Legend 1: According to legend, in the northern part of ancient India, there lived a king suddhodana who had a son named Gautama Siddharta. When he was young, he felt all kinds of pains of birth, aging, illness and death, found that social life was futile, and was extremely dissatisfied with the theocracy of Brahmanism. So at the age of 29, he abandoned the luxurious life of the royal family, became a monk and studied yoga. According to historical records, this day is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in China. Because he was Sakyamuni, Buddhists later called him Sakyamuni, which means Sakyamuni's saint.

It is said that Sakyamuni had been ascetic for many years before he became a Buddha, and he was so hungry that he decided not to be ascetic. Then I met a shepherdess and gave him chyle to eat. He ate chyle, regained his strength, sat under the bodhi tree, and went home on December 8. December is the twelfth month in the summer calendar, so December 8 is called Laba. In the Han area of China, this day is regarded as Sakyamuni's day of enlightenment, so Laba became a Buddhist festival. After Buddhism was introduced into China, it became popular to build temples and cook porridge to worship Buddha. Especially on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, when Sakyamuni offered sacrifices to practice, all monasteries held chanting, and imitated the legendary story of a herder offering chyme before Buddhism became a Buddha, using torreya grandis and fruits to cook porridge for the Buddha, named Laba porridge. This is the origin of Laba porridge.

Legend 2: There is another interesting story about the origin of Laba porridge. It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang was a child, his family was very poor, so he herded cattle to a rich man. One day, I came back from herding cattle and walked across a wooden bridge. The cow slipped, fell off the bridge and broke its leg. The old rich man was very angry and put him in a house without food. Zhu Yuanzhang was so hungry that he suddenly found a mouse hole in the house. When he opened it, it turned out to be a granary for mice, which contained rice, beans and red dates. He put these things together and cooked a pot of porridge, which was very sweet and delicious. Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he remembered this matter again and asked the chef to cook a pot of porridge mixed with all kinds of grains and beans. It happened to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so it was called Laba porridge.

In fact, the history of drinking Laba porridge in China has been 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 Ming Dynasty, rice, ginkgo, walnuts and chestnuts were added to cook porridge. In the Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge became more popular. At court, emperors, queens and princes give laba porridge to civil and military ministers and attendants, and distribute rice and fruit to monasteries for monks to eat. 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. The famous Lama Temple Laba porridge, in addition to glutinous rice, millet and other grains, also has diced mutton and cream. Porridge noodles are sprinkled with red dates, longan, walnuts, raisins, melon seeds and green shredded pork.

According to the China lunar calendar, December is called the twelfth lunar month, and the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is also called Laba Festival. "La" and "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" are collectively called "La, three days after winter, La Worship Hundred Gods", so it can be seen that "La" was originally a sacrificial activity held on the third day after winter from the ancient solstice. "Customs Pass" records: "Jiaping, Qingsi, Zhoula, Han changed to Yuela. Those who wax, hunt, and hunt animals in the wild to sacrifice their ancestors. " After a year's growth, all kinds of animals are plump and beautiful, and farmers who rest in winter hunt them for sacrifice. At that time, it can be said that it was well taken and used. However, the date in La Worship was not fixed at that time, and it was stipulated to be held every winter to the third day in the future, which was called "La Ri". The designation of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month as the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Zong Yi of the Southern Liang Dynasty clearly recorded in Jingchu Chronicle: "December 8 is the twelfth lunar month." Therefore, Laba became an important festival in December of the lunar calendar.

Laba porridge was cooked with adzuki beans and glutinous rice in ancient times, and then the materials were gradually increased. People in the Southern Song Dynasty carefully wrote "Old Wulin Stories" and said, "Cooking porridge with walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmon mushrooms and persimmon chestnuts is called Laba porridge." Up to now, people in Jiangnan, Northeast and Northwest China still have the custom of eating Laba porridge, which is rare in Guangdong. With different materials, glutinous rice, red beans, jujube, chestnuts, peanuts, ginkgo, lotus seeds, lilies and so on are commonly used to cook sweet porridge. Longan, longan and candied fruit are all ripe. Eating a steaming bowl of Laba porridge in winter is delicious and nutritious, which can really increase happiness and prolong life.

