Legend 1:

Laba Festival is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (December), which originated in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang was in trouble and suffering in prison, it was freezing. The hungry Zhu Yuanzhang actually found some seven or eight kinds of miscellaneous grains such as red beans, rice and red dates from the mouse hole in prison. Zhu Yuanzhang cooked these things into porridge. Because it was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Yuanzhang called this pot of miscellaneous grains porridge Laba porridge. I enjoyed a delicious meal. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang pacified the world and became the emperor facing south. In order to commemorate that special day in prison, he designated it as Laba Festival and officially named the miscellaneous grains porridge he ate that day Laba porridge.

Legend 2:

The founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni, was originally the son of Sudoku king in northern India (now Nepal). He saw that all beings were suffering physically and mentally, dissatisfied with the theocratic rule of Brahmins at that time, and gave up the throne and became a monk. After six years of asceticism, he became a Buddha under the bodhi tree on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In the past six years, I have only eaten one hemp and one meter a day. Later generations did not forget his sufferings and ate porridge as a souvenir on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year. "Laba" became "Buddha's Day". "Laba" is a grand festival of Buddhism. Before liberation, Buddhist temples all over the country held Buddhist baths and chanted scriptures, and imitated the legend that a herder offered chyle before Sakyamuni became a monk, and cooked fragrant cereal porridge to offer sacrifices to the Buddha, which was called "Laba porridge". Laba porridge was presented to disciples and kind men and women, and later became a folk custom. It is said that in some monasteries, before the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, monks would hold alms bowls along the street and cook the collected rice, chestnuts, dates, nuts and other materials into Laba porridge and distribute it to the poor. Legend has it that eating it can get the blessing of Buddha, so the poor call it "Buddha porridge"

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 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 originated 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 five:

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 six:

According to legend, the old couple lived a hard and thrifty life and saved a lot of money, but their precious son failed to live up to expectations and married a daughter-in-law. They soon lost their wealth. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the young couple were cold and hungry. Fortunately, villagers and neighbors helped to cook a pot of "hybrid porridge" mixed 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.

Legend seven:

In the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a lazy young man who was always idle, but his new wife tried to persuade him many times and failed. However, on the eighth day of December at the end of the year, the family stopped cooking and the young man was hungry. He searched the rice jars, flour bags, pots and pans at home, washed the leftover powder and edible leftovers into the pot and cooked a bowl of mushy porridge to drink. From then on, he thought hard and regretted it. The local people take this opportunity to educate their children to cook porridge every Laba, which not only means that they will not forget the virtues of their ancestors' diligence and thrift on Laba, but also hopes that the gods will bring a good year of plenty of food and clothing.

Legend 8:

Among the legends about the origin of Laba Festival, the most widely circulated and recognized legend is that Qi Le, a shepherdess, saved the Buddha. This legend is considered to be the most authentic one in the legend of the origin of Laba Festival, and Laba porridge is also legendary.

Legend has it that Buddha Sakyamuni left his palace to practice because he endured the suffering of all beings before becoming a Buddha, but after years of hard work, Sakyamuni still got nothing. One day, he wanted to take a bath in the river to clear his head, but after the bath, he was too weak to climb back to the shore.

At this moment, a shepherdess passed by and pulled him ashore. Her name is Sueda, which means health. Su Yeda gave him a bowl of porridge cooked with rice and chestnuts. After the meal, the Buddha was full of energy and woke up under the bodhi tree. This day happens to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Since then, Buddhist disciples have called Laba "Buddhist Enlightenment Festival", and porridge is also regarded as a good medicine for Laba. Every year on Laba Festival, the temple will offer porridge to the Buddha and distribute it to the world. Affected by this, the folk in our country gradually formed the custom of eating porridge on Laba Festival.