Buddhist origin of Buddhist Laba porridge

In many areas of China, such as Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, central Anhui, Jiaodong and Northeast China, there is still the custom of drinking Laba porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. It is said that the predecessor of Laba Festival is the ancient "La Ri", which is to mix dried fruits and vegetables to make porridge, which is of great significance to celebrate the bumper harvest of grain and drive away ghosts and evil epidemics. In Buddhist allusions, there is another story about the origin of Laba porridge, so let Lao Huangli tell you about the Buddhist origin of Laba porridge.

Cooking Laba porridge for the Buddha on the day of his awakening is based on the legend that the shepherdess offered chyle to the Buddha. Later generations in the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, temples around the country cooked porridge with fragrant valleys and fruits. And present Laba porridge to disciples and good men and women.

It is said that before the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, some monks in monasteries would hold alms bowls along the street and cook the collected rice, chestnuts, dates, nuts and other materials into Laba porridge and distribute it to the poor. It is said that you can get the blessing of Buddha after eating it, so the poor call it "Buddha porridge". There is a poem by Lu You in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Today, Buddha porridge is more mutually beneficial, and there are new things in the opposite village."

It is said that Tianning Temple, a famous temple in Hangzhou, has a "rice stacking building" for storing leftovers. Monks in the temple usually dry the leftovers every day, accumulate a year's surplus grain, and cook them into Laba porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is called "Fushou porridge". "Fude porridge" means that eating it can increase happiness and prolong life. It can be seen that the monks at that time cherished the virtue of food.

Laba porridge was cooked with adzuki beans and glutinous rice in ancient times, and then the materials were gradually increased. People in the Southern Song Dynasty carefully wrote "Old Wulin Stories" and said, "Cooking porridge with walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushrooms, persimmon mushrooms and persimmon chestnuts is called Laba porridge." Up to now, people in Jiangnan, Northeast and Northwest China still have the custom of eating Laba porridge, which is rare in Guangdong.

Laba porridge is cooked with different materials in different places, and sweet porridge is cooked with glutinous rice, red beans, dates, chestnuts, peanuts, ginkgo, lotus seeds and lilies. Longan, longan and candied fruit are all ripe. Eating a steaming bowl of Laba porridge in winter is delicious and nutritious, which can really increase happiness and prolong life.