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As the saying goes, “Laba is the New Year”, the atmosphere of the New Year gradually becomes stronger from Laba. January 18, 2024 is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the Laba Festival in the traditional Chinese culture. There are three “big things” to do today, drinking porridge, soaking garlic, and welcoming the New Year!
When talking about Laba, most people will think of the first “big thing” to drink Laba porridge, but they may have less knowledge of the history behind it. Where did the customs of Laba Festival come from? In different historical periods, what were the differences between the ancients passing Laba? Let’s take a look at how the ancients celebrated Laba Festival!
Laba originated very early and is closely related to La Festival. Since the pre-Qin period, people will hold a wax festival at the end of the year, that is, use prey to worship ancestors and gods of heaven and earth, praying for a bumper harvest and peace for the whole family in the coming year. There is a saying in “Records of the Grand Historian: Qin’s Cinema”: “Twelve years, the first La.” It means that in the twelfth year of Qin Huiwenjun, the Qin State located in the west imitated the customs of the Central Plains and held the La Festival for the first time.
The Babaylan day of holding the La Festival is called “La Festival”. The La Festival in the Han Dynasty was held at the twelve years. The third day of the month of Cinema is gradually fixed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Yong’s “One Death”》 clearly states: “La is the end of the year.” Large-scale sacrificial activities in the twelfth lunar month have become a custom at that time. “Sacrifice of the Gods of Babaylan” has also become one of the most important sacrifices to celebrate the harvest and pray for ancestors and gods at the end of the year.
The Book of Rites·Monthly Orders once recorded that the emperor at that time carried out sacrificial activities in the “commune” and prayed to the “Tianzong” for good weather to come. The objects they worshiped included ancestors and the “Five Sacrifice Gods”, including sacrifices to the door gods, the Ho Gods, the Well Gods, the Kitchen Gods, the Earth Gods, etc. It can also be seen from this that the names and objects of the “CinemaLa Festival” were relatively complicated at that time, and there was no dedicated sacrificial object.
The customs of the La Festival have been passed down from generation to generation until the present. In Lu Xun’s short story “Blessings”, Lu Town’s year-end ceremony “Blessings” and a series of pre-New Year sacrificial activities are the inheritance of the ancient La Festival.
Laba custom was originally hunting
In the early days of Chinese characters, many characters with similar meanings were inseparable. The three words “wax”, “la” and “hunting” come from the same origin. In fact, the initial appearance of Laba Festival is closely related to the hunting habits of the ancients.
In ancient times, unlike now, there were sufficient grain reserves and production capacity to allow everyone to spend the winter. It was cold and cold in winter at that time, and it was impossible to produce food, and the food I had harvested before might not be enough to eat. Therefore, hunting has become a necessary means of production in winter.
Ying Shao, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, recorded: “La means hunting, hunting animals in the fields to worship ancestors.” It means that people hunt on La Day and use prey to worship ancestors. The meat that cannot be eaten at this time will be preserved by air-dried, marinated, etc. to survive the cold winter. This is the origin of “bacon”.
It is worth mentioning that during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Laba porridge was not the custom of drinking Laba porridge during the Laba Festival, but the hunting wind has been following.
Laba was once a “carnival”
On Laba Day or Wax DayBanquet is the ancient style. In the pre-Qin period, this festival was even a “carnival”. “The Book of Rites·Miscellaneous Notes” records: “Zi Gong looked at wax. Confucius said, ‘Is it a joy to give me?’ replied, ‘Everyone in a country is like crazy, and the joy to give me is not known.'” Zi Gong Cinema (Duanmu Ci) expressed his discomfort to “everyone is like crazy” after visiting the “Wax Sacrifice”. Confucius said that it took you a year to nourish this day, and the truth is not something you can understand.
In the Tang Dynasty, Cinema from the folk to the palace paid great attention to Laba. The main festivals of the Laba Festival in the Tang Dynasty include boiling “medicine and food” and lighting lamps. In addition, on Laba Day, they will also hold hunting, gardening and other activities.
