Labajie Customs
01 · Historical Records
By the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the La day had been fixed on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. After the introduction of Buddhism, the La day merged with the day of the Buddha's enlightenment. Laba customs in the Ming and Qing dynasties were also jointly observed by monks and laypeople, and local gazetteers such as the Qiantang County Gazetteer (Kangxi era) and the Hangzhou Prefecture Gazetteer (Qianlong era) all record them. Lingyin Temple (first built in 326 CE), as a famous temple of Jiangnan, is undoubtedly an important link in the transmission of Hangzhou's Laba customs. In 1978, Lingyin Temple resumed its Laba Festival activities; by 2008 the scope of congee distribution had expanded — not only were congee sheds set up inside the temple, but congee-distribution points were also established widely, or congee delivered to people's doors.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Laba Festival can be traced back to the year-end Zha sacrifice (to the god of agriculture) and the La sacrifice (to the ancestors) of the pre-Qin period. From the Qin and Han dynasties onward, the two gradually merged into one, together called the "La sacrifice." Beginning in the Song dynasty, the custom of drinking Laba congee arose, and monasteries, scholars, and common people alike cooked and ate Laba congee. Works such as the Mengliang Lu and the Wulin Jiushi both record the Laba congee-cooking and congee-distribution activities of the Hangzhou area. As a traditional folk activity of extremely rich content before the Spring Festival in the Hangzhou area, the Laba Festival custom is jointly transmitted by the local monastic community and community residents; it has produced a temple-based congee-cooking craft, joint monk-lay congee-distribution activities, and rituals — themed on offering to the Buddha and praying for blessings — such as taking the Laba congee from the pot, filling the bowls, offering and delivering congee, and preaching the scriptures, as well as the dissemination of related poetry, prose, and legends. The Laba Festival custom takes the unique craft of making Laba congee and large-scale congee-distribution activities as its core, highlighting the fusion of Buddhist culture, secular life, and food culture. The specific contents are as follows. First, selecting the ingredients. One month before the Laba Festival, more than 200 volunteers purchase and hand-pick ingredients such as red dates, peanuts, ginkgo nuts, red beans, longan, kidney beans, and glutinous rice, which are roughly processed and set aside by category. Second, cooking the Laba congee. The proportions of the ingredients are determined; according to the properties of the ingredients, they are put into the pot in sequence and stirred, with the heat controlled; after 11 process steps, the pot can be lifted in about two and a half hours. Third, offering to the Buddha and praying for blessings. According to tradition, the temple performs rituals such as taking the Laba congee from the pot, filling the bowls, and offering and delivering the congee; on the day of the Laba Festival, the abbot or an eminent monk preaches the scriptures, explaining the origin of the Laba Festival and praying blessings for the people. Fourth, distributing congee to the people. Congee is distributed to bring warmth at places such as the temple, communities, welfare homes, and nursing homes, advocating virtue and doing good. Fifth, poetry and legends. The Laba Festival custom has left behind poetry and legends such as "Visiting the Monks Huiqin and Huisi on Lonely Mountain on the La Day," "West Lake Osmanthus and Fresh Chestnut Broth," and "Monk A-er's Laba Congee," enriching the content of traditional Laba culture. The Laba Festival is the prelude to the Spring Festival; it means that people begin to busy themselves with New Year preparations, and together with the later Kitchen God worship and New Year's Eve it forms a rich New Year festival culture. It is an important time node for the Chinese nation and a significant marker of traditional New Year festival culture. The Laba Festival custom is rooted in cultural tradition while also absorbing the spirit of the new age; in the contemporary era it places greater emphasis on promoting benevolence and gratitude to society, and has become an important marker of the New Year festival culture in the Hangzhou area and an effective means of building a harmonious society. As a festival food, Laba congee has select ingredients and a unique making craft, embodying a way of health and nourishment that follows nature.
Sorting the ingredients
A month before the festival more than two hundred workers sort jujubes, peanuts, ginkgo nuts, red beans and glutinous rice by hand, since machines cannot tell good grains from bad.
Eleven stages of boiling the porridge
With the proportions fixed, ingredients enter the pot in order of their nature; eleven stages and about two and a half hours produce the finished porridge.
Ladling and the offering rite
Once the porridge is ready it is ladled and presented before the Buddha in a fixed order, and an abbot or senior monk explains the origin of the day.
Widened porridge stations and home delivery
Since 2008 the porridge stations spread to communities, welfare homes and homes for the elderly, and some deliver to doorsteps.
Laba at Lingyin Temple
Founded in 326, Lingyin Temple restarted its Laba porridge service in 1978 and has grown into one of Hangzhou's liveliest festival days.
Porridge records in the local gazetteers
Mengliang lu, Wulin jiushi and the Qiantang and Hangzhou gazetteers all record porridge-making in Hangzhou, confirming an unbroken local custom.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The related custom is one of the most important folk activities in Hangzhou before the Spring Festival; it covers ten municipal districts including Xihu, Jianggan, Gongshu, and Shangcheng, and radiates to the surrounding counties and cities.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Laba Festival custom is an important component of China's Laba culture, and its transmission in the Hangzhou area of Zhejiang Province is notably representative. Later, because of the wars, the temple fell into ruin and its monks dispersed; the temple's Laba customs declined, but they continued to be transmitted among the people. As a folk phenomenon, the Lingyin Laba Festival custom enjoys an ever better atmosphere of transmission, has produced far-reaching social influence, and also has outstanding research value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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