Laba FestivalLaba Festival Customs

An old saying explains the festival’s sacrificial character:

“腊者，岁终大祭，纵吏民宴饮。” Là refers to the great sacrifice at the end of the year, when officials and common people were permitted to feast and drink.

The most ancient form of the Laba Festival was therefore a major year-end sacrificial observance, held to thank ancestors and deities for their protection and to pray for abundant harvests and good fortune in the coming year. By the Han dynasty, the la day (腊日) had come to mark the transition between one year and the next, in a way comparable to the function of New Year’s Eve today.

The objects of the old la sacrifice (腊祭) included ancestral spirits and the Five Household Gods—the spirits of the gate, household entrance, skylight, stove, and the ground inside the doorway. These sacrificial practices, inherited from remote antiquity, were intended to secure harvest, safety, and order.

In traditional society, worship of numerous deities accompanied the cycle of folk festivals. On Laba, people could conduct large-scale sacrificial rites for gods and ancestors as a ritual of recompense—thanking those supernatural powers and ancestral spirits believed to have protected the household over the previous year and asking them to continue their protection in the year ahead. Some regions preserve elements of this tradition today.

Ice-cutting divination was another important Laba activity. In many areas, ice was cut and examined to predict agricultural abundance or scarcity. An 1882 edition of the Shouyang County Gazetteer (《寿阳县志》) from Shanxi records:

“Ice is cut to sacrifice to the gods and placed upon manure heaps, in order to avert drought in the coming year.”

A related custom was called “freezing the ice” (冻冰冰). On the evening of the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, a bowl of clear water was prepared, decorated with red and white radish carved into flowers and vegetable leaves arranged as greenery, then placed outdoors at a high spot. On Laba morning, if the surface of the ice had formed many raised bumps of different sizes, it was taken as a sign that the wheat crop in the coming year would be abundant.

Laba ancestor and deity worship reflects the Chinese ethical ideal of “carefully attending to the end and remembering those who came before” (慎终追远), as well as the value of gratitude toward one’s origins (感恩报本). At the end of the year, people expressed thanks to ancestors and divine powers and prayed for continued protection in the coming year.

The ritual connected the household and lineage with the supernatural world, strengthening both family cohesion and shared cultural identity.

On Laba, a household altar may be prepared with offerings for ancestors. Families may also visit ancestral halls or temples and take part in communal rites.

For city residents who do not conduct formal sacrifices, a simpler form is possible: after the Laba porridge is cooked, one bowl can be placed before an ancestral tablet or memorial space before the family begins eating, as a gesture of respect.

Laba traditions for expelling disease and harmful influences took many forms, the most important of which was the Great Nuo ritual (大傩). Its purpose was to drive away wandering ghosts, epidemics, and disaster. In the pre-Qin period, Great Nuo was a large-scale sacrificial ceremony and once enjoyed considerable prominence.

The custom of beating drums in the twelfth lunar month to expel disease, rooted in ancient ritual and shamanic practice, survives today only in a limited number of regions, including parts of Xinhua, Hunan.

The Book of the Later Han: Treatise on Ritual (《后汉书·礼仪志》) records:

“先腊一日大傩，谓之逐疫。” On the day before the la sacrifice, the Great Nuo is performed; this is called expelling epidemic disease.

Thus, Great Nuo was performed on the day before the la sacrifice in order to remove plague and calamity.

Bathing was another method of ritual purification. The Record of the Seasonal Customs of Jing and Chu (《荆楚岁时记》) states:

“沐浴，转除罪障。” By bathing, one turns away and removes sinful obstructions.

Here, “罪障” may be understood broadly as impurities, misfortune, and calamities comparable to epidemic affliction.

In earlier times, hunting was also conducted around Laba in order to obtain animals for offerings to ancestors and gods. The character 腊 itself is historically associated with meat and winter sacrifice.

Northern China also preserves traditions involving Laba ice. People rose early and broke off the first ice from springs or rivers and ate it, believing that it could eliminate illness and disaster. On the day before Laba, a basin of water might be left outdoors to freeze; on Laba itself, the ice was broken and eaten. Folk belief held that anyone who ate Laba ice would not suffer stomach pain during the coming year.

These epidemic-expelling and Nuo traditions reveal how earlier societies understood and responded to disease and disaster. In periods when medical knowledge and treatment were limited, ritual provided psychological reassurance and gave the community a shared means of confronting danger.

Such customs express a persistent Chinese concern with health, safety, and freedom from calamity.

A symbolic version of the old ice custom can be experienced by freezing clean drinking water indoors and using the ice on Laba. Direct consumption of outdoor ice or river ice is not advisable in modern urban environments for hygiene reasons.

In areas such as Xinhua, Hunan, visitors may be able to observe drum-based epidemic-expelling rites or Nuo performances held around Laba. These ceremonies should be viewed respectfully from a safe distance and according to local rules.