Wu Zetian visited Shangyuan on Laba. On the cold day of LabaBabaylan, there were only plum blossoms blooming alone, but she insisted that all flowers bloom together. When she saw a spring scenery in winter, she wrote “The Imperial Examination of the La Day to Shangyuan”: “In the Ming Dynasty, the fire was urgent to report the spring knowledge. Flowers must be released overnight, don’t wait for the morning breeze to blow.”
Tao Yuanming, the first pastoral poet in my country, had the greatest pleasure on this festival. His poem “Waste Day” says: “I sing you, how much is it in the wine. I can’t tell much, there are strange songs in Zhangshan.” During the wax day, I recite poems with wine, and there is endless joy.
After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the La Day became more and more lively, and it also became the nature of purchasing New Year’s goods for the New Year. The poem “Da Wax” by Pei Xiu of Jin says: “The scales gather in the capital, and the trade is intertwined. The flowers chase each other and turn into curtains. There are meat like a hill, wine like a spring. There are food like a forest, and goods like a mountain.” There are so many things to buy, which shows that the “Shopping Festival” at the end of the year is originally a traditional festival in our country.
Laba porridge appeared in the Song Dynasty
Laba porridge began to emerge in the Tang Dynasty, but it was only limited to the Dunhuang region and did not become popular in the Central Plains region. By the Song Dynasty, Laba porridge officially appeared. “Dream Lianglu” records: “On the eighth day of this month (December) the temple was called ‘Laba’. Dasha and other temples all had five flavor porridge, and Komiks was called Laba porridge.” “Dongjing Menghualu” by Meng Yuanlao of the Southern Song Dynasty recorded: “On the day when the capital people also cooked porridge with fruits and miscellaneous ingredients and ate italso. “Since then, Laba porridge became popular all the time, and all over the country followed suit, and the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was gradually formed, with the Laba Festival as the main custom of drinking Laba porridge.
Laba porridge is mainly made of fragrant valley and fruits, and it has all the five flavors, so it is also called “Wuwei Porridge”. After evolution and development, the preparation and materials of Laba porridge are more colorful, and Laba porridge in various places has its own characteristics. In addition, href=”https://comicmov.com/”>KomiksEvolved from Laba porridge to lambsKomiksBa garlic, Laba vinegar, Laba noodles, Laba tofu, etc., making Laba Festival a food festival with health care as the theme.
Laba Festival is also regarded as a “charity day”. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Komiks
The ancients would definitely make Laba porridge early, and it would catch fire before dawn of the eighth day. Some people started cooking on the evening of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, and Babaylan, so href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema promised to cook the porridge before dawn of the eighth day of the first lunar month, because the ancients believed in the saying that “the sooner the Laba porridge, the better.” In the Song Dynasty, the Laba porridge cooked by monks and nuns in temples was also called “Buddha porridge”. The Buddha porridge was given to the donor and helped the poor. After receiving the Buddha porridge, the donor usually give back some money for oil or other property. Su Dongpo said that “the Buddha porridge is more fed to each other in the morning” meant this.
In the Qing Dynasty, for the purpose of “helping poverty”, monks in some places began to beg for alms before the Laba Festival. According to the “Yanqing County Chronicle” of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, “before the monks Komiks to raise rice. According to the “Yanqing County Chronicle” of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, “before the monks Babaylan was collecting rice along the gate. On that day, he made porridge and gave it to the poor, and was the same as others. “Many people who do not believe in BuddhismKomiks‘s family will also give porridge and do good deeds on the Laba Festival. The Laba Festival customs at this time are based on the overall inheritance of Komiks’ customs. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema has made some new changes in festival customs, mainly including making wax vinegar and wax wine, shaving children’s hair, piercing women’s ears, and asking names.
The customs of Laba Festival have been deeply imprinted in the memory of Chinese people. No matter how the years change, it still exudes unique charm and brings new blessings and hopes.
How will you spend Laba Festival?
(References: Gansu Daily, Inner Mongolia Daily, Dazhong Daily, Wenhui Daily, CCTV News, People’s Daily, Beijing Daily Client, Guangzhou Daily, Guangming.com, China News Network, etc.)
Topic Host | Reporter Zheng Zongmin