Legend 3: Laba Festival comes from the custom of "dressing up as a ghost with red beans". Legend has it that Zhuan Xu, one of the five emperors in ancient times, turned his three sons into evil spirits after his death and came out to scare children. In ancient times, people generally believed in superstition and were afraid of ghosts and gods. They believe that adults and children suffer from strokes and poor health because of the spectre of epidemics. These evil spirits are fearless, only afraid of red (red) beans, so there is a saying that "red beans play ghosts." Therefore, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, porridge is cooked with adzuki beans and adzuki beans to dispel the epidemic and welcome the auspicious.

Legend 4: Laba Festival originates from people's memory of Yue Fei, a loyal minister. At that time, Yue Fei led troops to resist gold in Zhuxian town, which was in the severe winter of September. Yue Jiajun had no food and clothing, was hungry and cold, and the people sent porridge one after another. Yue Jiajun had a hearty meal of "thousand porridge" sent by the people, and the result was a great victory. It was the eighth day of December. After Yue Fei's death, in order to commemorate him, people cooked porridge with miscellaneous grains and beans on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which finally became a custom.

Legend 5: Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall, and all migrant workers were ordered to come. They can't go home for many years, and they rely on their families to send them food. Some migrant workers whose homes are separated by water in Qian Shan are unable to deliver meals, resulting in many migrant workers starving to death at the site of the Great Wall. One year, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, migrant workers who had no food jointly accumulated a few handfuls of coarse grains, put them in a pot and cooked them into porridge. Everyone drank a bowl and finally starved to death under the Great Wall. In order to mourn the migrant workers who starved to death at the Great Wall site, people eat Laba porridge every year on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month as a memorial.

Legend 6: According to legend, the old couple lived a hard and frugal life and accumulated a fortune, but their precious son failed to live up to expectations and married a daughter-in-law is not virtuous. They soon lost their wealth. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the young couple were cold and hungry. Fortunately, with the help of villagers and neighbors, a pot of "mixed porridge" was cooked with rice, noodles, beans and vegetables. It means: "Eat mixed porridge and remember the lesson." This porridge made the young couple get rid of their bad habits and embark on the right path. By living hard, their days are getting better day by day. The popular custom of Laba porridge is that people follow it to warn future generations.

Laba Festival custom

Custom 1: Eat ice.

On the day before Laba Festival, people usually scoop water in steel pots and freeze it. When Laba Festival comes, they will remove the ice 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.

Custom 2: Eat Laba porridge

Laba porridge is also called "Qibao Wuwei porridge". 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 Qing Dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba porridge became more popular. At court, emperors, queens and princes give laba porridge to civil and military ministers and attendants, and distribute rice and fruit to monasteries for monks to eat. 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.

There are many kinds of Laba porridge in China. Among them, Beiping is the most exquisite, and there are many items mixed in white rice, such as red dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, longan, hazelnuts, grapes, ginkgo, water chestnut, moss, roses, red beans and peanuts. , a total of not less than twenty kinds. On the night of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, people began to get busy, washing rice, soaking fruits, peeling, removing stones and picking carefully, then cooking in the middle of the night and stewing with low fire until Laba porridge was cooked the next morning.

More sophisticated people should first carve fruits into human shapes, animals and patterns, and then cook them in a pot. More distinctive is to put "fruit lion" in Laba porridge. Fruit lion is a lion made of several kinds of fruits, with peeled and dried crisp dates as the lion's body, half walnut kernel as the lion's head, peach kernel as the lion's foot and sweet almond as the lion's tail. Then stick them together with sugar and put them in a porridge bowl, just like a little lion. If the bowl is bigger, you can put two lions or four little lions on it. More exquisite, it is made of jujube paste, red bean paste, yam, hawthorn cake and other foods in various colors, and kneaded into statues of the Eight Immortals, the birthday girl, Luohan and so on. This decorative Laba porridge can only be seen on the altar of a big temple in the past.

Laba porridge:

1, 120kg potatoes and millet are boiled half-cooked, 20kg garlic is mashed, and Zhaofu brand original butter is added.

2, melon slices 35 kg cabbage shreds 25 kg green pepper shreds 15 kg chicken essence 25 kg as ingredients.

3. Add proper amount of water and seasonings: monosodium glutamate, salt, yellow wine, pepper, etc. Then simmer.

4. Cook until the steam stops for a few minutes, and then stew for about three times.

Custom 3: Eat Laba garlic

From the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the atmosphere of the New Year is getting worse every day. In most parts of northern China, the custom of soaking garlic with vinegar is called "Laba garlic".

