Laba Festival () is a
traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the month of La (or Layue 臘月), the twelfth month of the
Chinese calendar
The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ¾²æ›†; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ˆŠæ›†; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar €æ›†; è€åŽ†; ''LÇŽolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...
. It is the beginning of the
Chinese New Year period. It is customary on this day to eat
Laba congee
Laba congee () is a Chinese ceremonial congee dish traditionally eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth month in the Chinese calendar.
The day on which it is traditionally eaten is commonly known as the Laba Festival. The earliest form of this ...
.
Laba Festival was not on a fixed day until the
Southern and Northern dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...
, when it was influenced by Buddhism and was fixed on the eighth day of twelfth month, which was also the
enlightenment day of the Buddha. Therefore, many customs of the Laba Festival are related to Buddhism. It corresponds directly to the Japanese
Rohatsu
Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni) is said to have attained enlightenment, also known as '' bodhi'' in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently forsaken years o ...
and the South Asian
Bodhi Day
Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni) is said to have attained enlightenment, also known as ''bodhi'' in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently forsaken years of ...
.
History
The Laba Festival's name represents its date on the
Chinese calendar
The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar ¾²æ›†; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar ˆŠæ›†; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar €æ›†; è€åŽ†; ''LÇŽolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...
. ''La'' is the name of the twelfth and final month, and ''ba'' means "eight".
In ancient China, the "eight" referred to making sacrifices to eight gods at the end of the year.
In its original form, the festival was celebrated by making sacrifices to gods and ancestors to wish for good fortune, health, safety, and a good harvest in the new year.
The word ''la'' originally referred to these sacrifices.
After
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
spread to China during the first century CE, the festival was used as commemoration of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
's enlightenment.
It was given a fixed date (the eighth day of the twelfth month) during the
Northern and Southern dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...
.
During the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
, ceremonies for the Laba festival were held at the
Yonghe Temple
The Yonghe Temple (, "Palace of Peace and Harmony"), also known as the Yonghe Lamasery, or popularly as the Lama Temple, is a temple and monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism located on 12 Yonghegong Street, Dongcheng District, Beij ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
Customs
Laba Festival is considered the prelude to
Chinese New Year, which falls about three weeks later.
An old custom is beating drums to drive away diseases. This practice, which originated from ancient traditions of witchcraft, is still observed in places such as
Xinhua
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
, Hunan.
Laba congee
Traditionally, the consumption of
Laba congee
Laba congee () is a Chinese ceremonial congee dish traditionally eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth month in the Chinese calendar.
The day on which it is traditionally eaten is commonly known as the Laba Festival. The earliest form of this ...
is an important element of the festival. This custom originates in the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
with Buddhist monasteries giving congee to people in honor of the story that
Sakyamuni
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
(Gautama Buddha) reached enlightenment on the eighth day of the twelfth month after eating congee.
Laba congee or Laba porridge () is very popular in many places in China. Different kinds of rice, beans, nuts and dried fruits are the main ingredients. People believe that it’s good for health in the winter.
It is also known as "eight-treasure congee" ()
and is usually made with eight or more ingredients, representing good luck.
Eight is a lucky number in China, and the ''ba'' in ''Laba'' also means eight.
There are many variations of Laba congee in different regions of China; ingredients can include mixed grains, such as rice,
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
, and
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
; beans and nuts such as
mung beans
The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract G ...
,
azuki beans,
lotus seeds, peanuts,
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
s, and
chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.
The unrelat ...
s; dried fruit such as
red dates,
longan
''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambu ...
, and
goji berries
Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry () is the fruit of either ''Lycium barbarum'' or ''Lycium chinense'', two closely related species of Lycium, boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. ''L. barbarum'' and ''L. chinense'' fruits ar ...
; and other ingredients such as vegetables and meat.
Laba garlic
![Laba Garlic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Laba_Garlic.jpg)
Another Laba food is
Laba garlic
Laba, Åaba, or LABA may refer to:
Places
*Laba River, in Russia
*Bolshaya Laba River, in Russia
*Wadi Laba River, in Eritrea
*Laba Forest, protected forest in Burkina Faso
*Laba Township, in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Yunnan, China
People ...
, which is particularly popular in northern China. ''Garlic'' in Chinese () has the same pronunciation as ''calculate'' (), and it is said that on the Laba Festival businesses should balance their books and calculate their revenues and expenditures for the year.
Laba garlic is made by soaking garlic in
vinegar
Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to et ...
.
Laba garlic is soaked in vinegar from the Laba Festival until
Chinese New Year. The garlic and vinegar are then used alongside Chinese dumplings (''
jiaozi
''Jiaozi'' (; ; pinyin: jiÇŽozi) are Chinese dumplings commonly eaten in China and other parts of East Asia. ''Jiaozi'' are folded to resemble Chinese sycee and have great cultural significance attached to them within China. ''Jiaozi'' are ...
'') around Chinese New Year.
In popular culture
The festival is relevant to the plot of
Jin Yong's novel
Ode to Gallantry
''Ode to Gallantry'' () is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first serialised in Hong Kong from 11 June 1966 to 19 April 1967 in the newspaper ''Ming Pao''. The novel shares the same Chinese title as a poem by the Tang dynasty poet ...
.
In 2011, Google published a
Google Doodle
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
commemorating the festival.
[{{cite web, title=Laba Rice Porridge Festival 2011, url=https://www.google.com/doodles/laba-rice-porridge-festival-2011, accessdate=11 January 2015]
See also
*
Little New Year
References
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100108101652/http://cn.netor.com/know/tcustom/tcust13.htm (Chinese)
* https://web.archive.org/web/20081214201201/http://www.arakakikamada.com/fuushuu1.html (Japanese)
Public holidays in China
Buddhist holidays
December observances
January observances
Observances set by the Chinese calendar
Buddhist festivals in China