Porridge eaten on the eighth day of the Twelfth Lunar month

Laba porridge, also known as "seven treasures and five flavors porridge", "Buddha porridge", "everyone's meal", etc., is a porridge made from a variety of ingredients. The origin of the custom of drinking Laba porridge on this day is related to the story of Buddha becoming a Buddha. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty Suzhou literati Li Fu had a poem cloud: "The eighth day of the Twelfth lunar month porridge, passed from the kingdom of the Brahma, seven treasure beauty harmony, five flavor fragrant grits into." The custom of eating Laba porridge on Laba Festival comes from Buddhism. On the eighth day of December, this day is the day Buddha Shakyamuni became a Buddha, the ancient Indians in order not to forget the suffering of the Buddha before becoming a Buddha, but also in order to commemorate the Buddha in the eighth day of December, they eat mixed porridge as a memorial. Since Buddhism was introduced to China from ancient India, the temples have made porridge with fragrant grains and fruits to give to their disciples and believers. On this day, the monastery held a Dharma meeting, following the allusion of the Buddha before becoming a shepherd offering chyme, with sweet grain and fruit porridge for Buddha, called Laba porridge. Some monasteries in the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month before the monks hold the pot, begging along the street, the collection of rice, chestnuts, dates, nuts, etc. boiled into Laba porridge distributed to the poor. It is believed that eating it can be blessed by the Buddha, so the poor people call it "Buddha porridge". Generally, the Buddhist porridge in the temple is delicious and abundant to meet the needs of the faithful who come to the temple to participate in the commemoration of the Dharma. Some believers come specially for "porridge", believing that the porridge offered by the Buddha on the Laba is auspicious, not only to eat it themselves, but also to take it home for their families to enjoy. Year after year, the tradition of making Laba porridge in the temple is widely spread to the people, which gradually formed the custom of drinking Laba porridge after the "Laba Festival" in northern China.

Song Dynasty Wu Zimu wrote "Dream Lianglu" volume six years: "8 days, the temple called 'Laba'. Big temple and so on are set up five flavor porridge, called 'Laba porridge'." At this time, Laba porridge has become a folk food custom, but at that time, the emperor also used this to win over all ministers. Yuan man Sun Guochi made "Yandu tour" cloud: "December 8, give Baiguan porridge, with rice fruit mixed into it." The one who has many products wins, and this cover follows the story of the Song Dynasty." Ming "Yongle Grand Ceremony" describes "is the 8th of the month, the eighth day of the Zen family, cook the porridge for Buddha rice monk." In the Qing Dynasty, in the third year of Yongzheng (1725 AD), Emperor Sejong changed the residence east of Beijing's Anding Gate to Yonghe Palace, every Laba day, in the palace Wanfu Pavilion and other places, with a pot to cook Laba porridge and invited lamas monks chanting, and then the porridge was distributed to the palace ministers, taste and eat to celebrate the festival. "Guangxu Shuntianfu Annals" and cloud: "every year on the eighth day of the Twelfth lunar month, Yonghegong porridge, custom, sent ministers to monitor, cover for the meal how." Laba porridge is also called "seven treasure porridge", "five flavors porridge". The origin of the custom of drinking Laba porridge on this day is related to the story of Buddha becoming a Buddha. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty Suzhou literati Li Fu had a poem cloud: "The eighth day of the Twelfth lunar month porridge, passed from the kingdom of the Brahma, seven treasure beauty harmony, five flavor fragrant grits into."

Laba day some places in our country have the custom of drinking Laba porridge, Laba porridge in different areas of the material although there are different, but basically include rice, millet, glutinous rice, sorghum rice, purple rice, barley and other cereals, beans, red beans, green beans, kidney beans, cowpeas and other beans, red dates, peanuts, lotus seeds, wolfberry, chestnuts, walnut kernel, almonds, longan, raisins, ginkgo and other dried fruits.

The earliest Laba porridge is red bean cooking, after the evolution, coupled with local characteristics, gradually rich and colorful. The Southern Song Dynasty literati Thoughtful wrote "Wulin old things" said: "with walnut, pine nuts, milk tan, persimmon, chestnut, such as porridge, called Laba porridge." "Yanjing Year's Record" said that "Laba porridge, with yellow rice, white rice, rice, water chestnut, peeled jujube paste, etc., and boiled, external dyed red peach kernel, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazel exi, pine nuts and white sugar, brown sugar, Suo grape for dyeing".

Laba porridge around:

Shaanxi: After the Laba porridge, to give relatives and friends, must be sent out before noon. Last but not least for the whole family. The leftover Laba porridge, saved for a few days and left over, is a good sign, take its "year after year" meaning. If you give porridge to poor people to eat, it is for their own virtue. Some places do not produce or produce less rice, people do not eat Laba porridge, but eat Laba noodles. Use a variety of fruits, vegetables to make minced meat, roll the noodles. To the eighth morning of the twelfth month the whole family eats together.

Gansu: Traditional Laba porridge with grains, vegetables, cooked in addition to family eat, but also distributed to the neighborhood, but also used to feed livestock. Gansu Wuwei area pay attention to the "vegetarian laba", eat rice thick rice, lentil rice or thick rice, cooked with fried seeds, mahua with eating, folk called it "lentil porridge bubble powder".

Beijing: Beijing's Laba porridge can be said to be the most exquisite. There are many things mixed in white rice, such as red dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, longans, grapes, ginkgo, hair, rose, red beans, peanuts... No less than 20. On the seventh night of the twelfth lunar month, people began to wash rice, bubble fruit, peel, remove the core, and began to stew with a small fire in the middle of the night, until the next morning, Laba porridge was done.

Heilongjiang: In Harbin, in addition to Laba porridge, there are "Laba garlic" to eat. The custom of soaking garlic with vinegar on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is called Laba Garlic.

Henan: Henan people eat a rice, millet, mung beans, cowpeas, wheat kernel, peanuts, red dates, corn and other raw materials to cook, cooked with some brown sugar, walnut meat, porridge thick flavor, meaning the next year grain harvest.

Shandong: Shandong "Laba porridge" is divided into two kinds, one is made of Coix seed, longan, lotus seed, lily, chestnut, red dates, rice, etc., put into the bowl and add some "porridge fruit", mainly carved into various shapes of fruit, is for embellish. The other is cooked with rice, sliced meat, cabbage, tofu, etc.