According to the old man, the word "Laba garlic" is homophonic with the word "calculate". This is the day when all companies collect accounts and calculate the income and expenditure of 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. On the day of Laba, the creditor who asked for debts would send a message to the family who owed him money, asking him to be ready to pay back the money. There is a folk proverb in Beijing: "Laba porridge, Laba garlic, the messenger who pays the bill;" Pay off the debt. "Later, if someone owed money to others, garlic was used instead of the word" calculate "to show taboo, and the word" calculate "was avoided. In fact, what is owed to others will be paid back after all. The New Year is coming in old Beijing. There are spicy dishes in the streets, but there is no one selling Laba garlic. Why is this? Think about it. Selling laba garlic has to be shouted. How come? Directly shout "Laba garlic!" The debtor's heart thumped when he heard the shouts. How come there are shouts of debt collection in the street! Besides, who are you talking to, a small businessman? It's good that people don't count with you, and Laba garlic can't shout in the streets. Each household makes laba garlic by itself, and calculates how to spend the year first.

To soak laba garlic, you have to use purple garlic and rice vinegar. Peel garlic cloves, soak them in rice vinegar, and put them in a small jar until New Year's Eve. Garlic cloves are bright green with the fragrance of garlic and spicy vinegar, which is the best seasoning for jiaozi. It can also be served with cold dishes, which has a unique taste.

Why do you have to soak Laba garlic in purple garlic? Purple garlic cloves are soaked thoroughly, garlic cloves are difficult to collapse, and garlic is crispy. In recent years, purple garlic has been rare in the market. Soak it out with ordinary garlic. Although the petals are big, it tastes neither crisp nor purple. What about garlic growers? The yield of purple garlic is low, 20% less than that of ordinary garlic. Who will plant it? Purple garlic is occasionally seen in the market, and it will be listed after wheat harvest, and the price is one-third higher than that of ordinary garlic. Isn't this the same? The harvest is small, and it may fetch a good price!

Why do you have to soak Laba garlic in rice vinegar? The color of rice vinegar is elegant, and the color of soaked garlic is the same as before, orange, yellow, green and green, with a sour taste and a rich and slightly sweet aroma. The color of garlic soaked in mature vinegar is black, the garlic cloves are not green enough, and the taste is poor, especially smoked vinegar, which is slightly burnt. Perhaps this is its characteristic. It's actually just a habit. It's better to eat delicious than to love it!

Diet custom of Laba porridge

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, called Laba by the people, is the first festival before the Spring Festival, and since then, the "annual flavor" has become increasingly rich. The custom of eating Laba porridge has a history of thousands of years in China, and it has different origins.

According to legend, in the northern part of ancient India, that is, in the southern part of Nepal today, there was a king suddhodana in Luowei, Carpil. He has a son named Gautama Siddharta. When he was young, he felt all kinds of pains of birth, illness and death. He found that social life was futile and was extremely dissatisfied with the theocracy of Brahmanism. So, at the age of 29, he abandoned the luxurious life of the royal family and became a monk. According to historical records, this day is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in China. Because he was Sakyamuni, Buddhists later called him Sakyamuni, which means Sakyamuni's saint. After Buddhism was introduced into China, monasteries were built everywhere, 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 cultivate Buddha, all monasteries held chanting, and imitated the legendary program of offering a kind of "chyle" before Buddhism became a Buddha, and cooked porridge to worship Buddha. This is the origin of Laba porridge.

In the Song Dynasty, Wu wrote Liang Lu's Dream for six years: "The eighth day, the temple name is Laba. Dasha Temple and other places have five-flavored porridge, which is called' Laba porridge'. " At this time, Laba porridge has become a folk custom, but at that time, the emperor also used it to win over all ministers. Guo Sun, a native of Yuan Dynasty, wrote a story about his visit to Yan Dou: "On December 8th, Guanbai porridge was sent, which was mixed with rice and fruit. More goods win, and this story follows the story of the Song Dynasty. " "Yongle Dadian" records that "it is the eighth day of the month, which the Zen family calls Laba Festival, and the porridge is cooked for the Buddha." On the eighth day of December, Qibao Five-flavor Porridge, or Laba Porridge, was sent to major monasteries in Kaifeng, Tokyo. According to Meng Yuanlao's "Dream in Tokyo", on the eighth day of December, monasteries gave seven treasures and five flavors porridge to their disciples, which was called Laba porridge, also known as Buddha porridge. Lu You, a great poet in the Song Dynasty, said in his poem: "Today, Buddhism and porridge help each other, thinking that there are new things in Jiangcun." It's also about Laba sending porridge. The Southern Song Dynasty scholar's "Old Wulin Stories" said: "Cooking porridge with walnuts, pine nuts, milk, persimmons and chestnuts is called Laba porridge."

