What is the custom of Laba Festival in Chaoshan?

Laba "refers to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (December).

Laba Festival is a festival to worship ancestors and gods and pray for good harvest and good luck. According to legend, this day is the day when Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, became a monk and founded Buddhism under the bodhi of Buddha, that is, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so it is also called "Buddhist and Taoist Festival". In China, Laba Festival has the custom of drinking Laba porridge. In Laba, there is a custom of drinking Laba porridge. This custom is still maintained in the vast areas of South, Northeast and Northwest China, but it is rare in South China and almost absent in Taiwan Province Province.

Laba porridge is made of eight kinds of fresh grains and fruits harvested in the same year, usually sweet porridge. However, many farmers in the Central Plains like to eat Laba porridge. In addition to rice, millet, mung bean, cowpea, peanut, jujube and other raw materials, porridge also contains radish, cabbage, vermicelli, kelp, tofu and so on. China has a history of drinking Laba porridge for 1000 years. It first started in the Song Dynasty. On the day of Laba, whether it is the imperial court, the government, temples, or the people's homes, Laba porridge will be cooked. In the folk, every household should also make laba porridge to worship their ancestors; At the same time, family members get together for dinner and give gifts to relatives and friends.

[2] Laba garlic Laba garlic In most parts of northern China, the custom of soaking garlic with vinegar is called "Laba garlic" on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Pickling Laba garlic is a custom in northern China. A few days after Laba, it is the Spring Festival. Due to the soaking of vinegar, garlic is green and very beautiful, and vinegar also has the spicy taste of garlic. On New Year's Eve, around the Spring Festival, jiaozi, who ate laba garlic vinegar mixed with cold dishes, was delicious. The garlic word of Laba garlic is homophonic with the word "calculation". This is the day when all firms summarize their accounts and calculate their income and expenditure for this year. It can be seen that profits and losses, including foreign debts and foreign debts, must be accounted for on this day. This is how Laba Calculus works. The creditor who wants to pay his debts on Laba Festival will send a message to the person who owes him money, and he should be prepared to pay back the money.

Laba Tofu "Laba Tofu" is a local specialty in Ganxian County, Anhui Province. On Laba on the eve of the Spring Festival, that is, around the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household in Ganxian county will bask in tofu, which is called "Laba tofu" by the people.

Laba noodles In some places in northern China where there is little or no rice production, people eat Laba noodles instead of Laba porridge. The next day, on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the whole family will eat Laba noodles. On the day before eating ice laba, people usually use steel pots to scoop water and freeze it. On Laba Festival, they will take the ice down and break it. It is said that the ice on this day is magical, and it won't hurt your stomach for a year after eating it.

Laba Festival-The Custom of Sacrificing Animals on Laba Festival Ying Shao said in "Biography of Customs": "Biography of Rites": A wax hunter killed animals in order to sacrifice his ancestors. Or: "If you are a wax worker, you will receive it, and if you make new friends, you will be rewarded with a big sacrifice."

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, worshipping gods and buddhas replaced ancestor worship, celebrating bumper harvests and expelling epidemics, which became the main activities of Laba Festival. The gods of sacrifice mainly include door gods, door gods, house gods, kitchen gods and well gods.