Entering the threshold of the twelfth lunar month, the flavor of the year gradually becomes stronger.
Laba Festival is an important festival in the past year. The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is also the day of Buddha's enlightenment. On this day, porridge sheds are widely set up in temples to serve porridge to believers and commoners. On the 8th day of the twelfth lunar month, it was customary in the Liang and Song Dynasties, and it was passed down from family to family to make porridge for monks. Later, the folks followed suit and cooked porridge on this day.
Laba porridge must have as many grains and nuts as possible, which means that the grains are prosperous. When I was a child, I thought that I had to collect eight kinds of rice beans, so I counted the rice beans in the bowl very seriously, as a sacred and solemn thing.
In the winter when the autumn grains are in the warehouse and the agricultural work is reduced, a bowl of miscellaneous grain Laba porridge, all kinds of rice, all kinds of beans, red dates, and peanuts gather together happily, and accept the inspection of the farmers. This is also the most comfortable time for farmers. Neighbors in the countryside always hold their own Laba porridge and go to the neighbor's house to chat, talk about farming and family affairs. The twelfth lunar month is the end of a year's farming, and people can take a break and wait for the new year.
The Laba Festival, which has been followed to this day, can also be regarded as a tribute to the crops and a devotion to the farming culture. Modern people often say that life needs a sense of ritual. In fact, the ancients have long practiced it.

"December 8 to the West Village"

Song Lu You

In the twelfth lunar month, the wind and intentions have come to spring, and I have passed my neighbors because of the scattered measures.
In the grass-smoked Momo Chaimen, the cattle are heavily tracked by the wild waterfront.
The only thing that is sickly is medicine, and the poor department is idle.
At present, the Buddhist porridge is more rewarding, and I feel that the village is fresh.

On the day of Laba Festival, Lu You, a poet who resigned from office and lived in the countryside, passed his neighbor's house with a cane. The wind in the twelfth lunar month is warm and warm, with a faint breath of spring. The smoke from the cooking smoke curled from the door of the farmhouse, and the hoof prints of the oxen beside the small river in the countryside were clearly discernible.
Riverside countryside, early spring is coming. When will the spring of the poet Lu You come? How could he want to be a sickly medicine jar, an idler without taxes and corvee?
The neighbor gave Laba porridge, which warmed the stomach and warmed the poet's heart. The phenology and solar terms change over and over again, giving years and life an endless vivid atmosphere. 

There is another elegant way to celebrate the Laba Festival.

"Xingxiangzi·Laba Day and Hong Zhongjianxi Xingqi Night Snow"

Song Wang Xin

The last winter of the wild shop. Spring green wine.
Thinking about it now, who agrees with this. The stream is endless, and the mountains are endless.
There are a few plums, a few bamboos, and a few pine trees.
Basket Yu Xing, twilight sparse bell.
Looking at the lonely village, the sun is in a hurry. Night window snow formation, Xiao pillow Yunfeng.
Then he owns a fishing scorpion, wears a fishing hat, and is a fisherman.

The Laba Festival of poets and friends is a leisurely time. The small shop and friends are enjoying the wine, the wine is full, the winter is coming to an end, and the breath of spring has quietly permeated. Wandering between the mountains and rivers, the streams are beautiful, the mountains are green, and the mountains and rivers are accompanied by a journey. A few cold plum trees, a clump of bamboos, and a few pine trees add a bit of elegance to the forest.
Take the bamboo sedan chair to enjoy the fun, and it is dusk before you know it. Only the sound of twilight bells can be heard, and the setting sun is hidden in the small village. At night, a snow came quietly, fluttering and piling up on the windows. When I wake up in the morning, the mountains outside the window are rolling, and the clouds and mists are shrouded in the mountains. If you are so relaxed and happy, wouldn't it be more beautiful to put on a mino coat, put on a mino hat, hold a fishing rod, be a fisherman, and fish in the mountains and rivers?
Such a leisurely Laba Festival really makes people yearn for today.

In the Zhou Dynasty, the twelfth lunar month was the day for offering sacrifices to hundreds of gods. The poet depicts the waxy day, when the plum blossoms are open, and the wind and the sun are warm.

"Wax Day"

Jin · Tao Yuanming

The wind and snow send the rest of the luck, it's okay to be in harmony.
Plum willows are planted in the door, and one has good flowers.
I sing well, how much is in the wine!
It is not clear how much, but Zhang Shan has strange songs.

The coldest days of the year are coming to an end. The cold wind and snow are getting away, and the weather has gradually warmed up. On both sides of the front door of the house, a row of willow trees and a row of plum trees were planted. Plum blossoms are blooming on the roadside. On the waxing day, the poet drinks and appreciates plums and sings without emotion. There is so much joy in drinking wine, I don't know how much, but I only know that Zhangshan with beautiful scenery has heard many wonderful and beautiful songs.

Nowadays, in the rush and hustle and bustle of modern life, people have no time to spare. By the end of the year, there is no time to stop. Fortunately, there are several festivals in the year, which can make people calm down, slow down their pace, and have a half-day leisure time, give themselves a vacation, and appreciate the inheritance of festivals in these long years, what a wonderful and solemn gift of time.

If you can't watch the mountains and rivers, drink and enjoy the plums, and have an elegant Laba Festival like the ancients, then cook the Laba porridge slowly, taste the aroma of the five grains, and taste the income of the year. The Laba Festival is full of fireworks, plain and warm.