In the third year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1725), Sejong changed the mansion east of imperial academy in Andingmen, Beijing into the Lama Temple. Laba, in Wanfuge and other places in the palace, cooked Laba porridge in a pot and asked lamas and monks to recite scriptures, and then distributed the porridge to palace ministers for tasting for the festival. "Guangxu Shuntian Mansion Records" says: "On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yonghe officials cooked porridge, customized it, sent ministers to supervise it, and covered the rice." Laba porridge is also called "Qibao porridge" and "Wuwei porridge". The earliest Laba porridge was boiled with adzuki beans, which gradually enriched through evolution and local characteristics. Fu Cha Dunchong, a Qing Dynasty man, said in the Chronicle of Yanjing Age: "Laba porridge is made of yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut and peeled jujube paste. And dyed with red peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar and miscellaneous grapes for external use. "

Tianjin people cook Laba porridge, which is similar to Beijing's, including lotus seeds, lilies, pearl rice, Italian glutinous rice, barley kernels, sticky glutinous rice, sticky yellow rice, kidney beans, mung beans, longan meat, ginkgo, red dates, sweet-scented osmanthus in syrup and so on. They are all good in color, smell and taste. In recent years, black rice has been added. The Laba porridge can be used for dietotherapy, and has the effects of invigorating spleen, stimulating appetite, invigorating qi, calming nerves, clearing away heart fire and nourishing blood.

Laba porridge in Shanxi, also known as eight-treasure porridge, is mainly millet, with cowpea, adzuki bean, mung bean, jujube, sticky yellow rice, rice and glutinous rice. In southeastern Shanxi, cooking porridge with water is also one of the eating customs. This kind of porridge is called fragrant rice, which means adzuki beans, red beans, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, glutinous rice and persimmons on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.

On the day of Laba in the northern Shaanxi Plateau, besides all kinds of rice and beans, porridge is cooked with all kinds of dried fruits, tofu and meat. Usually cooked in the morning, sweet and salty, depending on people's tastes. If it is lunch, we should cook some noodles in porridge and have a reunion dinner. After eating, you should put porridge on the door, on the stove and on the trees outside the door to ward off evil spirits and avoid disasters, so as to welcome the next year's agricultural harvest. According to folklore, it is forbidden to eat vegetables on Laba, saying that there are many weeds in the field after eating Lai crops. Laba people in southern Shaanxi want to eat mixed porridge, which is divided into "five flavors" and "eight flavors" The former is cooked with rice, glutinous rice, peanuts, ginkgo and beans. The latter uses the above five raw materials to add diced meat, tofu, radish and seasonings. On Laba Festival, people not only eat Laba porridge, but also worship their ancestors and granaries with porridge.

Gansu people have traditionally cooked Laba porridge with whole grains and vegetables. After cooking, it is not only for family members to eat, but also distributed to neighbors to feed livestock. In Lanzhou and Baiyin urban areas, Laba porridge is made of rice, beans, red dates, ginkgo, lotus seeds, raisins, dried apricots, dried wax gourd, walnuts, shredded mung beans, sugar and diced meat. After cooking, it is first used to worship the door god, the kitchen god, the land god and the god of wealth, and pray for good weather and good harvests in the coming year; Then give it to the neighbors and give it to the last family. Wuwei, Gansu pays attention to "Sulaba", eating coarse rice, lentil rice or coarse rice, cooked with fried seeds and twist. Folk call it "bean porridge bubble".

People in Ningxia usually cook porridge with lentils, soybeans, adzuki beans, broad beans, black beans, rice and potatoes as laba rice, and then add wheat flour or buckwheat flour to cut into rhombic "ears" of willow leaves, or make it into "sparrow heads" of small round eggs, and then add chopped green onion oil to cook porridge. On this day, the whole family only eats laba rice, not vegetables.

