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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. 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 BabaylanKomiks 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”: “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 “Ordinary Death” clearly stated: “La is the end of the year.” The large-scale sacrificial activities in La month have become a custom at that time. “Salvation for hundreds of gods” has also become one of the most important sacrificial activities to celebrate the harvest and pray for ancestors and gods at the end of the year.
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 in the coming year Komiks, The objects they worship include ancestors and the “Five Sacrifice Gods”, including sacrifices to the door gods, the Bego 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 “La Festival” at that time were relatively complicated and there was no dedicated sacrificial object.
BabaylanThe 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 “waxBabaylan“, “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.
The ancient times were not like the present, with 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. Komiks
The “Common Meaning” by Ying Shao from the Eastern Han Dynasty recorded: “La means hunting, hunting animals in fields and worshiping 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 in 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 custom of drinking Laba porridge was not in the Laba Festival. However, the hunting wind has been following.
Laba was once a “carnival”
Feasting on Laday or Wax Day is an ancient style. In the pre-Qin period, this festival was even a “carnival”. “Book of Rites·Miscellaneous Notes” records: “Zi Gongguan is from Babaylan 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 “Komiks Wax Festival”. Confucius said that it took a year for everyone to nourish this day, and the truth of Cinema is 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” and lighting lamps. In addition, on Laba Day, they also held hunting, garden tours and other activities.
Wu Zetian visited Shangyuan on Laba Day. On Laba Day, there were ice and snow, and only plums were left. href=”https://comicmov.com/”>CinemaThe flowers bloom alone, but she insisted on a hundred flowers blooming. Looking at a spring scenery in winter, she wrote the “La Day Execution of the Imperial Palace”: “In the Ming Dynasty, I went to Shangyuan and heard the news of the spring. 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 fun on this festival. His 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 endless joy.
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: “Scale gathers 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 “Shopping Festival” at the end of the year was 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. By the Song Dynasty, Laba porridge officially appeared in the stage. “Dream of Lianglu” is published in Babaylan: “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.”
Meng Yuanlao of the Southern Song Dynasty recorded: “On the day of the capital, all families also cook porridge with fruits and miscellaneous ingredients and eat it. “After that, Laba porridge became popular all the time, and all places followed suit, and the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month was 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 complete with 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 on the eighth day of the 1st day of the 1st day of the 1st day of the 1st day of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of the 1st month of
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 to beg 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 festival customs on the basis of the overall inheritance of past customs, mainly including creation.Customs such as wax vinegar and 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 time changes, it still exudes unique charm and brings new blessings and hopes.
Laba Festival, how will you spend the Laba Festival?
(ReferencesBabaylan Materials: Gansu Daily, KomiksInner 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