The custom of eating Laba porridge has a history of more than a thousand years. It is generally traced in surviving written records to the Song dynasty, when the imperial court, government offices, Buddhist monasteries, and ordinary households all prepared porridge on Laba.

During the Northern Song, Su Shi (苏轼) spent Laba at Lingyin Temple and wrote Inscribed at the Abbot’s Quarters of Lingyin Temple (《留题灵隐寺方丈》). The lines

“高堂会食罗千夫，撞钟击鼓喧朝晡。” In the great hall, a thousand gather to eat; bells are struck and drums resound from morning to evening.

describe the extraordinary atmosphere of Lingyin Temple during the festival.

The Song writer Meng Yuanlao (孟元老) recorded in the Dongjing Meng Hua Lu (《东京梦华录》, Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital):

“（十二月）初八日……诸大寺作浴佛会，并送七宝五味粥与门徒，谓之腊八粥。都人是日各家亦以果子杂料煮粥而食也。” On the eighth day of the twelfth month… the great monasteries hold bathing-the-Buddha assemblies and distribute Seven-Treasure Five-Flavor Porridge to their disciples, calling it Laba porridge. On that day, households throughout the capital also cook porridge with fruits and assorted ingredients and eat it.

By the Qing dynasty, the custom had become even more widespread. In the imperial palace, the emperor, empress, princes, ministers, attendants, and palace women could all receive Laba porridge, while rice and fruit were sent to temples for the use of monks. Laba porridge has also been called “Seven-Treasure Five-Flavor Porridge” (七宝五味粥), “Buddha Porridge” (佛粥), and “Everyone’s Rice” (大家饭).

Laba porridge carries numerous auspicious wishes. Traditionally, it is simmered slowly over low heat until thick. Folk interpretation sometimes connects this thickness and stickiness with the idea of “staying connected”, and therefore with continuous harvests year after year.

Its ingredients may also carry symbolic meanings. Longan evokes wealth and family reunion, lily bulb suggests harmony in all affairs, walnut symbolizes domestic harmony, while red dates and peanuts may be interpreted through wordplay as a wish for children and descendants.

The order in which the porridge is eaten also traditionally mattered. Once the porridge was ready, the first portions were offered to gods and ancestors. It could then be sent to relatives and friends—ideally before noon—and only afterward eaten by the household.

Having porridge left over after several meals was considered especially fortunate because it represented “surplus year after year” (年年有余). Giving porridge to the poor was also understood as an act of accumulating merit.

Laba porridge varies enormously across China. Beijing was especially famous for elaborate versions containing more than twenty ingredients, including red dates, lotus seeds, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, pine nuts, longan, hazelnuts, grapes, ginkgo, water chestnuts, candied green and red strips, rose, red beans, and peanuts. Northern versions are generally sweeter, while southern ones may be sweet or savory. In Jiangsu, vegetables and oil may be added; in Suzhou, arrowhead, water chestnut, walnut, pine nut, gorgon fruit, wood ear mushroom, greens, and enoki mushrooms may be included.

Laba porridge is more than a festive food. It is a concentrated expression of the Chinese ideal of gratitude and cherishing blessings (感恩惜福). From offering it to gods and ancestors, to giving it to relatives and friends, to sharing it within the family and distributing it to the poor, every stage of its circulation establishes a relationship between people, family, community, and the sacred.

The porridge’s texture and ingredients are also interpreted symbolically, turning the act of eating into a ritual of blessing.

Laba porridge can be cooked at home, or visitors can attend temple porridge distributions. Many Buddhist monasteries across China organize free porridge events on the festival. Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou and major temples in Beijing are particularly well known for the tradition.

There is no strict formula for the ingredients. Rice, beans, nuts, dried fruit, lotus seeds, and other grains may be combined according to taste. The important point is not exact replication but the experience of slow cooking, sharing, and seasonal blessing.

Laba garlic (腊八蒜) is a distinctive custom of North China. Across much of the region, people traditionally soak garlic in vinegar on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The custom is also associated in folk explanation with the old practice of settling accounts before the New Year. Because Laba falls close to year-end, merchants traditionally checked income and expenses and calculated gains and losses around this time, a process colloquially called “Laba calculation” (腊八算). An old commercial principle held that “accounts should not cross into the new year.” In old Beijing, shops began reconciling their books around Laba.

Since 蒜 (suàn, garlic) sounds like 算 (suàn, to calculate), Laba garlic came to carry the additional folk meaning of “calculating away one’s troubles.”

Traditional literary references are also associated with the custom. In later popular attribution, verses linked with Bai Juyi and Tang Xianzu praise the aroma of garlic in the Laba season, further strengthening the food’s literary aura.

Laba garlic is made by soaking peeled garlic cloves in vinegar. Purple-skinned garlic and rice vinegar are commonly preferred. The outer skin is removed, the cloves are placed in a clean jar, completely covered with vinegar, sealed, and kept in a cool place until the garlic turns green.