Most people in Xining, Qinghai are Han people, but Laba doesn't eat porridge, but eats wheat kernel rice. Boil freshly ground wheat with beef and mutton, add green salt, ginger peel, pepper, tsaoko, Miao Xiang and other condiments, and after a night of slow fire, the meat and wheat merge into a milky white shape. Boil the pot in the morning, and the smell is fragrant.

Shandong's "Confucius Food System" stipulates that there are two kinds of "Laba porridge", one is made of rice kernels, longan, lotus seeds, lilies, chestnuts, red dates and japonica rice, and some "porridge fruits" are added to the bowl, mainly carved into fruits of various shapes for ornament. This kind of porridge is specially for Confucius' master and the master of the zodiac. The other is cooked with rice, sliced meat, cabbage and tofu. , is for the servants in Confucius.

People in Henan eat laba rice, which is made of eight kinds of raw materials, such as millet, mung bean, cowpea, wheat kernel, peanut, red dates and corn. When cooking, add some brown sugar and walnuts to make the porridge thick and fragrant, which means a bumper harvest in the coming year.

Eating Laba porridge in Jiangsu is divided into sweet and salty, and the cooking method is the same. It's just that salty porridge is served with vegetables and oil. Suzhou people cook Laba porridge with arrowheads, water chestnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, euryales, red dates, chestnuts, fungus, vegetables, Flammulina velutipes and so on. 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 came from Brahma, and the seven treasures blended beautifully with mixed flavors."

Zhejiang people usually cook Laba porridge with walnut kernel, pine nuts, Gordon Euryale seeds, lotus seeds, red dates, longan meat and litchi meat. Sweet and delicious, pray for a long life. It is said that this method of cooking porridge came from Nanjing, which contains some legends.

There are many people in Sichuan. Laba porridge is made in a variety of ways, including sweet, salty and spicy, while rural people eat salty food, mainly soybeans, peanuts, diced meat, white radish and carrots. Strangers come here to taste, although do as the Romans do, but it is difficult to get used to it. Nowadays, many people in the city eat sweet porridge, which can be called unique flavor. Laba is closely related to porridge. Drinking porridge in Laba is also a fancy and a level.

The production method of Hebei Laba porridge: soak white beans in advance (it is best to use them the first night and then the next day) until they are fat; Blanch white lotus seeds with hot water, remove the green stones, put white beans and white beans in a boiling water pot for 20 minutes, then add rice, glutinous rice, wheat kernels, glutinous rice, jujube, Mi Dou and chestnuts to remove the hard shell and underwear. Wash the above raw materials, put them into a pot, add enough water, boil them with strong fire and simmer for 40 minutes until the porridge is thick and the dates are rotten. After the porridge is cooked, add honey osmanthus and brown sugar (or cook brown sugar into sugar juice before adding it to the porridge) and mix well.

Features: sticky, sweet and delicious, nutritious and easy to digest. Eating this porridge for the elderly and infirm is conducive to restoring health. No matter what kind of Laba porridge, it has the functions of warming stomach, moistening intestines, strengthening spleen and clearing lung.

There are some scientific reasons why people in China love Laba porridge so much, besides eating customs. The porridge spectrum written by Cao Yanshan, a nutritionist in the Qing Dynasty, has a detailed and clear record of the fitness and nutritional functions of Laba porridge. Laba porridge has the functions of harmonizing stomach and strengthening spleen, nourishing heart and clearing lung, benefiting kidney and liver, quenching thirst, improving eyesight, relaxing bowels and calming the nerves, and is a good food therapy. These have been confirmed by modern medicine. Laba porridge is also a good food for the elderly, but we should also be careful not to drink too much. Actually, it's not just Laba. Eating porridge is also good for the elderly. There are quite a few varieties of porridge, which can vary from person to person. You can choose it according to your needs and eat it as appropriate.

Laba festival folk custom

Yongjun Li

Legend has it that "Laba Festival" originated in ancient La Worship. It is said that every year in the twelfth lunar month, the ancients held activities to worship ancestors and gods. According to religious circles, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is also the day when Buddha Sakyamuni achieved enlightenment, which was originally called "Enlightenment Day". Since the Zhou Dynasty, the twelfth lunar month has been designated as the twelfth lunar month. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, this month, major sacrificial activities will be held to pray for a bumper harvest, good luck and peace. It is said that "La Worship" has eight kinds of gods, so it was decided that the eighth day was a fixed sacrifice day, which later became a custom.

