What is the origin of eating ice on Laba Festival and what are the legends of Laba Festival?

What is the origin of eating ice on Laba Festival and what are the legends of Laba Festival?
It is said that the origin of Laba Festival has a lot to do with the enlightenment of Sakyamuni in Buddhism. So what are the legends of Laba Festival? What is the origin of eating ice on Laba Festival? Every day has its good and bad days. If you want to know more about the auspicious and inauspicious days in the twelfth month of the lunar calendar in 2018, please pay attention to the relevant articles about the twelfth month of the lunar calendar in 2018 on Shuimoxiansheng.com!

The origin of eating ice on Laba Festival:

As the saying goes, "The seventh and eighth days of the twelfth lunar month, beggars are frozen to death." As we all know, the most common custom of Laba Festival is drinking Laba porridge, but eating Laba ice is also an important part of the traditional customs of Laba Festival. There is a saying that goes, "Whether next year will be successful depends on the Laba ice." Early in the morning of Laba Day, people go to the riverside or spring to break ice and carry it back home, which is called "Laba ice".
Whoever gets up early and hits the ice first will have better luck. It is said that Laba ice can cure all diseases. The ice made on this day must be kept for a long time so that children can have the joy of eating it. Of course, adults eat it too. What’s interesting is that no matter how you eat, you won’t have diarrhea. On this day, women have to make a dough with "Laba ice", peas and barley flour.
However, this is just a folk saying. You should not eat too much ice in winter. For people with weak stomachs and prone to diarrhea, as well as special groups such as the elderly, children, and pregnant women, you should pay more attention to eating less or even not eat it.

What are the legends about Laba Festival?

1. Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty established Laba Festival. Laba Festival is on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. It originated in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang was in prison and suffering, it was a cold day. Zhu Yuanzhang, who was cold and hungry, actually dug out some red beans, rice, red dates and seven or eight kinds of grains from the rat hole in the prison. Zhu Yuanzhang cooked these things into porridge. Because that day was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Yuanzhang named this pot of multi-grain porridge "Laba porridge". Enjoyed a delicious meal. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang pacified the world and became the emperor. In order to commemorate that special day in prison, he designated that day as Laba Festival and officially named the multi-grain porridge he ate that day as Laba porridge.
2. Commemorating the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni . The founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni, was originally the son of King Suddhodana of Kapilavastu in northern ancient India (in present-day Nepal). Seeing that all living beings were suffering from birth, old age, sickness and death, and being dissatisfied with the theocratic rule of the Brahmins at the time, he gave up the throne and became a monk. He achieved nothing at first, but after six years of asceticism, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree and became a Buddha. During these six years of asceticism, he only ate one grain of hemp and one grain of rice every day. Later generations did not forget the suffering he endured, and ate porridge on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year to commemorate him. "Laba" became the "Buddha's Enlightenment Day". "Laba" is a grand festival in Buddhism. Before liberation, Buddhist temples across the country held Buddha bathing ceremonies and chanting sessions, and imitated the legend of the shepherdess offering gruel to Sakyamuni before he attained enlightenment. They cooked porridge with fragrant grains and fruits to offer to the Buddha, which was called "Laba porridge." Laba porridge was given to disciples and believers, and it later became a folk custom. It is said that before the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, monks in some temples would hold bowls and beg for alms on the streets. They would cook the collected rice, chestnuts, dates, nuts and other ingredients into Laba porridge and distribute it to the poor. It is said that after eating it one can get the blessing of Buddha, so the poor call it "Buddha porridge".
3. Red beans to beat ghosts Laba Festival comes from the custom of “red beans to beat ghosts”. Legend has it that Zhuanxu, one of the Five Ancient Emperors, had three sons who turned into evil ghosts after their death and specifically came out to scare children. In ancient times, people generally believed in superstitions and were afraid of ghosts and gods. They thought that strokes, illnesses, and poor health among adults and children were all caused by plague ghosts. These evil ghosts are not afraid of anything in the sky or on the earth, but they are afraid of red beans, hence the saying "red beans can fight ghosts". Therefore, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, people cook porridge with red beans and adzuki beans to get rid of epidemics and welcome good luck.
4. Commemoration of the loyal minister Yue Fei . In those days, Yue Fei led his troops to fight against the Jin army in Zhuxian Town. It was the coldest time of winter, and Yue's army was poorly fed and suffered from hunger and cold. The people sent them porridge one after another. Yue's army had a hearty meal of "Thousands of Family Porridge" sent by the people, and returned with a great victory. That day was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. After Yue Fei's death, in order to commemorate him, people would cook porridge with grains, beans and fruits on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year, and it eventually became a custom.
5. Laba Festival comes because of the construction of the Great Wall When Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall, migrant workers from all over the world came here on orders. They could not go home for many years and relied on their families to send them food. Some migrant workers were separated from their homes by thousands of miles and could not receive food, which resulted in many of them starving to death at the Great Wall construction site. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month one year, the migrant workers who had no food to eat gathered together a few handfuls of grains, put them in a pot and cooked them into porridge. Each person drank a bowl of it, but in the end they still starved to death at the foot of the Great Wall. In order to mourn the workers who starved to death on the Great Wall construction site, people eat "Laba porridge" on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year to commemorate them.

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