Introduction: On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, known as "La Ba" in folklore, is the first festival before the Spring Festival. From this day on, the "flavor of the New Year" gradually becomes stronger. The custom of eating Laba porridge has a history of over a thousand years in China and has a unique origin.
For more delicious porridge recipes, we recommend the "Meitian" special feature: Meitian Editorial Department's Food Stories - The La Ba Festival in Nameless Memories & Nourishing Health Porridge
Legend has it that in ancient northern India, in what is now southern Nepal, there was a kingdom called Kapilavastu. Its king, Shuddhodana, had a son named Siddhartha Gautama. From a young age, Siddhartha was deeply troubled by the sufferings of life—birth, old age, sickness, and death. He realized that social life was futile and was extremely dissatisfied with the theocratic power of Brahmanism. Therefore, at the age of 29, he renounced the luxurious life of royalty, left home to pursue the ascetic path, practiced yoga, and endured six years of extreme asceticism. Around 525 BC, one day, under a bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, he attained enlightenment and founded Buddhism. Legend has it that this day was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in China. As he was of the Shakya clan, Buddhist followers later respectfully called him Shakyamuni, meaning "Sage of the Shakya clan." After Buddhism was introduced to China, temples were built across the country, and the practice of cooking porridge to worship the Buddha became prevalent. Especially on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, to commemorate the day of Shakyamuni's enlightenment and attainment of Buddhahood, temples would hold sutra chanting ceremonies and, following the legend of the shepherdess offering a "milk-rice" porridge to the Buddha before his enlightenment, they would cook porridge to offer to him. This is the origin of Laba porridge.
In the Song Dynasty, Wu Zimuo's "Meng Liang Lu" (Dreamy Liang Records), Volume Six, states: "On the eighth day, temples call it 'La Ba'. Great monasteries all set up a 'Five-Flavor Porridge', named 'Laba Porridge'." At this time, cooking Laba porridge had already become a folk custom, but the emperors at the time also used it to win over their officials. The Yuan Dynasty's Sun Guocheng, in his "Yandu Youlan Zhi" (Records of Tours in the Capital of Yan), wrote: "On the eighth day of the twelfth month, porridge is bestowed upon the hundred officials, made with a mixture of rice and fruits. The one with the most varieties wins; this follows the custom of the Song Dynasty." The "Yongle Encyclopedia" records: "On the eighth day of this month, Chan (Zen) Buddhism calls it La Ba Day. They cook a porridge of rice and grains to offer to the Buddha and feed the monks." In the Qing Dynasty, in the third year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign (AD 1725), the Shizong Emperor converted his residence east of the Imperial College in Anding Gate, Beijing, into the Yonghe Palace. Every La Ba Day, he would cook Laba porridge in places like the Wafu Pavilion in the palace and invite lamas to chant scriptures. Then, the porridge was distributed to various princes and ministers for them to taste and enjoy to celebrate the festival. The "Guangxu Shuntian Fu Zhi" (Gazetteer of Shuntian Prefecture in the Guangxu Era) also states: "Every year on the eighth day of the twelfth month, Yonghe Palace cooks porridge. It is a set custom to dispatch ministers to supervise, as it is for the emperor's own meal." Laba porridge is also called "Seven-Treasure Porridge" or "Five-Flavor Porridge." The earliest Laba porridge was cooked with red beans, but over time, with the addition of local characteristics, it gradually became more varied and rich. The Southern Song Dynasty scholar Zhou Mi, in his "Wulin Jiushi" (Old Matters of Lin'an), wrote: "Using walnuts, pine nuts, mushrooms, persimmons, chestnuts, etc., to make a porridge, it is called Laba porridge." The Qing Dynasty's Fucha Dunchong, in his "Yanjing Suiji Shi" (Seasonal Customs of the Capital), described it as: "Laba porridge is made with yellow rice, white rice, glutinous rice, millet, water chestnut rice, chestnuts, and peeled red dates, cooked with water. It is then garnished with dyed peach kernels, almonds, melon seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, as well as white sugar, brown sugar, and raisins, which is quite characteristic of the capital."
In Tianjin, people cook Laba porridge, which is similar to that in Beijing. For a more elaborate version, they add lotus seeds, lily bulbs, pearl rice, Job's tears, barley, sticky sorghum, sticky yellow millet, kidney beans, mung beans, longan pulp, longan meat, ginkgo nuts, red dates, and osmanthus syrup, making it excellent in color, aroma, and flavor. In recent years, black rice has also been added. This Laba porridge can be used for medicinal purposes, with effects such as strengthening the spleen, whetting the appetite, replenishing qi, calming the mind, clearing the heart, and nourishing the blood.
In Shanxi, Laba porridge, also called Eight-Treasure Porridge, is mainly made of millet, supplemented with cowpeas, small beans, mung beans, small red dates, as well as sticky yellow millet, rice, and glutinous rice. In the southeastern part of Shanxi, on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, they cook a porridge with small beans, red beans, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, peanuts, glutinous rice, and persimmon cakes, which is also called "sweet rice" and is another food custom.
