The Laba Festival

臘八節(jié)

臘八節(jié)，在每年中國農(nóng)歷十二月初八。

The Laba Festival falls on the eighth day of the 12th Chinese lunar month.

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從炎帝黃帝開始，中國人就在一歲之末，用捕獲獵物祭祀祖先神明，稱為“獵祭”。而在古漢語中“獵”可通假為“臘”,因而最后一個月也被稱為臘月。《史記》中記載：“十二月獵日也。秦文王始效中國，為之獵禽獸，以歲終祭先祖?！边@就是“臘”與“獵”相通佐證。

Starting from the times of Emperor Yan and Huang, Chinese would use hunted game as sacrifices, known as “Hunting Sacrifices” to pay tribute to their ancestors and gods at the end of a year. In ancient Chinese, the word “hunt(獵)” can be used as another word “La(臘)”, thus, the last month of a year being called “La Yue”. The proof can be seen in Historical Records, “The lunar December is the right time for hunting. The Emperor Qin began to adopt the hunting tradition of central China to offer sacrifice game to ancestors at the end of the year.”

據(jù)說，“臘八粥”起源于古印度。古印度迦毗羅衛(wèi)國太子釋迦牟尼，有感于人世疾苦，和對婆羅門教神權(quán)統(tǒng)治不滿，舍棄王族生活，出家修道。釋迦牟尼成苦苦修行六年，形銷骨立，但發(fā)現(xiàn)苦行不是解脫之道，決定放棄。此時，一牧羊女呈獻(xiàn)乳糜，食后體力恢復(fù)，遂端坐菩提樹下冥思，于十二月初八頓悟得道。為紀(jì)念佛祖得道，佛教徒于此日舉行法會，以米果煮粥供佛。

It is said that Laba Congee originated from India. Sakyamuni, prince of ancient Kapilavastu, could not bear people's sufferings and the theocracy ruled by Brahman. So, he abandoned his lofty position and went out to seek a way to enlighten himself. Having practiced asceticism for six years, Sakyamuni became as thin as a rake and found that asceticism was not the right way of enlightening, so he decided to give up. At this time, he met a shepherd girl who presented him a bowl of milk porridge. After drinking it, he recovered his strength, sat under the Bodhi Tree meditating, and became enlightened on Chinese lunar December 8. To commemorate this event, Buddhists held a Dharma assembly on this day to cook porridge with rice and fruit in honor of Sakyamuni.

佛教在漢代傳入中國，隋唐時達(dá)到鼎盛。宋代時，一些寺院在臘月初八將化緣得來的雜糧、干果、果干等煮粥救濟(jì)窮人，稱為“佛粥”或“臘八粥”。元朝時，皇帝與臘月初八煮粥賜百官。清朝時，這一習(xí)俗已經(jīng)在民間盛行。

Buddhism was introduced into China in the Han Dynasty and became prosperous in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the Song Dynasty, some Buddhists, adopting the Indian ceremony, began to cook congee with collected grains, nuts and dried fruits, called “Buddha Congee” or “Laba Congee”, for the poor on the Chinese lunar December 8. In the Yuan Dynasty, emperors would order to cook congee and award it to officials. Then the practice had become popular in the public by the Qing Dynasty.

臘八粥用料多樣，主要以谷類、豆類、干果類、豆腐及肉類為主，如大米、燕麥、玉米、大豆、綠豆、蕓豆、豇豆、栗子、杏仁、花生、豆腐、豬肉、牛肉等。有時還會添加瓜子、蓮子、松子、糖和其他果脯，風(fēng)味更佳。

The ingredients of Laba Congee vary a lot. Normally, it is made of grains, beans, nuts, tofu, meat and so on, like rice, oats, corns, soy beans, mung beans, kidney beans, cowpeas, chestnuts, almonds, peanuts, tofu, pork, beef etc. In some areas, melon seeds, lotus seeds, pine nuts, sugar, and other preserved fruits are added to give it more flavors.

臘八過后，人們就開始?xì)⒛曦i，辦年貨，腌臘肉，準(zhǔn)備迎接歡樂吉祥的中國年。

After Laba, people will kill the Spring Festival pigs, do New Year shopping, salt meat, preparing for celebrations of a happy and auspicious Chinese New Year.