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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, and is also 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 event” when drinking 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 celebrate the 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: The Basic Annals of Qin: Komiks“: “In the twelve years, Cinema was 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 first La Festival.
The day of holding the La Festival is called the “La Day”. The La Festival in the Han Dynasty was on the third Xu day of the December of each year, and later generations gradually fixed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Yong’s book “Duduanjue” clearly pointed out: “La is the end of the year.” Large-scale sacrificial activities in the twelfth lunar month have become a custom at that time. “Sacrifice”The Hundred Gods also became one of the most important sacrificial activities to celebrate the harvest and pray for the ancestors and gods at the end of the year.
The Book of Rites·Monthly Orders” recorded that the emperor at that time carried out sacrificial activities in the “commune” and prayed to the “Tianzong” for good weather. The objects they worshiped included ancestors and “Five Sacrifices”, including sacrifices to door gods, gourd gods, well gods, stove gods, earth gods, etc. It can also be seen that the names and objects of the “La Sacrifices” were relatively complicated at that time, and there was no dedicated sacrificial object.
The customs of the La Sacrifices were followed by generations until the present. In Lu Xun’s short story ” In the year-end ceremony of Lu Town, a series of pre-New Year sacrificial activities are the inheritance of the ancient La Festival.
Laba customs were originally hunting
In the early days of the Chinese characters, many characters with similar meanings were inseparable. For example, the three words “wax”, “la” and “hunting” came from the same origin. In fact, the original appearance of Laba Festival was closely related to the hunting habits of ancient people.
In ancient times, unlike now, there were sufficient grain reserves and production capacity to allow everyone to spend the winter. It was cold in winter at that time. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>KomiksThe ground is frozen and cannot produce food, and the food harvested before may not be enough to eat. Therefore, hunting has become a necessary means of production in winter.
The “Common Meaning of the Condor Heritage” by Ying Shao, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, records: “Lar means hunting, hunting animals in the fields to worship ancestors. “It means that people hunt on walnut days 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 did not have the custom of drinking Laba porridge, but the hunting style has been passed down.
Laba was once a “carnival”
Feasting on Laba 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. ConfuciusHe said, “Is it a pleasure to give me?” ’And he replied: ‘BabaylanAll people in a country are crazy and are happy to be unknown. ’” 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, and the principles are not something you can understand.
In the Tang Dynasty, Laba was very concerned about Laba Festival from the folk to the palace. The main festivals of the Laba Festival in the Tang Dynasty include “medicine and food”, “Komiks”, etc. In addition, on Laba Day, they also hold hunting, gardening and other activities.
Wu Zetian visited Shangyuan on Laba Day. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Komiks. On the cold day of Laba, there were only the plum blossoms blooming alone, but she insisted that all the flowers bloom. Looking at a spring scenery in winter, she wrote the “La Day Issues to Shangyuan”: “In the Ming Dynasty, I am eager to hear the knowledge of the spring. Flowers must be released overnight, CinemaDon’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 “Wax Day” says: “I sing you, how much is the wine. It is not clear how much, Zhangshan has a Cinema strange song. “Waste Day, I recite poems with wine and endless joy.
After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the La Days became more and more lively, and there was also the nature of purchasing New Year’s goods for the New Year. The poem “Babaylan Wax” by Pei Xiu of Jin said: “The scales gather in the capital and trade is intertwined. The flowers chase each other and turn their backs into curtains. There is meat like a hill, and there is wine like a spring. There are food like forests and goods like mountains. ”
There are so many things to buy, it can be seen that the year-end “Shopping Festival” is originally a traditional festival in our country.
Laba porridge appeared in the Song Dynasty
Laba porridge was in the Tang Dynasty
Laba porridge was in the Tang Dynasty.href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Babaylan began to emerge in the era, 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 is called ‘Laba’. Dasha and other temples all have five flavor porridge, called Laba porridge.” “Dongjing Menghualu” by Meng Yuanlao of the Southern Song Dynasty records: “On the day of the capital, each family also cooks porridge with fruits and miscellaneous ingredients and eats it.” Since then, Laba porridge is popular, and various places have followed suit, and the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the Laba porridge, gradually forming the Laba Festival, which is the main custom of drinking Laba porridge.
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 and development, the methods and ingredients of Laba porridge are more colorful, and Laba porridge in various places has its own characteristics. In addition, Laba porridge has evolved from Laba 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”. 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 helped the poor. 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 in the early days, and on that day, they made porridge and donated to the poor, and they were the same as others.” Many unbelievingCinemaBuddhist House will also give porridge and do good deeds on the eight festivals of Laba Festival.
The Laba Festival customs at this time have shown some new changes in the festival, 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 a unique charm and brings new blessings and hopes.
How will you spend Laba Festival?
(References: Gansu Daily, Inner Mongolia Daily, Dazhong Daily, Text href=”https://comicmov.com/”>Cinema Report, CCTV News, People’s Daily, Beijing Daily Client, Guangzhou Daily, Guangming.com, China News Network, etc.)
Topic Host | Reporter Zheng Zongmin