Laba Rice Porridge Festival 臘八節(jié)

第一頁：臘八節(jié)
第二頁：有關臘八節(jié)的傳說(1)
第三頁：有關臘八節(jié)的傳說(2)
第四頁：臘八粥的做法

Laba is celebrated on the eighth day of the last lunar month, referring to the traditional start of celebrations for the Chinese New Year. "La" in Chinese means the 12th lunar month and "ba" means eight.

Legends about the origin of this festivity abound. One holds that over 3,000 years ago sacrificial rites called "La " were held in the twelfth lunar month when people offered their preys to the gods of heaven and earth. The Chinese characters for prey and the twelfth month were interchangeable then, and ever since "La" has been used to refer to both.
Since the festival was held on the eighth day of the Last month, people later appended the number eight ("ba" in Chinese), giving us the current Laba .

The majority Han Chinese have long followed the tradition of eating Laba rice porridge on the Laba Festival. The date usually falls in mid-January.
臘八是陰歷最后一個月慶祝，標志著中國新年慶祝的開始。 “臘” 在漢語中意味著陰歷第十二個月，“八”意思是8。

這個節(jié)日起源的傳說很多。其中之一認為三千多年前名叫“臘”的獻祭的儀式在陰歷第十二個月舉行，這天，人們對天神和地神供奉獵物。在那是漢字“獵物”和第十二個月“臘”是可以相互替代的，從那時起，“臘”一直用于指二者。

由于這個節(jié)日在最后一個月的第八天慶祝，人們后來補充了數(shù)字8（漢語“八”）。因而有了現(xiàn)在的“臘八”。
絕大多數(shù)漢族人長期遵循在臘八節(jié)吃蠟八粥的傳統(tǒng)。這個節(jié)日通常在陽歷一月中旬來臨。