28 is 28.

Twenty-eight is the common name of the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in China, and it is also one of the traditional festivals of the Spring Festival in China. On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, China's folk songs include the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, making cakes, steaming steamed buns and applying decals. Folk customs and traditions in China have arrived on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, and every household should start preparing the staple food for the New Year, whether it is mixing flour or steaming steamed bread.

Laba Festival is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Legend has it that it originated in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang was hungry and cold when he was in trouble and suffering in prison. Zhu Yuanzhang actually dug up seven or eight kinds of miscellaneous grains such as red beans, rice and red dates from the mouse hole in the prison. Zhu Yuanzhang cooked these things into porridge. Because it is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Yuanzhang euphemistically called this pot of miscellaneous grains porridge Laba porridge.

28 reasons for drinking Laba porridge

Laba porridge, also known as "seven treasures and five flavors porridge", "Buddha porridge" and "everyone's meal", is a kind of porridge made of various ingredients. The custom of drinking Laba porridge on Laba Festival comes from Buddhism. The eighth day of December is the day when Buddha Sakyamuni became a Buddha. In order not to forget the suffering of the Buddha before he became a Buddha, but also to commemorate the enlightenment of the Buddha on the eighth day of December, ancient Indians ate mixed porridge as a souvenir.

In some monasteries, monks hold bowls and give alms along the street before the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The collected rice, chestnuts, dates and nuts are boiled into Laba porridge and distributed to the poor. Some believers come specifically for "porridge" and think that Laba porridge is auspicious for the Buddha, not only for their own consumption, but also for their families. Year after year, the tradition of making Laba porridge in temples is widely circulated among the people.