La Yue Customs (Lunar 12 Month Customs) – La Ba Day 農曆臘月習俗之臘八節

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Short Intro on La Yue (臘月簡介)

La Yue, a Month in the Lunar Calendar to mark the ending of an Old Year and a Period that the Chinese & Taoists will prepare to usher in the New Year.

La 臘, a Chinese Character evolve from another Chinese Character Lie 獵 (this 2nd Chinese Character got a meaning of hunting for animals or living stocks).

In the Ancient Era, due to Winter Season (冬季), all plantations were gone and so in order to stay alive, Mortals were had to go out into forested area or any deserted area to hunt for animals (in the Ancient Era, such hunting will only stopped just a few days before Spring arrived, excess hunted meats will be made into preserved-food items 臘制食品). Some of such animals were hunted not only for Human-consumption but also for the Paying Respect to Deities and Ancestors.





This is why the 1st Chinese Character La is strongly associated with the 2nd Chinese Character Lie.

So during the La Yue, what events are involved?

Due to La Yue is the last month of the Year, so a lot of preparations for the New Year are being done in this month and this is why, La Yue is consider as a very important month to the Chinese & Taoists.

Let's start with La Ba Day.

A lot of Chinese are being giving the wrong impression of La Ba Day (臘八日), falls on 8th Day of Lunar 12 Month (農曆十二月初八日), is actually a Day that only Buddhists will celebrate or this is a Day that evolve from Buddhist Culture, actually this is not correct.

According to Chinese History & Custom Records, La Ba Day (and La Yue) is Day that started by the Chinese and/or Taoist as Early as in Zhou Dynasty (最早記載與周朝文獻). Due to the far-away-Era, most of the records had been destroyed or lost. And so, things that we wanted to know like what preparations or what events are involved during the Zhou Dynasty are limited.

But in Han Dynasty (漢朝), tonnes of records on La Ba Day (La Yue) are being passed-down.

According to Records of Han, on La Ba Day, grand Ritual/Ceremony will be organized for Paying Respect to the Eight Important Deities that surround us (during Han, such Deities have yet to have a physical form).

So who are these 8 Deities?

They are,

Deity of Wheat Items – Shen Nong (Xian Se 先穡神農)
Shen Nong, the one who discovered the edible plants

Deity of In-charging of Wheat Items – Hou Ji (Si Se 司穡后稷)
Hou Ji, Deity being appointed to look after the Harvesting of plantations

Deity of Plantation/Farm – Nong Shen (農神)
Nong Shen, Deity being appointed to look after the fertility level of soils in farms

Deity of House/Road – You Biao Qi Shen (郵表畦神)
You Biao Qi Shen, Deities that built Houses, construct Roads for people of that area

Deity of Animals/Creatures – Mao Hu Shen (貓虎神)
Mao Hu Shen, Deities being appointed to control the animals and creatures, by paying respect to such Deities, farmers hope that the Deities will control the animals or creatures from coming into the farms to do damages

Deity of Farm Borders – Fang Shen (坊神)
Fang Shen, Deity that in-charge of protecting the borders of the farms

Deity of Waterway – Shui Yong Cheng Huang (水庸城隍)
Shui Yong Cheng Huang, Deity that being appointed to look after the water-passage around the farms, make sure that the water is not being contaminated with diseases, etc

Deity of Pest – Kun Chong Shen (昆蟲神)
Kun Cong Shen, Deities being appointed to control the pests, insects, etc (in later part of the History, real Historical Characters will being appointed as Kun Cong Shen, such as General Liu Meng 劉孟將軍)

Folks in the Ancient Era believed that, by paying respect to these 8 groups of Deities, all plantations and harvesting will be blessed throughout the year and in the coming New Year, these 8 groups of Deities will still look after their plantations.

Besides paying respect to these 8 groups of Deities, folks will also have to pay respect to Ancestors on this La Ba Day. This is to show the gratitude of the descendants towards the Ancestors and also, to make a brief report to the Ancestors that, New Year will be coming soon.

In the Imperial Court (朝廷), Emperor (君主) will select an auspicious timing and then, he will led the Officers (朝臣) to a destinated venue to pay respect to the 8 groups of Deities (by doing so, Emperors hope that these 8 groups of Deities will blessed the Kingdom with Prosperity and Good Wealth).

Eating of La Ba Zhou aka Porridge of La Ba Day (臘八粥簡介)

La Ba Zhou, a type of Porridge that used 8 different types of ingredients to cook (items with auspicious meaning, such as Red Dates (紅棗), Peanuts (長生果), Dried Longan (桂圓), etc). In Folks Culture (民間習俗), folks believed that by eating this La Ba Porridge, children will get smarted when they grow-up, couples will be blessed with good-marriage life and elderly will be blessed with Good Health.

Due to the influences on Buddhism, a lot of Chinese tend to treat this La Ba Porridge as a type of Buddhist Cuisine, which actually, is another misconception.

La Ba Porridge, a type of Chinese Cuisine evolve from an Ancient Cuisine known as Bai Jia Zhou aka Bai Jia Porridge (臘八粥最早原與百家粥), meaning using un-cooked rice from many homes to make a pot of white porridge without any ingredients.

Why is there a must for such Porridge?

According to records, such Porridge will only be prepared during big occasions, such as La Ba Day. Hoping that by combining the rice from different homes, Good Luck can be spread to different people from the area, etc.

Besides that, such Bai Jia Porridge will also be prepared while a new born baby is celebrating the First Month of Birth.

Last, after this Day, Chinese or Taoists will prepared for the Ritual/Ceremony for the 16th Day of Lunar 12 Month, known as Wei Ya (尾牙日).