After roughly ten days or more, by the time the Spring Festival arrives, the garlic may become a vivid emerald color, while the vinegar takes on a sharp garlic fragrance. Around New Year’s Eve and the Spring Festival, the garlic and vinegar are commonly eaten with dumplings or used to season cold dishes.

Laba garlic creates a direct bridge between Laba and New Year’s Eve. It is prepared on Laba and eaten during the Spring Festival, so the gradual transformation of the garlic in the vinegar becomes a visible countdown to the New Year.

The homophony between 蒜 (garlic) and 算 (calculate) adds another layer: the custom symbolically expresses the wish to “settle everything from the old year” and enter the new one with a fresh beginning.

On Laba, peel and wash purple-skinned garlic cloves, place them in a clean glass jar, pour in enough rice vinegar to cover them completely, seal the jar, and store it in a cool place.

By New Year’s Eve, the garlic should ideally have turned green and can be served with dumplings. Purple-skinned garlic is traditionally preferred because it more readily develops the characteristic bright color.

In some parts of northern China where rice was historically unavailable or less common, people did not eat Laba porridge but instead prepared Laba noodles (腊八面). The custom is especially associated with Shaanxi, Shanxi, and other northwestern areas, reflecting the strong wheat-based food culture of northern China.

The toppings are often prepared the day before using a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, tofu, and meat. The noodles are rolled in advance, and before sunrise on the morning of Laba, the whole family gathers to eat a steaming bowl.

In traditional practice, eating Laba noodles also expressed respect for gods and remembrance of ancestors. Once the meal had been eaten, it symbolically meant that the New Year was approaching.

Some versions combine mixed-grain noodles with a rich saozi topping. The long shape of noodles is also associated with wishes for enduring longevity.

Laba noodles demonstrate the regional adaptability of Chinese festival culture. In areas where rice was not the dominant staple, wheat noodles replaced porridge without changing the essential ritual meaning of the festival.

The length of the noodles naturally evokes ideas of long life and long-lasting blessing, allowing the same seasonal hopes to be expressed through a different local food tradition.

A bowl of Laba noodles can be prepared on the festival morning with a topping made from ingredients such as carrot, potato, tofu, mushrooms, beans, and diced meat.

Visitors to northwestern China can seek out local versions, particularly in Shaanxi, where Laba noodles remain one of the festival’s most distinctive food traditions.

Laba tofu (腊八豆腐) is a traditional specialty of Yixian County, Anhui. Around the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, households historically prepared tofu and dried it naturally for use during the coming Spring Festival.

The custom reflects both the food culture and the winter climate of southern Anhui.

Homemade tofu is tied with straw rope and hung in a cool, well-ventilated place to dry naturally. Properly dried tofu can be stored for two to three months.

It may be eaten on its own, combined with other ingredients, or served cold. Natural drying gives the tofu a firmer texture and distinctive flavor, making it an important food on Spring Festival tables in southern Anhui.

Drying Laba tofu reflects the traditional Chinese ideals of making full use of available food and preparing in advance for major festivals. At year’s end, people preserved tofu for the Spring Festival, transforming practical food storage into a seasonal household ritual.

Visitors can taste traditional Laba tofu in Yixian County, Anhui. At home, tofu can be dried only under appropriately clean, cool, ventilated, and food-safe conditions.

For urban residents, commercially prepared dried tofu offers a safer and simpler way to experience the flavor tradition.

Chinese culture has long emphasized family harmony and reunion. From the pre-Qin period through the Han dynasty and later eras, once the year-end sacrifices were complete, households gathered to share food and enjoy family companionship.

Laba therefore developed not only as a sacrificial festival but also as an important occasion for household reunion.

A warm family meal is one of the important customs of Laba. As the first major festival of the twelfth lunar month, Laba also acts as the opening chapter of the Spring Festival season.

After Laba, New Year preparations intensify: Kitchen God worship, house cleaning, frying rice cakes, preparing pork and mutton, writing Spring Festival couplets, washing bedding, steaming buns, frying meatballs, buying New Year prints, hanging lanterns, and numerous other preparations follow one after another until New Year’s Eve.

In this sense, a bowl of Laba porridge does more than mark a single day—it begins the gradual transformation of the household into a New Year environment.

The Laba family meal has the special function of warming up the emotional atmosphere for the Spring Festival. During this transitional period between the old year and the new, the family gathers over porridge to look back on the year just ending and anticipate the year to come.

The reunion of Laba therefore establishes the emotional tone of the approaching Spring Festival.

Families can gather on Laba to share Laba porridge, Laba garlic, and other seasonal foods. Those living away from home can call or video-chat with relatives as a way of beginning the New Year reunion season.

Friends and colleagues may also cook porridge together, turning the festival into an occasion for shared warmth and community.