The legend of Laba Festival:
First, the anniversary of Buddha's enlightenment
Laba porridge comes from India. 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.
Second, red beans play ghosts
"Seeking God": "Once upon a time, there were three sons in the Zhuan Xu family who died as epidemic ghosts and lived by the river to abuse ghosts; If you live in water, you are a ghost; Living in the palace is magical for children and a ghost for children. "
Zhuan Xu, the father of the ghost abuser, is a very justifying a fault. Ghost abusers spread plague among human beings, making people miserable. Instead of blaming him, Zhuan Xu covered up his evil deeds. First, Zhuan Xu sent the Great God and the Great God Li to cut off the passage between heaven and earth, and then cut off the communication between man and god, so that the sufferings of the people could no longer appeal to heaven.
As soon as the passage was closed, ghost abuse began to run amok, messing up the world, spreading plague and disease to the world; His second brother, a "ghost", specializes in getting sores or scaring children; The third brother is a "poor ghost". Whoever enters the door will soon decline and be as poor as death. In addition, the fourth brother is called awkward, fierce and stubborn, and he runs amok all day! There are all kinds of demon gods, such as Ji Meng, the arrogant insect god with two-headed bees, the father god who lost his country and family, and so on, which have caused the chaos in the world. This ghost abuser is 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.
Third, to commemorate the workers who built the Great Wall.
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.
Fourth, inherit the virtues of ancestors' thrift.
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.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) commemorates Yue Fei.
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.
Sixth, Zhu Yuanzhang invented Laba porridge.
It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang was in trouble, it was in the cold winter. Zhu Yuanzhang, who hadn't dropped water for two days and two nights, was so thirsty that his lips were chapped and his eyes were golden flowers. In despair, a mouse ran past him and got into a hole. Zhu Yuanzhang used his quick wits to find a spade and dig along the mouse hole. Unexpectedly, this is the granary of mice, which contains rice, beans, millet, red dates, taro and so on. Although it is not much, it is all a little. Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed. He cooked these things into porridge and had a delicious meal. Because it was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Yuanzhang called this pot of miscellaneous grains porridge Laba porridge. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang pacified the world and became emperor. In order to commemorate that special day, he designated that day as Laba Festival, and officially named the miscellaneous grains porridge he ate that day Laba porridge.
The traditional dietary customs of Laba Festival;
? 1, drink Laba porridge
Laba has the custom of eating Laba porridge on this day. Laba porridge is also called Qibao Wuwei porridge. China has been drinking Laba porridge for more than 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. Although the ingredients of Laba porridge in different regions are different, they basically include cereals such as rice, millet, glutinous rice, sorghum rice, purple rice and coix seed, beans such as soybeans, red beans, mung beans, kidney beans and cowpeas, and dried fruits such as red dates, peanuts, lotus seeds, medlar, chestnuts, walnuts, almonds, longan, raisins and ginkgo. Laba porridge is not only a seasonal food, but also a good health care product, especially suitable for maintaining the spleen and stomach in cold weather.
? 2. Laba wine and Laba garlic
There is another saying about the custom of "garlic" soaking in vinegar or wine in old Beijing, which originated from the homonym of "garlic" and "calculation". In the old society of Beijing, shops of various firms had the custom of closing accounts in the twelfth lunar month, that is, clearing the profit and loss of income and expenditure for one year and checking foreign debts and accounts receivable. At that time, it was usually from the day of Laba, as the saying goes, "You will get old after eating laba rice." Therefore, Laba Festival is also called Laba Festival. From the day of Laba, the clerk or money lender will often give the debtor a small jar of garlic soaked in Laba, and the debtor will know at a glance that it is a debt repayment. When the poor or small traders who borrow money are unable to pay their debts, they go out to hide their debts in the Laba on the 18th and 28th of the twelfth lunar month. Therefore, in order to avoid those who settle accounts and demand debts, ordinary people make "Laba garlic" or "Laba wine" and eat and drink it to get rid of bad luck and enjoy a peaceful and auspicious year.
After Laba, it will be New Year! The sweetness of Laba porridge is probably an unforgettable memory in everyone's heart in China. I ate a bowl of Laba porridge, and it was near.