There are many sayings and interesting allusions about the origin of Laba porridge. It is said that in order to commemorate the Buddha's 80% Daoism Day in the twelfth lunar month, monks from various monasteries gather together to commemorate and recite scriptures on this day. Rice, wheat, beans, whole grains, and collected dried fruits such as dates, chestnuts, and walnuts are gathered together and cooked in a cauldron as a sacrifice to the Buddha, and then all monks enjoy the fruits of monasticism. In the case of pilgrimage, temples give alms with porridge. Later, this move gradually became a good thing and has been passed down to this day. With the continuous spread of Buddhism, this activity spread from temples to secular people, and cooking Laba porridge gradually evolved into a folk custom. In the Song Dynasty, "Laba porridge" was widely popular. Whether it is the imperial court, the government, the people or even temples, they will cook porridge on this day to worship Buddha and ancestors, for family reunion, or as gifts to friends, in order to pray for Geely's peace. "Laba Festival" has not only become an important traditional folk festival, but also the folk custom of drinking Laba porridge has been passed down from generation to generation.

After the establishment of the capital Beijing, the people of old Beijing have a deeper historical and cultural affection for Laba Festival. It is said that there is also an allusion: Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, herded cattle when he was a child and was starving when he came back. Suddenly he found a mouse hole in the corner and wanted to catch a vole to satisfy his hunger. Unexpectedly, I took out a lot of glutinous rice, millet, wheat, peanuts and beans from the hole, so I had to wash these miscellaneous grains, cook them into porridge and have a good meal. Later, when he became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he ate delicacies all day, and his mouth was tired and annoyed. He remembered the past when he was a child, so he ordered the court chef to imitate it and invited the ministers to taste it together. Unexpectedly, everyone said it was wonderful. This day happened to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and Zhu Yuanzhang named it "Laba porridge". Later, people had the custom of drinking Laba porridge.

There are many descriptions of the folk customs of Laba porridge in past dynasties. The poem "Dala" in the Jin Dynasty wrote: "The sun shines, the stars record, and Dala Chen Si. The mysterious image is changed and the public is updated. One year later, Ba Wax reported diligence. Gaocheng is a river, young and strong. " In the form of "La Worship", the ancients thanked the gods for blessing a peaceful and happy life. The Northern Qi Wei Festival of Keeping Wax said that "the cold will force the Qing Dynasty to worship, and there must be a fine feast, so how can we comfort China?" It expressed people's mood of offering sacrifices to the gods in the dead of winter. The poet Lu You wrote in "Walking in the West Village on December 8th": "The wind of the twelfth lunar month is spring, and I passed my neighbor because of my scattered strategy. In the desert of Chai Men, there are many cattle trails and wild seashores. The only thing many diseases need is medicine, and the poor objects are idle people. At present, the mutual feeding of Buddha porridge has made Jiangcun more frugal and brand-new. It vividly depicts people giving and eating Buddha porridge (Laba porridge) to each other in Latin America, feeling the fresh breath and welcoming the arrival of spring.

In the Qing Dynasty, the court had the custom of Laba porridge. From Yong Zhengdi to Xuan Tong's abdication, they all attached great importance to this festival. Every Laba, in the Lama Temple, several cauldrons boiled porridge, lamas chanted scriptures and sent ministers to burn incense and sacrifice. Daoguang will also hold "La Worship" activities on the day of Laba. It is better for Taoist factions to abstain from porridge, and the people worship God with porridge. Friends and relatives exchange "Laba porridge" to increase their feelings. The Story of Yanjing's Age contains: On the Laba Festival in the Qing Dynasty, the Lama Temple prepared four cauldrons, two meters in diameter and one and a half meters deep, which could hold several meters. The first pot of porridge is for God, and the second pot of porridge is for the Empress Dowager and her family. The third pot of porridge was given to the princes and small lords, and the fourth pot was given to the Lama. The scene of eating porridge in Beijing at that time was very warm. There is a poem to prove it: "the first sun is in Dalu, and the millet is cooked with porridge and beans." Present Buddha's arrow at the right time and sincerely wish the golden light shine on all beings silently. A few wisps of fragrance wafted, and piles of fruits and vegetables gathered in succession. * * * The shaman is the best, and the color of shaman is passed from the Lotus Torch to the Lotus Torch. Naive and full, they are playing wax drums in the street. " It is conceivable that when giving alms to "Laba porridge" in this festival, the royal monarch and his subjects and ordinary people must be crowded and unprecedented.

