What are the common customs of Laba Festival?

Laba Festival, commonly known as Laba, refers to the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Laba Festival is a festival to worship ancestors and gods and pray for good harvest and good luck. Since it is an important traditional festival in China, we should pay attention to it, and there are many customs of Laba Festival. Let's enter Laba Festival ~

? Laba Festival custom?

? 1, drink Laba porridge

In China, Laba porridge is drunk on Laba Festival, and Laba porridge is also called Qibao Wuwei porridge. The custom of drinking Laba porridge has a history of 1000 years, which originated in the Song Dynasty. On Laba Festival, Laba porridge is cooked in court, yamen, temples and people's homes. In Qing dynasty, drinking Laba porridge was a popular custom. In the court, the emperor, queen and prince sent laba porridge to the ministers and attendants of civil and military affairs, and distributed rice and fruit to the monasteries for the monks to eat. In the folk, every household should also make laba porridge to worship their ancestors; At the same time, family members get together for dinner and give gifts to relatives and friends.

The habit of eating Laba porridge is also taboo in some places, that is, eating Laba porridge at noon is not enough.

Step 2 sacrifice

Laba Festival was originally a day of sacrifice, and even now, there are still many places that still retain this custom. Among them, the sacrificial objects of Laba Festival are: Shennong, Shensi, Hou Ji, Saturnalia, Celestial Officer, Post Table God, Taoist Painting God, Cat and Tiger God, Workshop God, Water God, Insect God and so on. Later, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the elements of offering sacrifices to the Buddha were incorporated, and Buddhism used to offer sacrifices to the Buddha on this day. Some areas are very magnificent.

Step 3 make laba tofu

One of the customs of Laba Festival is to make Laba tofu, which is mainly popular in Ganxian County, Anhui Province. Making laba tofu is a local specialty. The method is: dry the homemade tofu for later use, make tofu with fine soybeans, smear it with salt water, and bake it slowly in mild sunshine. "Laba tofu" is usually hung in a ventilated place with straw rope to dry, and can be picked when eating. Generally, it can be dried for three months without deterioration or taste change.

Step 4 brew laba garlic

The custom of Laba Festival is also brewing Laba garlic. In Beijing and most parts of North China, it is also a custom to brew Laba garlic on this day. Laba garlic is garlic soaked in vinegar. Use purple garlic and rice vinegar to remove the old skin of garlic cloves, soak them in rice vinegar, put them in a small jar and put them in a cool place until the garlic turns green.

Step 5 eat laba noodles

Laba Festival, in addition to sweet or salty Laba porridge, Laba garlic and Laba tofu, Laba noodles are also essential.

In Fengxiang area in the west of Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province, before the sun came out on the first morning of "La Ri", the whole family ate Laba noodles together. I want to eat until the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. In Huayin, hua county and Tongguan counties in the east of Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province, there is also the custom of eating Laba noodles. Because "spicy" and "wax" are homophonic. Laba noodles are mainly family-oriented, and various main and auxiliary materials are prepared as needed.

Introduction to the historical origin of Laba Festival

Since the pre-Qin period, Laba Festival has been used to worship ancestors and gods and pray for good harvest and good luck. In addition to the activities of offering sacrifices to ancestors and worshipping gods, people also have to chase the epidemic on Laba Festival. This activity originated from ancient Nuo. One of the prehistoric medical methods was to exorcise ghosts and treat diseases. As a witchcraft activity, Xinhua and other places in Hunan still retain the custom of beating drums to drive away epidemics in the twelfth lunar month. ? It is said that Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, realized enlightenment on the eighth day of December, so Laba is also a Buddhist festival, also known as "Buddhist Enlightenment Festival".

Laba Festival has been circulated among the people in China for thousands of years and has a profound cultural heritage. We do our best to inherit traditional culture and customs in various forms and protect the customs of Laba Festival to the modern age. Laba Festival is a national treasure traditional festival. We are proud to pass on Chinese civilization to future generations. We should pass on the custom of Laba Festival from generation to generation and let Chinese culture continue to develop under the spur of civilization!