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The traditional culture of Laba Festival

The eighth day of December is the Laba Festival. When it comes to the customs of the Laba Festival, I believe many people only know Laba porridge. In fact, there are many customs of the Laba Festival. Now I will tell you about the traditional culture of the Laba Festival. Let’s take a look. Let’s see!

1. Eating Laba porridge

On Laba day, there is a custom of eating Laba porridge. Laba porridge is also called Qibao and five-flavor porridge. The history of eating Laba porridge in our country has been more than a thousand years. It first started in the Song Dynasty. On every Laba day, whether it is the court, government, monastery or people's homes, they must make Laba porridge. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge became even more popular. In the palace, the emperor, queen, prince, etc. would give Laba porridge to the ministers of civil and military affairs and the attendant maids, and distribute rice, fruits, etc. to various temples for the monks to eat. Among the people, every family also makes Laba porridge to worship their ancestors; at the same time, families gather together to eat it and give it to relatives and friends.

Although the ingredients used in Laba porridge vary from region to region, they basically include rice, millet, glutinous rice, sorghum rice, purple rice, barley and other cereals, as well as beans such as soybeans, red beans, mung beans, kidney beans and cowpeas. , red dates, peanuts, lotus seeds, wolfberry, chestnuts, walnut kernels, almonds, longans, raisins, ginkgo and other dried fruits. Laba porridge is not only a seasonal delicacy, but also a good health food, especially suitable for maintaining the spleen and stomach in cold weather.

2. Sacrifice

Laba is originally a day for sacrifice, and some places still retain this custom. The objects of sacrifice include: Shen Nong, the Xiansi God, Houji, the Sishu God, the God of Agriculture, the God of Tianguan, the God of Postal Watches, the One who opens roads and draws boundaries, the God of Cats and Tigers, the God of Squares, the God of Water, the God of Insects, etc. Later in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the element of worshiping the Buddha was incorporated, and it is customary for Buddhism to worship the Buddha on this day. Some areas are grand.

Since the pre-Qin Dynasty, the Laba Festival has had the custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods, praying for a good harvest and good luck. Moreover, Laba Festival is also the day when Sakyamuni attained enlightenment and is a Buddhist festival. Therefore, on the day of Laba Festival, worshiping gods, Buddha, and ancestors is a good sign of praying for the blessings of gods, Buddha, and ancestors.

3. Eating ice

The day before Laba Festival, people usually use steel basins to scoop water to freeze. When the Laba Festival comes, they take off the ice from the basin and break the ice into pieces. It is said that the ice on this day is magical. If you eat it, you will not have stomachache for a year.

4. Pickling Laba Garlic

Beijing and most parts of North China still have the custom of making Laba Garlic on this day. Laba Garlic is garlic soaked in vinegar and purple. Peel the garlic and rice vinegar. Remove the old skin of the garlic cloves, soak them in the rice vinegar, put them into a small jar, seal it and put it in a cold place until the garlic turns green.

In the old days, businesses would collect their accounts on Laba Day, take stock of the year's accounts, and calculate the income and expenditure for the year. Creditors will also remind people who owe money to prepare to pay back the money on Laba day. In the twelfth lunar month, people pay attention to taboos, so they use the word "garlic" with the same pronunciation as the word "calculation" to replace the word "calculation". Therefore, although Laba garlic is delicious, it is not sold in the market. Every household makes Laba garlic by themselves, and also calculates their own accounts to see how much they have spent this year, how much they have in savings, and how much they should spend on New Year goods.

5. Making Laba Tofu

It is a folk custom in Qian County, Anhui Province and is a local specialty. Homemade tofu can be dried and eaten later. The specific production process is as follows: use fine soybeans to make tofu, rub the tofu with salt water, and slowly bake it in the mild sun. ?Laba Tofu? Usually hung with straw ropes in a ventilated place to dry, and picked when eating. Generally, it can be left to dry for three months without deterioration or odor.

The finished product is as yellow as jade in color, soft in the mouth, salty yet sweet, fragrant and fresh. If you add shrimp and other accessories when drying, it will be more delicious. It can be served on its own, paired with meat, stir-fried or stewed, and is delicious. When entertaining distinguished guests, Yixian people will carve them into the shapes of animals and flowers, drizzle them with sesame oil, mix them with onions, ginger, garlic and other condiments, and serve them as cold dishes, making them a delicacy for banquets.

Introduction to Laba Festival

Laba Festival, commonly known as "Laba Festival", refers to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (December). The Laba Festival is a festival used to worship ancestors and gods, and to pray for a good harvest and good luck. According to legend, this day is the day when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, became enlightened under Buddha Yabodhi and founded Buddhism, which is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Therefore, it is also known as the Laba Festival. It is called "Buddha's Enlightenment Festival".

In China, there is a custom of drinking Laba porridge and soaking Laba garlic during the Laba Festival. In Henan and other places, Laba porridge is also called "everyone's meal".

It is a festival food custom commemorating the national hero Yue Fei.

Customs of the Laba Festival in the South

Guangdong

The Laba Festival is one of the traditional festivals in my country. On this day, people worship their ancestors and the gods of heaven and earth, praying for a good harvest and prosperity. It is auspicious that there is a custom of eating Laba porridge in various places. After Buddhism became popular, the Buddha's Enlightenment Day was integrated with the Laba Festival. Famous temples such as Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and Hanshan Temple in Suzhou still serve porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In Guangdong, the atmosphere of the Laba Festival is very light.

