Why is there a custom of drinking Laba porridge during Xiaohan? What are the legends about it?
On the day of Minor Cold, people in all parts of the country have the custom of drinking Laba porridge. So, why is there a custom of drinking Laba porridge during Xiaohan, and what are the legends about it? The twelfth month of the lunar calendar is the last month of the year, representing the alternation of years. Come to the 2021 Lunar New Year special topic on Shuimoxiansheng.com to learn more details about the twelfth lunar month.Why is there a custom of drinking Laba porridge during Xiaohan?Drinking Laba porridge is generally a custom of the Laba Festival. The traditional ingredients of Laba porridge include rice, millet, corn, coix seed, red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts, longan and various beans (such as red beans, mung beans, soybeans, black beans, kidney beans, etc.).The Laba Festival falls on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year, which is not far from the Lesser Cold in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, it has become the dietary custom during this period. The arrival of Minor Cold means the beginning of the coldest month of the year, when evil spirits are most prevalent. Drinking Laba porridge at this time is very good for health. What are the legends about Laba porridge?Legend 1: From the custom of "beating ghosts with red beans"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. Adults believed that children's strokes, illnesses, and poor health were all caused by plague ghosts during the Laba Festival. 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. Legend 2: To commemorate the migrant workers who starved to death on the Great Wall construction site When Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall, migrant workers from all over the country came here in response to his orders. They could not go home for many years and had to rely 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 Congee" on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year to commemorate them. Legend 3: Out of people's remembrance of the loyal minister Yue Fei At that time, 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 clothed, suffering from hunger and cold. The common people sent them porridge one after another, and Yue's army had a hearty "community meal" 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. Legend 4: Laba porridge saved Zhu Yuanzhang's life It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was a child, his family was very poor, so he herded cattle for a wealthy family. One day, when the cattle were coming back from herding, they were crossing a single-plank bridge. The cattle slipped and fell off the bridge, breaking its leg. The old rich man became furious and locked him in a house without giving him any food. Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely hungry and suddenly found a rat hole in the house. He dug it open and found that it was a rat's granary with rice, beans and red dates in it. He put all these things together and cooked a pot of porridge, which tasted very sweet and delicious. Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he remembered this incident and asked the imperial chef to cook a pot of porridge mixed with various grains and beans. The day we eat it happens to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so it is called Laba porridge. Legend 5: The Buddhist theory was formed by Chinese Buddhists to commemorate the enlightenment of Sakyamuni Buddha The founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni, whose real name was Siddhartha Gautama, was the son of King Suddhodana of Kapilavastu in northern ancient India (now in Nepal). When he was young, he saw that all living beings were suffering from birth, old age, sickness and death. In order to seek the true meaning of life and liberation from life and death, he gave up his royal life and became a monk. He practiced asceticism in the snow mountains for six years, often eating only one grain of wheat and one grain of hemp a day. Later, he found that blind asceticism was not the way to liberation, so he gave up asceticism and went down the mountain. At this time, a shepherdess saw that he was very weak, so she boiled chyle (made by cooking milk and grains) to feed him. Sakyamuni's physical strength was thus restored, and he then entered into meditation under the Bodhi tree for seven days. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, he saw a star at night and attained enlightenment and became a Buddha. Ever since Buddhism was introduced to China, temples have made porridge with fragrant grains and fruits and given it to disciples and believers. Year after year, the tradition of making Laba porridge in temples has spread widely among the people. Although your life's destiny is already determined, you can understand and grasp your future fortune in advance. Click on the [Premium Calculation] below to calculate your latest fortune! |
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