As the saying goes, "Eat laba rice and do it quickly." Starting today, the atmosphere of Chinese New Year will become more and more lively. In fact, Laba porridge, which we eat on holidays, also contains rich knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine. This small bowl of porridge is very particular and can be called a perfect diet formula. What are the doorways of Laba porridge? Let me tell you in detail-

The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month (1February) is the traditional Laba Festival in China, and people usually drink Laba porridge.

"La" is a ritual in ancient China. For example, in the Shang Dynasty, people held four major sacrifices every year, using captured animals, grains and vegetables to sacrifice ancestors and gods of heaven and earth, among which the winter sacrifice was large and grand, and was called "La Worship". Later, the ancients called the December of the lunar calendar "twelfth month" and the day when the Winter Festival was held was called "twelfth month". According to Historical Records and Qin Benji written by Sima Qian in the Western Han Dynasty, "Hui Wenjun was twelve years old, in the first month."

Before the Han Dynasty, the twelfth lunar month was celebrated as the "New Year". It was not until the Han Dynasty that the third day after the solstice beginning of winter was designated as the twelfth lunar month, and it was not until the Southern and Northern Dynasties that the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was fixed as the "Laba Festival". For example, Liang Zonggu in the Southern Dynasties wrote in the Chronicle of Jingchu: "December 8 is the twelfth lunar month, and there is a saying:' La Gu Ming, spring grass grows.' The villagers also beat waist drums, grew beards, and became king kong lux to drive away the epidemic. "

According to legend, Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, also became a Buddha in the first ten days of December, so all temples have activities to cook porridge with fragrant cereal fruit on Laba, and to worship Buddha and recite scriptures as a commemoration. So Laba porridge is also called "Buddha porridge". Wu's "Liang Lumeng" wrote: "The eighth day, the temple name Laba, Dasha and other temples all set five-flavor porridge named Laba porridge."

Laba porridge in history was the most famous in Yonghe Palace during Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty.

According to the records of the Lama Temple, Laba Festival is divided into four stages: cooking porridge, offering porridge, offering porridge and sending porridge. From the first day of the twelfth lunar month, general manager office Interior Affairs Office began to collect and transport butter, millet, glutinous rice, diced mutton, miscellaneous grains, and dried fruits such as red dates, longan, walnuts, raisins, melon seeds, moss and red silk. Porridge was cooked in the early morning of the seventh day and only in the early morning of the eighth day.

A * * * boil six pots, and the first pot is Buddha; The second pot is dedicated to the emperor and the royal family; The third pot is for princes and ministers and big lamas; The fourth pot is for civil and military officials and government officials; The fifth pot was distributed to lamas in the Lama Temple; The sixth pot and the remaining porridge from the first five pots are used as Laba porridge for charity.

Up to now, there are still large copper pots for cooking Laba porridge in Yonghe Palace, each with a diameter of 2m, a depth of1.5m and a weight of about 8 tons.

During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, with the economic recession, porridge became less and less, and only one pot was cooked during the Guangxu period. However, the folk custom of eating Laba porridge is still followed, and it has not faded until now.

Speaking of porridge, we think of Su Dongpo, a great writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, "Poem of Bean Porridge": "There are thousands of snow-colored reeds on the river head, and the morning smoke is lonely on the eaves of Mao. The ground is as bright as jade, and the beans cooked with sand cakes are as soft as crisp. I have nowhere to go, selling books and living with my boss. I dragged my hair to your house when I was lying listening to the chicken calling for porridge. " Deeply expressed Su Dongpo's love of porridge and porridge.

Porridge is one of people's staple foods, and human beings have been eating porridge for thousands of years. Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor invented "porridge food". Porridge tastes delicate and easy to digest, which not only satisfies hunger and produces fluid, but also has the function of strengthening the body.

Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica introduces in detail the pharmacological effects of various kinds of porridge, such as "wheat porridge, quenching thirst and annoying heat"; "Glutinous rice, glutinous rice and millet porridge are sweet and non-toxic" and have the functions of "benefiting qi, treating spleen and stomach deficiency, diarrhea and stopping vomiting"; "Japonica rice, indica rice, millet and rice porridge are sweet, warm, flat and non-toxic", which has the functions of "promoting urination, relieving polydipsia and nourishing the spleen and stomach".

Li Shizhen highly praised porridge, saying that porridge can "smooth stomach qi, promote fluid production and quench thirst" ... and bring forth the new, benefit the diaphragm and stomach ",and Li Shizhen praised porridge as" top grade "because it is extremely soft and greasy and compatible with the stomach.

The practice of porridge has always reflected the valuable experience of China people in combining medicine with food. Cao Yanshan, a nutritionist in the Qing Dynasty, wrote "Porridge Spectrum", in which the health and nutrition function of Laba porridge was written in great detail and clearly. It regulates nutrition and is easy to be absorbed. It is a good dietotherapy product and has the functions of regulating stomach, invigorating spleen, nourishing heart, clearing away lung-heat, benefiting kidney, benefiting liver, quenching thirst, improving eyesight, relaxing bowels and calming nerves. 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. Drinking porridge at ordinary times 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. For example, job's tears can prevent hypertension, oats can lower cholesterol concentration, chestnuts can tonify kidney and replenish qi, and soybeans can lower cholesterol in blood. Soybeans are also of great benefit to the elderly, and pregnant women need the maintenance of millet porridge.

Laba porridge, as a habitual diet of Laba, not only has its allusions, but also has its practical significance. When the temperature in Bala is the lowest in a year, people's physique becomes weak. However, a simple Laba porridge contains the functions of harmonizing stomach, invigorating spleen, nourishing heart, clearing away lung heat, benefiting kidney, benefiting liver, improving eyesight, calming nerves and relaxing bowels, which can be described as comprehensive. At the same time, rich nutrition can enhance human immunity and improve cold tolerance index.

Laba porridge is made of many kinds of beans and whole grains, and also includes many kinds of dried fruits such as dates, lotus seeds and chestnuts. Not only has the effect of relieving hunger and promoting fluid production, but also has the effect of invigorating spleen and kidney, eliminating diseases and prolonging life.

"secret records of prolonging life" contains: "eating beans makes people grow skin, benefit qi and color, replenish bone marrow, add strength, and make up for deficiency and loss." Li Shizhen is also called "lotus seed powder porridge, which can strengthen the spleen and stomach, stop diarrhea", "chestnut porridge, tonify kidney and qi, benefit waist and feet", "pine nut porridge, moisten heart and lungs, regulate large intestine", "mung bean porridge, clear away heat and toxic materials, stop polydipsia" and "red bean porridge, facilitate urination, eliminate edema and beriberi, and ward off evil furuncle".

Laba porridge combines the medicinal specialties of various kinds of porridge and is extremely rich in nutrition. Drinking a bowl of steaming and delicious Laba porridge in cold winter not only satisfies the taste and eating psychology of the mouth, but also achieves the effects of refreshing the mind, benefiting the stomach and benefiting qi.

It can be said that a bowl of Laba porridge is a perfect Chinese medicine diet formula and an excellent medicated diet for health and fitness. Therefore, Li Shizhen also said: "Japonica rice, millet and glutinous rice are used as porridge to cure all diseases."

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