Why do Cantonese people not celebrate the Laba Festival? This is related to the geographical location and the living habits of Cantonese people since ancient times. The ancient Lingnan water towns were not yet developed. The life of the indigenous people was not based on farming. They made a living by fishing for shrimps and fish from the water. However, no one cultivated the beans and grains needed to make Laba porridge, so they did not eat them. customs.

People in Guangdong also eat Laba porridge, but mainly in the Pearl River Delta area. It is a custom brought by the Hakka people from the north. However, the materials used to make Laba porridge are different. For example, millet and red dates are mostly used in the north, while In the south, glutinous rice, lily, lotus seeds, etc. are mostly used.

Fujian

Fuzhou’s traditional Laba porridge has an interesting feature: a small lion made of several fruits is placed on the porridge to ward off evil spirits. In the past, Fuzhou people usually started making Laba porridge on the night of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, simmering it carefully overnight, and the next morning, the Laba porridge was ready.

Some people will first carve the fruit into various shapes. The most interesting thing is to make "fruit lion". The crispy dates are pitted and dried to make the lion's body, half a walnut kernel is used to make the lion's head, the peach kernel is used to make the lion's feet, and the almonds are used to make the lion's tail. Then use syrup to stick the various parts together and put them on the porridge surface. If the bowl is large, you can also put two lions on it, which means "avoiding evil and auspiciousness". In large temples, you can also see colored foods such as jujube paste, bean paste, and hawthorn molded into small shapes such as the Eight Immortals, Arhat, and the Longevity God.

After the Laba porridge is cooked, worship the gods and ancestors in the early morning, then give it to relatives, friends and neighbors, and send it out before noon. Finally, the whole family shares the food, leaving a little bit to get a sign of having more than enough every year. In the cold winter, drinking a bowl of steaming, sweet and delicious Laba porridge can dispel the cold and warm the stomach, which is also beneficial to human health.

Jiangxi

The Laba Festival is the first festival before the Spring Festival. Nanchang people regard Laba Festival as the prelude to the New Year. Starting from Laba, every household must prepare peanuts, melon seeds, bacon, and buy new year's goods. There is a folk saying that after eating Laba porridge, you will look forward to the new year.

? There is no need to choose the day of Laba, as it will bring good fortune and longevity. ?In Nanchang, Laba is also a traditional auspicious day. On this day, in addition to drinking Laba porridge, Nanchang people often hold Laba weddings such as engagement, wife-in-law, and daughter-in-law marriage.

In ancient times, in addition to offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, the customs of the twelfth lunar month included Nuo. Nuo is a unique culture in Jiangxi and is a ritual to expel plague ghosts. In Nanchang, in order to inherit and develop Nuo culture, Honggutan New District invested in the construction of Nuo Culture Park. According to historical records, performers usually wear masks and pretend to be kings, warriors, or squares, hold swords and axes, and people beat drums and make noise to drive away evil spirits and diseases. This is also called wax drums to drive away diseases. It is said that it can keep children safe. healthy. Later, the form changed among the people and became eating fried beans, fried wheat, etc. No matter beans or wheat, they should be fried and stir-fried, and then let the children eat some, which is called "biting ghost".

Hunan

On the Laba Festival, various temples use fragrant grains, fruits, etc. to make porridge for the Buddha. It is called Laba porridge and is popular among the people. In addition to eating Laba porridge, people in Changsha and other places also make Laba beans, which have become one of the home-cooked dishes. In the countryside, Laba rice is often made with glutinous rice, bacon, red dates, walnuts, etc. Laba beans are also best cooked on this day.

There are still drums in Changsha and spring grass growing. There is a saying that farmers are working hard, so the eighth day of December is commonly known as "La Day". On this day, many people will worship their ancestors. They will first worship their ancestors with the cooked Laba porridge and then distribute it to their families. The leftover Laba porridge can also be kept for a few days, whichever is a good sign of having more than enough every year.

Changsha’s Laba porridge is generally sweet porridge, but the pickled Laba beans are basically salty. In southern Hunan and other places, there is also the custom of eating and making fermented bean curd in Laba. In places such as Xinhua and western Hunan, there is also the custom of beating drums on Laba Festival, which is called exorcism, which means to drive away ghosts and avoid epidemics.

Guangxi

In Daliu Village, Longji Town, Longsheng Autonomous County, Guangxi, the local Panyao people have the custom of making glutinous rice cakes to celebrate the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The local Yao people soak the glutinous rice raw materials and steam them, then pound them into a mud shape in stone troughs, and then knead them into shapes to make glutinous rice cakes. The glutinous rice cakes are fragrant and delicious, and are deeply loved by local people.

Zhejiang

Zhejiang people generally use walnut kernels, pine nuts, lotus seeds, red dates, longan meat, lychee meat, etc. to cook Laba porridge, which is sweet and delicious. It is said that this method of cooking porridge was spread from Nanjing.

Jiangsu

People in Jiangsu eat Laba porridge in two categories: sweet and salty. Add water chestnuts, walnut kernels, pine nuts, gorgon seeds, red dates, chestnuts, fungus, green vegetables, enoki mushrooms, etc. to the Laba porridge. If you are cooking salty porridge, just add vegetables and oil to it.