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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 Babaylan 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 is the difference between the ancients? Let’s take a look at how the ancients celebrated Laba Festival!
The origin of Laba is very early and has a close relationship with the La Festival. Since the pre-Qin period, people will hold a wax festival at the end of the year, which means using 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 when Babaylan was held is called “La Day”. The time of the Han Dynasty’s La Festival was on the third Xu day of December every year. Later generations gradually fixed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Yong’s book “Ordinary Death” 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.”Salvation for hundreds of gods” has also become one of the most important sacrifice activities 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 in the coming year. The objects they worshiped included ancestors and the “Five Sacrifice God”, including sacrifices to the door god, the Goku God, the Well God, the Kitchen God, the Earth God, 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.
The customs of the La Festival are from generation to generation, Komiks until the present. In Lu Xun’s short story “Blessings”, Lu Town’s “Blessings” and a series of pre-New Year sacrificial activities are the inheritance of the ancient La Festival.
Laba custom was originally Babaylanhunting
In the early days of the emergence 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 storage 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 previously harvested was not enough to eat. Therefore, hunting has become a necessary means of production in winter.
The “Common Meaning of the Common Meanings” 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 also be preserved by air-dried, marinated, etc. to survive the cold winter. This is the origin of “babaylan”.
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. 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. ’” After visiting the “Wax Festival”, Zigong (Duanmu Ci) expressed his discomfort to “Everyone is crazy”. Confucius said that it took a year for everyone to nourish this day, and the truth 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 cooking “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 the cold day of Laba, only the plum blossoms were left to bloom, but she insisted that all the flowers bloom. Looking at a spring scene in winter, she wrote the “Laba Day Execution of the Imperial Palace”: “In the Ming Dynasty, we visited Shangyuan, and we were eager to hear the knowledge of the spring. Flowers must be sent overnight, don’t wait for the morning breeze to blow. ”
Tao Yuanming, the first pastoral poet in our country, was the greatest pleasure in the festival of Komiks. His poem “Wax Day” says: “I sing you, how much is 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 “Dao 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 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 Cinema was not popular in the Central Plains. By the Song Dynasty, Laba porridge officially appeared in the. “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 has become popular and has been imitated in various places. The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is the Laba porridge, and gradually formed the Laba Festival with drinking Laba porridge as its main custom.
Laba porridge, mainly uses fragrant valley and fruits as raw materials, and has all kinds of flavors, so it is also called “CinemaFive 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 must have been early to cook Laba porridge, which caught fire before dawn on the eighth day of the 18th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the 19th day of the
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 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, “the monks raised rice along the gate in the early days. On that day, they made porridge and donated to the poor, and they were the same as him.” Many non-Buddhist families would also give porridge and do good deeds during the Laba Festival.
The Laba Festival customs at this time have also shown some new changes in the festival customs based on the overall inheritance of previous customs, mainly including the customs of making wax vinegar and wax wine, shaving children’s hair, piercing women’s ears, and asking for names. The customs of Laba Festival have been deeply imprinted in the memory of Chinese people. No matter how the Cinema month changes, it still exudes unique charm, bringing 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