On the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi, on La Ba Day, when cooking porridge, in addition to various grains and beans, they also add various dried fruits, tofu, and meat, cooking them together. It is usually cooked in the morning, and it can be either sweet or salty, depending on personal taste. If it is eaten at noon, noodles are also added to the porridge, and the whole family gathers for a meal. Afterwards, the porridge is also smeared on doors, stoves, and trees outside the door to ward off evil and disaster, and to welcome a bountiful harvest for the coming year. Folk legend has it that on La Ba Day, it is taboo to eat vegetables, as it is believed that eating vegetables will lead to more weeds in the fields. In southern Shaanxi, people eat a mixed porridge on La Ba Day, which comes in two types: "Five-Flavor" and "Eight-Flavor." The former is made with rice, glutinous rice, peanuts, ginkgo nuts, and beans. The latter uses the five ingredients mentioned above, plus diced meat, tofu, radish, and other seasonings. On La Ba Day, in addition to eating Laba porridge, people must also offer it to their ancestors and the grain granary.
Traditionally, people in Gansu cook Laba porridge with five grains and vegetables. After cooking, it is not only for the family to eat but also shared with neighbors and used to feed livestock. In the urban areas of Lanzhou and Baiyin, Laba porridge is cooked with great care, using rice, beans, red dates, ginkgo nuts, lotus seeds, raisins, dried apricots, dried melons, walnut kernels, green and red shreds, white sugar, and diced meat. After cooking, it is first offered to the door god, kitchen god, earth god, and wealth god to pray for favorable weather and a bountiful harvest for the coming year; then it is distributed to relatives and neighbors, and finally, the family enjoys it. In the Wuwei area of Gansu, they observe a "Vegetarian La Ba," eating thick rice porridge, lentil porridge, or thick rice porridge, which is served with fried "sanzi" (fried dough twists) and "mahua" (fried dough puffs). Folklore calls it "lentil porridge with sanzi."
In Ningxia, people generally cook Laba rice with lentils, soybeans, red beans, fava beans, black beans, rice, and potatoes. They also add "wheat ears," which are diamond-shaped or willow-leaf-shaped pieces cut from wheat flour or buckwheat flour, or "sparrow heads," which are small round dumplings made from flour. Before serving, scallion oil is added. On this day, the whole family only eats Laba rice and no vegetables.
In Xining, Qinghai, although the majority of the population is Han Chinese, they do not eat porridge on La Ba Day. Instead, they eat wheat kernel rice. Newly ground wheat kernels are cooked with beef and mutton, seasoned with green salt, ginger skin, Sichuan pepper, cardamom, and fennel. After being simmered over a low flame overnight, the meat and wheat blend into a milky consistency. When the pot is uncovered in the morning, it has a rich aroma and is delicious to eat.
In the "Kongfu Food System" of Shandong, "Laba porridge" is specified in two types. One is made with Job's tears, longan, lotus seeds, lily bulbs, chestnuts, red dates, and japonica rice. When served in a bowl, "porridge fruits" are added, which are mainly fruits carved into various shapes for decoration. This porridge is exclusively for the master of the Kong Mansion and the twelve other lords. The other type is made with rice, meat slices, cabbage, tofu, etc., and is for the servants of the Kong Mansion.
In Henan, people eat Laba rice, which is cooked with eight ingredients: millet, mung beans, cowpeas, wheat kernels, peanuts, red dates, and corn. After cooking, some brown sugar and walnut kernels are added. The porridge is thick and fragrant, symbolizing a bountiful harvest of grains in the coming year.
In the Jiangsu region, there are two types of Laba porridge: sweet and salty, cooked in the same way. The only difference is that salted porridge includes green vegetables and oil. People in Suzhou cook Laba porridge with arrowhead, water chestnut, walnuts, pine nuts, fox nuts, red dates, chestnuts, wood ear mushrooms, green vegetables, and enoki mushrooms. Li Fuzeng, a Suzhou scholar of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem: "On the eighth day of the twelfth month, porridge is passed down from the Buddhist kingdom. The seven treasures are beautifully blended, and the five flavors are fragrantly mixed in."
In Zhejiang, people generally cook Laba porridge with walnuts, pine nuts, fox nuts, lotus seeds, red dates, longan pulp, and lychee pulp. It is sweet, fragrant, and delicious, and eating it is said to pray for a long life of a hundred years. It is said that this method of cooking porridge came from Nanjing and contains several legends.
Sichuan is a large and populous province. The methods of making Laba porridge are五花八门 (diverse), with sweet, salty, spicy, and numbing flavors. In rural areas, salty porridge is more common, mainly made from soybeans, peanuts, diced meat, white radish, and carrots. Outsiders who come to taste it may follow local customs but find it hard to get used to. Nowadays, many city dwellers also eat sweet porridge, making the styles quite varied. La Ba and porridge are closely related, and drinking porridge on La Ba Day has truly been drunk in a variety of ways and with great skill.
The Chinese people are so fond of Laba porridge that besides being a food custom, there are also some scientific reasons behind it. Cao Yanshan, a nutritionist of the Qing Dynasty, wrote the "Zhu Pu" (Porridge Canon), which details the health and nutritional functions of Laba porridge in detail. It is a "medicinal food" that regulates nutrition and is easily absorbed, with effects such as harmonizing the stomach, tonifying the spleen, nourishing the heart, clearing the lungs, benefiting the kidneys, benefiting the liver, quenching thirst, improving eyesight, promoting bowel movements, and calming the mind. These effects have all been confirmed by modern medicine. For the elderly, Laba porridge is also a beneficial food, but it should be noted that it should not be consumed excessively. In fact, it's not just on La Ba Day;平时 (normally) drinking porridge is also very beneficial for the elderly. There are also quite a variety of porridge types, which can be chosen according to individual needs and consumed as appropriate.