of Yanjing says: "Laba porridge is made of yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut, red Jiang Dou and peeled jujube paste. And dyed with red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, pulp, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar and exotic chrysanthemums. " At the same time, people also summed up an experience. When cooking Laba porridge with 100 fruits, you can't add lotus seeds, lentils, glutinous rice and longan. If you mix these with porridge, it will produce a smell. According to the records of the Lama Temple, Laba Festival is divided into four scenes: cooking porridge, offering porridge, offering porridge and sending porridge. From the first day of the twelfth lunar month, general manager office Interior Department sent clerks to transport the first-class cream, millet, glutinous rice, diced mutton and whole grains, as well as dried fruits such as red dates, longan, walnuts, raisins, melon seeds and green silk, car by car until the fifth day. The fire started in the early morning of the seventh day, and the porridge was not cooked until the early morning of the eighth day. A * * * boil six pots, and the first pot is Buddha; The second pot is dedicated to the emperor and the palace; The third pot is dedicated to courtiers and lamas; The fourth pot is dedicated to civil and military officials and distributed to provincial officials everywhere; The fifth pot was distributed to lamas in the Lama Temple; The sixth pot, together with the remaining pots above, is used as Laba porridge for charity.

Due to the emperor's advocacy and attention, people also rushed to follow the example of cooking Laba porridge, and the whole family got together to eat and distribute it to relatives and neighbors.

In fact, Laba porridge is really good for your health. According to the research, only red beans are rich in vitamin B 1, phosphorus, calcium, iron, protein and other nutrients, which have the functions of disinfection, anti-inflammatory, breastfeeding and treating beriberi. If you cook Laba porridge with whole grains, it is naturally nutritious. Lu You, a poet in Song Dynasty, said in his poem Eating Porridge:

All the people in the world are seniors, but they don't realize that many years are in the present.

I had to follow the popular method and only give porridge to the gods.

Lu You regards porridge as a wonderful recipe to prolong life, which is very scientific. No wonder the folk custom of eating Laba porridge is enduring in Sheng Xing. Up to now, every Laba Festival, every family gets up at three or four in the morning. It is said that businessmen who get up early this day can have good business and good business; Those who work hard get up early and reap a bumper harvest in the coming year. Actually, it's totally irrelevant. The real purpose of getting up early is to cook Laba porridge. After laba porridge is cooked, we should first scoop a bowl to worship the god of heaven and earth, and then the whole family will begin to eat it and comment while eating. Old people will also tell the story of eating Laba porridge to future generations and educate them to be diligent and not lazy. When eating Laba porridge, you should also release some or feed them to animals to reward them for their hard work for one year; Or feed chickens, ducks and geese to lay more eggs in the coming year; Or "feed" the jujube tree, that is, paste Laba porridge on the trunk of the jujube tree or the wound cut with a knife to make it bear more dates and sweet dates. According to legend, jujube's birthday is also on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Therefore, it is also a kind of congratulations to let red dates "eat" Laba porridge. In Huaiyang area, the folk Laba night is celebrated by beating drums in many villages. Some villages beat drums every day from this day until New Year's Eve, which is called "Laba Drum". Undoubtedly, this is an inheritance of the ancient custom of "pulling Gu Ming, spring grass grows". The custom of beating drums in the twelfth lunar month is of religious significance in origin, but wax drums after the Han Dynasty mainly play the role of festival entertainment. There is also the function of urging people to make new year's goods among the people. In order to tell those lazy people, it is time to relax and make new clothes for the whole family at home.

In ancient times, people thought Laba was the day when the Buddha became a Taoist, and it was an "auspicious day". Today, I want to marry a daughter-in-law and hold a wedding, so I don't need to ask a teacher of Yin and Yang to choose. Some housewives will choose to wear a "cooking broom" and "tie the handle" with a millet pole on this day. It is said that "Laba wears a cooking broom and feeds the big pig next year". Many girls and their only son choose Laba to prick their ears for good luck.

After Laba Festival, the Spring Festival is approaching, and people begin to prepare to buy new year's goods. As the saying goes, "Eat laba rice, and then take care of the New Year."

Since the 1950s, the custom of eating Laba porridge after Laba is still very common among the people, and "beating the moon drum" is also very common, but other activities are rare. However, with the continuous improvement of people's living standards, Laba porridge, Laba noodles, Laba garlic and Laba dishes with good color, fragrance and shape have actually become interesting seasonal snacks, and Laba porridge is not limited to Laba.

It's just that although it's also the ingredient of Laba porridge, it's called home-cooked meal. The porridge cooked on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is called Laba porridge.

The origin of Laba porridge

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month) is the annual Laba Festival. Laba Festival has a long tradition and history in China. Since the pre-Qin period, people often hold large-scale sacrifices with hunting animals at the end of the winter moon to pray for a bumper harvest and good luck. In ancient times, the word "hunting" was similar to the word "wax" and "La Worship" was a hunting sacrifice, so December at the end of each year was called "twelfth month" and the beginning of December was also called "twelfth day". There is a proverb in Jingchu Chronicle, "La Gu Ming, spring grass grows", which depicts the lively and festive scene of people beating gongs and drums to celebrate the Spring Festival on the twelfth day.

"Dream of China in Tokyo" records that Buddhist bathing meetings were held in major temples in Laba, and "Qibao Wuwei porridge was given to disciples, which was called Laba porridge." According to legend, the eighth day of December is the day when Buddha Shi Muni became a Buddha, so the temple should do Buddhist work to cook porridge for the Buddha or send porridge to the poor. In the Southern Song Dynasty, no matter the imperial court, government, temples or ordinary people, every household would make Laba porridge. Therefore, the custom of drinking "Laba porridge" on Laba Festival has gradually taken shape in China.

In ancient times, Laba porridge was made of red beans and glutinous rice, and then the materials gradually increased. The "Old Wulin Stories" carefully compiled by people in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "The porridge made of walnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, persimmons and chestnuts is called Laba porridge." In modern times, the pattern of Laba porridge in various places is highly competitive and varied. In the Year of Yanjing, Fu Chadun, a man of A Qing Dynasty, called him "Laba porridge maker". He cooked porridge with yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut and peeled jujube paste. And dyed with red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar, grapes, etc., which is very characteristic of Beijing. In Lanzhou and Baiyin urban areas, Laba porridge is made of rice, beans, red dates, ginkgo, lotus seeds, raisins, apricots, dried wax gourd, walnuts, green shredded pork, sugar and diced meat. After that, we should first worship the door gods, kitchen gods, gods and the god of wealth in order to pray for their protection and hope that the weather will be good and the crops will be bumper in the coming year. Then give it to the neighbors and give it to the last family. People in Henan eat laba rice, which is cooked with eight kinds of raw materials, such as millet, mung bean, red bean, wheat kernel, peanut, red date and corn. When cooking, add some brown sugar and walnuts to make the porridge thick and fragrant, which means a good harvest in the coming year. Jiangsu Laba porridge is divided into sweet and salty, and the cooking method is the same. Porridge with pickles and oil. Suzhou people should put mushrooms, skins, walnuts, pine nuts, Gordon Euryale seeds, red dates, chestnuts, fungus, vegetables and Flammulina velutipes when cooking Laba porridge.

Li Fu, a scholar in Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote a poem: "The porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month comes from the Vatican, and the seven treasures are beautiful and harmonious, and the five flavors are mixed with people." Laba is closely related to porridge. Drinking porridge in Laba is a fancy and a level.