Inside a farmhouse with snowy hills outside, two children sort red beans, black beans and grains on a wooden table, while their mother stirs a steaming pot of Laba porridge over the stove.
Laba Festival
After Laba, the New Year is here
Introduction
Congee cooked and shared on the eighth of the twelfth month, the first taste of the New Year
The Laba Festival falls on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and grew from the pre-Qin la sacrifice that thanked gods and ancestors at the year's end. The Han set the la day on the third xu day after the winter solstice, and by the Northern and Southern Dynasties it was fixed on the eighth of the twelfth month, as the Jingchu suishi ji records. Buddhism took the day as the Buddha's enlightenment, when temples cooked congee for the Buddha and the public, and the Northern Song Dongjing menghua lu records the great temples sending 'seven-treasure, five-flavour congee' to their followers, called Laba congee. Its customs are cooking Laba congee, pickling Laba garlic, temple congee giving and offerings to ancestors and gods, and people say that after Laba the New Year is here.
Timeline
- 550OriginThe Liang dynasty Jingchu suishi ji records that the eighth of the twelfth month is the la day; the fixed date merged with the Buddha's enlightenment day, an early reliable record of the festival.
Literature › Annual Customs of Jing-Chu - 1071EvolutionIn 1071 Su Shi spent Laba at Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and wrote a poem on the temple's festivities.
- 1147EvolutionBook 10 of the Dongjing menghua lu records that on the eighth of the twelfth month Kaifeng's great temples held Buddha-bathing assemblies and sent 'seven-treasure, five-flavour congee' to their followers, called Laba congee.Literature › Record of a Dream of Splendour in the Eastern Capital: Juan 10
- 2021ImpactIn 2021 the Laba Festival customs (Zhejiang; Lingyin Temple, Hangzhou) entered the fifth national batch (X-174).
Heritage Listings
- 2021National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage5th batch · X-174 Laba Festival Customs · no. 1548 · nominated by Zhejiang · safeguarded by Lingyin Temple · Hangzhou