Chinese Laba Festival

Name: Laba Festival
Date: the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month

Laba Festival is one of the Chinese lunar calendar based festival, celebrated on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. Chinese called the 12th the month of the lunar year as La month, and the 8th day of the La month is called La day, thus the Laba Festival is invented from the La day. This festival is also considered as the preface of the Spring Festival. The Laba Festival is also a public Chinese holiday. This festival is also known as the end of year scarifies festival. The Laba festival comes during the depths of winter when all types of foodstuff can be easily stored.

There are two most important customs related to the Laba Festivals: Eating and sharing Laba porridge(also called Laba congee), and pray for the good fortune, peace, and bumper harvest in the upcoming year.

It is believed that the Laba Festival is derived from the earliest Chinese La ceremony of sacrifices and celebration of a bumper harvest. Since ancient times, Chinese people have rewarded great importance for harvesting. In ancient times, Chinese people considered the abundant harvest as a result of all god's blessing. For celebrating the good harvest the Chinese people held a great ceremony, which was known as La ceremony. In the ceremony, Chinese people made rice porridge with the recently grained broomcorn millet, and everyone eats that food to celebrate the La festival. Later on, the La ceremony was developed into a festival to commemorate the ancestors. At that time, the government decided to celebrate the 8th day of the 12th lunar month as the Laba Festival.

After the arrival of Buddhism into China, Chinese people invented another concept about the traditional mores of commemorating the associates and eating porridge. It is said that the founder of Buddhism Sakyamuni became a Buddha on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. It is believed that for Buddhism practice Sakyamuni had meditated under a tree for many years. After six years, hunger intended him to give up, but right at that time a shepherdess passed by him and offered him some rice and porridge to eat. So, he decided to sit under the bodhi tree for more than seven days and continue his practice. Finally, on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month, he became a Buddha. Therefore serving the poor people in difficulty is the real spirit of this festival. The Buddhists make porridge to commemorate this event and to offering the Buddha on the Laba Festival day. This porridge is made with rice and dried fruits and called Laba porridge.

Laba Rice Porridge

Northern Chinese people have been making porridge for more than thousands of years as a tradition. Since the Song Dynasty, the local and central government is making traditional porridge on the Laba Festival every year. During the Qing Dynasty, this tradition became mainly popular, and the empress, emperor, and princes would contribute Laba porridge to their servants and representatives. On the day all the Chinese families make porridge to commemorate their relatives and fellows. All the people get together to enjoy the Laba porridge with their family as well as to share food with other people to show good wishes.

There are many types of rice porridge, though the custom Laba porridge includes eight main and eight additional materials. The main materials usually included red beans, cowpeas, mung beans, haricots, peas, broad beans, rice, millet, wheat, corn, sticky rice, broomcorn, and oats. From these primary ingredients, people can use whatever they like. While the additional materials are included dried peach, preserved apricots, jujube paste, walnuts, chestnuts, melon seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, dried pear, persimmons, and raisins.

After selecting the eight main and eight additional ingredients, it's time to boil all main ingredients into a pot on a slow flame. As the beans are hard to boil, it's well to soak them in water before boiling. When the beans get boiled, add some sugar, sweet osmanthus, and roses into the porridge. There Laba porridge is prepared differently in every district of China. It is usually made with glutinous rice, corn, wheat, lotus seeds, peanuts, dried dates, longan meat, peas, red beans, millet, and some other fruits.

People usually have an effect on the festival activities since the 17th day of that month. One night earlier than the festival people start preparations for the porridge, they wash the rice, soak the dry fruits in water, sort out the ingredients, and finally began to cook Laba porridge from midnight. The food is cooked on slow fire over the night and ready the next morning. The people who are more conscious about the traditions, particularly pay notice to the color and taste of Laba porridge. The white Laba porridge is looked good as well as delicious in taste.

Laba porridge is an indication of good fortune and a plentiful harvest. In China, it is believed that having the whole family members at the dining table and eating the delicious rice porridge is a very pleasant event. Some people cut the fruits into different shapes of animals or people, and style the porridge with additional materials to add colors such as jujube paste, tomato paste, beans paste, and haw jelly cakes.

After making the Laba porridge, it is traditionally offered to the gods and ancestors as the sacrifice. Then it is shared with friends and relatives as good wishes. The extra aba porridge is considered a good sign,  even it is for several days, and it is said that there would be leftovers all over the year. It is also supposed as an accumulation of virtue.

Vinegar Soaked Garlic

Besides making rice porridge at the Laba Festival, another custom is soaking Laba garlic. The northern Chinese people also have the tradition of making Laba garlic on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. For the Laba Festival, the Chinese housewives peel off the garlic, put it in the jars, and soaked it in vinegar. The garlic is usually soaked in vinegar for twenty days starting from the 8th day of the lunar month. After filling the jars with garlic and vinegar, the jars are sealed on the day and rest in any warm room. When it comes to the Spring Festival and the families are ready to eat Chinese dumplings and jiaozi, this soaked garlic will be brought to the table.