There are three things to note during the Laba Festival: you will not go back to your parents’ home during the Laba Festival, you will not eat Laba porridge until noon, and you will not move in the twelfth lunar month.
1. Do not return to your natal home during the Laba Festival
According to the old saying, there are always a few days in a year when a married daughter cannot return to her natal home, which is said to be a taboo. , is particular about it.
Since entering the twelfth lunar month, the first death anniversary is Laba. Returning to your parents' home on Laba on this day will be detrimental to your mother-in-law, who will die lying on her back a hundred years later. Another saying is: "If you don't eat rice from your parents' family in Laba, your ancestors will not be able to pay it back for generations." This means that your family will be poor. Some people even believe that during the twelfth lunar month, the eighth, eighteenth and twenty-eighth days of the twelfth lunar month cannot be spent in one's parents' home.
2. Eating Laba porridge does not last until noon
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is called Laba in folk custom. As the saying goes, "After Laba, it is the New Year." From this day on, the "New Year's flavor" gradually becomes Intensify. In our country, the custom of eating Laba porridge during the Laba Festival has been passed down for thousands of years. However, there are also taboos in some places about eating Laba porridge, that is, eating Laba porridge does not occur until noon.
People start to cook Laba porridge the night before the Laba Festival, and wait until the next morning to eat it. If you can’t finish it, you can share it with relatives, friends and neighbors, but it can’t be eaten after noon. There is a saying that "eat porridge early and harvest food early next year."
3. Do not move in the twelfth lunar month
According to Feng Shui, it is cold in the twelfth lunar month. If you move into a new house rashly, the cold atmosphere will block the prosperity of the home. This sounds like There is a certain natural scientific reason.
However, with the improvement of home technology, many houses have implemented whole-house heating. There is no need to deliberately invite friends to come and sit in the new house like in the past. It is very popular. The reason why there is a saying that "you cannot move in the twelfth lunar month" is simply because people are concerned that people's hands and feet will be cold if they live there, which is not good for their health. But now for people who have home heating, this is no longer a problem.
The origin of the Laba Festival
The Laba Festival falls on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month every year. On this day, the ancients had the tradition of offering sacrifices to their ancestors and praying for a good harvest. The origin of the Laba Festival is mainly related to a legend of the Buddha Sakyamuni.
According to legend, the Buddha Sakyamuni practiced for many years but still achieved nothing. One day he jumped into the river to clear his head. After bathing, he could no longer crawl back to the shore. At this time, a woman named Suyada passed by and pulled him ashore.
Suyada also gave him a bowl of porridge made of rice, chestnuts, etc. After eating it, the Buddha became energetic and came to the bodhi tree to awaken. This day happened to be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. From then on, Buddhist disciples called the eighth day of December the "Buddha Enlightenment Day". On this day, temples would distribute gruel to the world. Affected by this, the folk gradually formed the custom of eating Laba porridge during the Laba Festival.