One day, he went to a desolate place, and he fainted because he was overworked by a long journey and a long time without eating. At this time, a girl herding sheep happened to pass by and saw Sakyamuni lying on the ground, cooking dry food on her back and feeding it to him. Sakyamuni was saved.
Later, Sakyamuni sat quietly under the bodhi tree and became a Buddha. It happened to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. After Buddhism was introduced into China, temples all over the country cooked porridge on this day to help the poor, and many celebrities and wealthy businessmen followed suit, so it gradually became a custom everywhere.
According to Meng Lianglu in the Song Dynasty, Dasha Temple and other temples set five-flavor porridge on Laba, which is called Laba porridge. During this period, Laba porridge began to become a folk custom, and even the emperor at that time used it to win over all the ministers.
In the third year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, Sejong changed his residence east of imperial academy in Andingmen, Beijing to the Lama Temple. On the day of Laba, in Wanfuge and other places in the palace, Laba porridge was cooked in a pot, and monks were invited to chant scriptures, and then the porridge was distributed to palace ministers for tasting.