In the early years, there was an allusion in old Beijing. It is said that Laba Festival is related to Zhuan Xu, one of the five ancient emperors. After the death of his three sons, they all became evil spirits and came out to scare children. Because people are superstitious and afraid of ghosts and gods, and think that all diseases are caused by epidemic ghosts, but these demons are fearless and afraid of red beans. Therefore, on the day of Laba, red beans and red beans are specially used to cook porridge, which can dispel the epidemic and welcome the auspicious, and then lead to the rumor that "red beans play ghosts".

Old Beijingers have special feelings for Laba Festival and are deeply influenced by the culture of the ancient capital. They have unique customs in inheriting folk traditions and constantly innovate in food culture. After long-term exploration and mutual communication inside and outside the court, the materials and practices of "Laba porridge" have been continuously improved, and the patterns and tastes of porridge have become more and more exquisite.

The Forbidden City added longan, lotus seeds, nuts, konjac and tremella to Laba porridge, making it a delicious tonic in winter. Ordinary people should also save as much whole grains as possible to make "Laba porridge" sweet and delicious. People think that drinking Laba porridge can drive away the cold and warm the body, and supplementing Yang Qi is good for health. Drinking "Laba porridge" is the threshold to enter the New Year. I remember when I was a child, in the middle of winter, I always looked forward to a delicious "Laba porridge" made of new grain. Moreover, adults and children in every family are willing to gather on the hot kang and enjoy the joy and warmth brought by hot home cooking. Although Beijing's winter is bitter, "La Qibala freezes to death in western Western jackdaw", drinking "Bala porridge" will make people forget the cold outside. That deep human touch always warms the simple and hardworking Beijingers.

Old Beijingers have always attached great importance to Laba Festival as a signal of the coming Spring Festival. There used to be a folk song in Beijing: "Don't worry, old lady, it will be the New Year after Laba." "I drank Laba porridge for a few days, walked 23 miles, and sent the kitchen god to celebrate the New Year." There is also a children's song circulating in old Beijing: "Son, don't be greedy, just eat laba rice, and the candied fruit will stick at once. I hope to wear new clothes for the New Year, have a good meal, and some people give lucky money. "

After the "Laba Festival", the prelude of the Spring Festival will be opened, and happy events will continue. Women are busy sewing, making new shoes, embroidering pillows and cutting new clothes to make plans for the new year. Folk flower fairs have also begun to be organized, and cultural activities have been stepped up. Although it is freezing in the "Laba" season, Beijing residents who are full of lofty sentiments and welcome the New Year have accumulated wealth and prepared for a bumper harvest after a year of hard work. A fiery heart warms a harmonious and happy home and makes life full of infinite joy and warmth.

Old Beijing in memory, these years are the twelfth lunar month. On the day of "Laba Festival", market shops began to raise toys, snacks and other new year's goods, and commodities gradually increased. Many housewives will make bean curd and snacks in advance, and even take time to grind some bean noodles and yellow noodles before the Spring Festival to make fried meatballs and steamed cakes. I remember that after dinner on the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, my mother always screened rice, millet, glutinous rice, corn rice, sorghum, adzuki beans and kidney beans, then peeled walnuts and almonds, washed peanuts and red dates for later use, and began to cook porridge on the seventh night of the twelfth lunar month. Mother is very experienced in cooking. First, put the beans that are not easy to boil into the pot. When the beans turn soft and red, put the stick, rice and nuts into the pot and stir constantly. About an hour later, the thick aroma overflowed from the edge of the lid, which made people drool. When the porridge is sticky, it can be taken out of the pot and put into the earthen basin for later use. In addition, my mother will steam two drawers of cakes and golden cakes with white flour and jujube. Put green and red silk and melon seeds on it, and point a lotus-shaped red dot with big petals to symbolize Geely's perfection. In the evening, grandma and sister will peel garlic and then soak it in a jar full of vinegar to make laba garlic.

At noon on the eighth day, my mother heated "Laba porridge" and "auspicious cake" with brown sugar and white sugar and served them on the kang table. The whole family enjoys Laba in a warm room and enjoys the warmth and peace of traditional festivals. After drinking porridge, I went out with my sister and sent the specially prepared "Laba porridge" and cakes to relatives and friends. Adults also prepared tea and candy to receive relatives and friends at home. The harmonious atmosphere is full of deep affection and friendship, and it is still warm to think of it.