Laba Festival · Laba

Culture of origin: Buddhist · Cultural

Holiday sources: Buddhism

Laba, the eighth day of La, the twelfth month, began as a day of sacrifices to the gods and ancestors (la first meant those sacrifices) and was given its fixed date under the Northern and Southern dynasties; after Buddhism reached China it came to commemorate the Buddha's enlightenment, said to have fallen on that day. It is the day of Laba congee, made of different kinds of rice, beans, nuts and dried fruit, often with eight ingredients or more; by one story, Buddhist monasteries of the Song dynasty gave the congee to the people in honour of the Buddha's enlightenment. Under the Qing, ceremonies were held for it at the Yonghe Temple in Beijing. Japan keeps the enlightenment on 8 December (Bodhi Day).