La Ba Festival is an important day leading to the Spring Festival, Lunar New Year. It is the day that kicks off the preparation for the Lunar New Year. Laba always falls on the 8th day of the last month on the Chinese lunar calendar 農曆 |农历. It will be on January 2, 2020, in the year of the PIG.
The last month on the lunar calendar is called “La Yue” 臘月| 腊月 in Mandarin. Bā 八 is number eight. When you put Là 臘|腊 and bā 八 together that is the eighth day of the last month of the year. The dates of Chinese festivals move on the Gregorian calendar every year. However, the festival dates stay the same on the lunar calendar.
Chinese festival dates are not the only ones that change every year on the Western Gregorian calendar. Jewish festivals also change every year on the Western calendar. And, there are some similarities between the Chinese lunar calendar and the Hebrew calendar.
In our ever-growing multicultural community, people will also notice that Islamic holidays are observed on different days each year on the Gregorian calendar. But, the Islamic holiday dates also stay the same on the Islamic calendar each year. So, the fun thing is that world festivals and world calendars extend to many more countries and cultures than what we have included here and you can explore further with your child.
The Significance of La Ba Festival
In addition to it is a day to begin the preparation for the Lunar Near Year, La Ba is a day to share. At this time of the year, Chinese people would cook La Ba congee, La Ba rice soup that includes various grains to share with people who are in need. This is an over one thousand-year-old tradition in Chinese society. In ancient China, toward the end of the year, some people and families were running out of staple food. Therefore, a kind gesture of sharing started by the emperor in the palace and the surrounding neighborhood.
Later the Buddhist temples joined in with the food they saved up and the sharing with what they had. With the influence of incoming Buddhism in China back then, some of the Laba traditions people see now are connected to the practice of the religion.
Ingredients in a La Ba Congee
Food Chinese people prepare on or around La Ba is La Ba congee. Some call it La Ba porridge. There are different recipes and here are common ingredients you see in La Ba congee.
purple rice – zǐ mǐ 紫米. It is sometimes called “black rice.”
granulated sugar – táng 糖 for a sweet version of the congee.
meat – ròu 肉 for the savory version of a La Ba congee recipe
All the ingredients are dry ingredients except meat. The red bean, green bean, and peanuts need to be soaked in water overnight before cooking. When you look at the dry ingredients one by one you will see they are quite colorful when putting them all together. Chinese believe that La Ba congee is an ideal dish for the cold winter days. Having a bowl of the La Ba congee can keep you warm and healthy.
There is sweet La Ba congee and there is savory La Ba congee. The sweet recipe is the original one and the savory one came later. Usually, the northern region favors the sweet recipe and the southern region enjoys the savory version. And, both flavors are easily accessible to Chinese people.
Eight Treasure congee
Is it time for you to cook up a pot of La Ba congee with your child? Chinese people also call La Ba congee the Eight Treasures congee 八寶粥|八宝粥. With the Eight Treasures congee, you will be ready for the preparation of the Lunar New Year which is 22 days away counting up to the family reunion feast on the Lunar New Year’s Eve.
What are the dry ingredients you already have at home that you can add to the La Ba congee recipe? What is the most unusual dry ingredients for you and your child in the recipe? Happy New Year and let’s be ready to welcome the Year of the Gold MOUSE on January 25, 2020!
