Laba and the Eight-Treasure Porridge

Laba is celebrated on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month, because La in Chinese means the 12th lunar month and Ba means eight. On this day, Labzhou, a kind of rice porridge is traditionally served.

Labazhou is also known as the eight-treasure porridge, referring to the many nutritious ingredients used in this porridge. Here is the typical way to make it. First, boil glutinous rice, millet, glutinous millet, chestnuts and dried dates together, then add peanuts, almonds, walnuts, melon-seed meat, other dried fruits and brown sugar to make the gruel not only delicious, but also nutritious. You may also add red beans, kidney beans, pine nuts, lotus seeds, or anything else nutritious or tasty into the pot.

So as you can see, there can be more than eight ingredients in the porridge. In fact, ingredients used in the 'eight-treasure congee are virtually unlimited. Here, "eight" simply means "many". No wonder it is considered in traditional Chinese medicine as a healthy food that is particularly good for the spleen, stomach and blood. The recipe has now become a common meal for many Chinese. In fact the porridge is so tasty with its combination of colorful, sweet ingredients that these days, eating it is not limited to only the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. Chinese people can find it in the market and enjoy it throughout the year.

It is not certain who invented eight-treasure porridge. But one thing certain is that its history can be traced back to ancient times. People held a ceremony to worship gods and ancestors in the last month of the lunar year. The eighth day of that month was considered a day for sacrifice to the gods and ancestors to ensure a peaceful life and a good harvest for the next year.

It is also said that the popularity of the event owes much to Buddhism. The eighth day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar is also known as the day of Buddha' s attainment of Buddhahood. According to a legendary tale, before Sakyamuni attained Buddhahood, he traveled a lot in India. One day, he was so tired and hungry that he fainted by the roadside. A shepherdess spotted him and gave her meal to him. He recovered quickly and took a bath in the river nearby and sat underneath a bodhi tree. On the eighth day of the 12th month, he attained his Buddhahood. The shepherdess meal was made of rice and glutinous rice with some fresh wild fruit picked in the mountains. Since then, Sakyamuni' 5 followers began to use fresh grain and fruit to make a porridge on the seventh day of the 12th lunar month and cook until the next daybreak. This porridge is symbolically used to consecrate Buddha.

The eight-treasure porridge was first introduced to China in the Song Dynasty about 900 years ago. According to written records, large 13uddhist temples offered rice porridge mixed with other spices on that day to show their faith to Buddha. In the Ming Dynasty about 500 years ago, the eight-treasure porridge became such a holy food that emperors would offer it to their officials during festivals. As it gained favor in the feudal upper class, it also quickly became popular throughout the country.