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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 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. Babaylan 1990 cloth drawWhere 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 the 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: The Basic Annals of Qin”: “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 day of the La Festival is called the “La Day”. The La Festival in the Han Dynasty is on the third Xu day of December every year, and later generations are gradually fixed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Yong’s book “Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw” clearly stated: “La is the end of the year.” Large-scale sacrificial activities in the twelfth lunar month have become a custom at that time. “Salvation for hundreds of gods” has also become one of the most important sacrifice activities in the end of the year to celebrate the harvest and pray for ancestors and gods.
The Book of Rites and 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 and good weather in the coming year, and the sacrifices they worshipedThe objects include ancestors and the “Five Devotional Gods”, including sacrifices to the door gods, the Bego gods, the Well gods, the Kitchen Gods, the Earth gods, etc. Komiks 1960 witch clothes draw. It can also be seen from this that when Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw, the names and objects of the “La Festival” were relatively complicated, 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 Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw “Blessings”, the Lu Town’s year-end ceremony “blessings”, a series of sacrificial activities before the age of Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw was 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. At that time, the winter season was cold and the ground was frozen, and the food was not produced, and the food harvested before might not be enough to eat. Therefore, hunting has become a necessary means of production in winter.
The “Common Meaning of the Common Meanings” by Ying Shao, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, recorded: “La means hunting, hunting animals in the fields to worship ancestors.” It meansKomiks 1960 witch cloth draw is when people hunt on La day and use prey to worship their 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 Festival was not the custom of drinking Laba porridge, but the hunting style has always been passed down.
Laba was once a “crazyBabaylan 1990 cloth drawGe
Feasting on Laba Day or Wax Day is an ancient style. In the pre-Qin period, this festival was even a “carnival”. “The Book of Rites·Miscellaneous Notes” records: “Zi Gong is watching wax. Confucius said: ‘Is it a pleasure to give me? ’An replied: ‘Everyone in a country is crazy, and he is not sure of his happiness. ’” Zigong (Duanmu Ci) expressed his discomfort to “Everyone is crazy” after visiting the “Wax Festival”. Confucius said that it took a year for everyone to nourish this day. The reason is not something you can understand.
In the Tang Dynasty, Laba was very concerned about Laba from the folk to the palace. The main festivals of the Laba Festival in the Tang Dynasty include “medicine and food” and lighting lamps. In addition, on Laba, they also held hunting, garden tours and other activities.
Wu Zetian visited Shangyuan on Laba. On the cold day of Laba, there were ice and snow, only plum blossoms were left, but she insisted that all flowers bloom together. Looking at a spring scene in winter, she wrote the “Laba Day Execution of the Imperial Palace”: “Traveling in the Ming Dynasty href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw Shangyuan, urgently rewarding the spring news. Flowers must be set off overnight, don’t wait for the morning breeze to blow. ”
Tao Yuanming, the first pastoral poet in my country, had the greatest fun on this festival. Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw‘s poem “Wax Day” says: “I sing you, how much is it in the wine. I haven’t figured out much, there are strange songs in Zhangshan. “Wao Day, I recite poems with wine, and the joy is endless.
After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the La Day became more and more lively, and there was also the nature of purchasing New Year’s goods for the New Year. The poem “Da Wax” by Pei Xiu of the Jin Dynasty said: “Lin Ji Shimeng is the capitalCinema 1950 witch cloth draw, interlaced with trade. The flowers chase each other, and turned into curtains. There are meat like Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw hill, wine like spring. There are food like forests, and goods like mountains.”
There are so many things to buy, and it can be seen that the year-end “Shopping Festival” was originally a traditional festival in my 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. “Menglianglu” records: Komiks 1960 witch cloth draw “On the eighth month of this month (December) the temple was called ‘Laba’. Dasha and other temples all had five flavor porridge, called Laba porridge.”
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 them.” Since then, Laba porridge has become popular, and various places have imitated Komiks 1960 witch cloth drawThe eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is Laba Day, and the Laba Festival is gradually formed, with drinking Laba porridge as the main custom.
Laba porridge is mainly made of fragrant valley and fruits, and is full of five flavors, so it is also called “five flavors porridge”. After evolution, Cinema 1950 witch cloth draw has developed, the methods and ingredients of Laba porridge are more colorful, and Laba porridge in various places has its own characteristics. In addition, Laba garlic has evolved from Laba porridge. Cinema 1950 witch cloth drawLaba vinegar, Laba noodles, Laba tofu, etc., make Laba Festival a food festival with health care as the theme.
Laba Festival is also regarded as a “charity day”. 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 to ensure that the porridge was cooked before dawn of the eighth day, 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 the poor were helped. After receiving the Buddha’s porridge, the donor will usually give back some money for lamps and oil or other property. This is what Su Dongpo said, “The Buddha’s porridge is more given to each other in the morning.”
In the Qing Dynasty, for the purpose of “helping poverty”, monks in some places began begging for alms to recruit rice before the Laba Festival. According to the “Yanqing County Chronicle” of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, in Yanqing, Beijing, “Monks raised rice along the gate in the early days. On that day, they made porridge and donated to the poor, and were the same as others.” Many non-Buddhist families would also give porridge and do good deeds on the Laba Festival.
The Laba Festival customs at this time also showed some new changes in the festival customs based on the overall inheritance of previous 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 depths of Chinese people’s memories. No matter how time changes, it still exudes a unique charm and brings new blessings and hopes.
How will you spend Laba Festival?
(Reference materials: 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