編者按：今天是傳統節日臘八節，這個節日中有許多習俗，吃臘八粥就是其中之一，一起來看一看臘八節用英語怎麼說吧。
Happy Chinese Laba Festival 臘八節! Do you know Laba Festival is the day that Kicks off the Preparation for the arrival of the Chinese Lunar New Year?
Chinese Laba festival falls on January 24 in 20xx. Laba = 臘八. 臘La – is the 12th month on lunar calendar. 八 Ba – is the number 8. Laba is celebrated on the 8th day of the twelfth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.
Traditionally, on the day of Laba people will have 臘八粥 – Là bā zhōu = Laba congee or Laba porridge. Having Laba congee on this day is an over 1,000 year old tradition in China. It is also a day to share. In ancient time Chinese people would cook Laba congee to share with the poor because it was near the end of a year and many ran out of rice and grains for meals. 臘八粥 – Là bā zhōu is also called 八寶粥 – Bā bǎo zhōu = eight treasure porridge. It has the symbolic meaning of auspicious.
Are there 8 different ingredients in Laba congee? Not really. Laba day indicates the beginning of the preparation for the arrival of the Chinese Lunar New Year!
As a traditional Chinese festival celebrated by Han nationality, Laba Festival is regarded as the prelude to the Chinese Spring Festival. It falls on the eighth day of the twelfth month of Chinese lunar calendar (usually in January in Gregorian calendar). The twelfth month is called 'La month' and eight is pronounced as 'Ba' in Chinese. So, the festival is thus named. As people make and eat rice porridges to celebrate the day, it is named the Rice Porridge Festival as well.
Falling on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month, Laba Festival was originally an occasion for people to give sacrifices to their ancestors, and to pray to heaven and earth for a good harvest and good luck for the family. Many years later, it has become a Laba Congee eating event - a porridge that contains different types of rice, beans, dried nuts, bean curd, and meat.
The 12th lunar month is called 'La' in Chinese and eight is pronounced 'ba', which is how the name 'Laba' was derived. It is not only regarded as a day of sacrifice, but also the day on which Sakyamuni (founder of Buddhism) realized truth and became a Buddha.
It is said that Laba Congee originated from India. As the son of a king in the north of ancient India, Sakyamuni could not bear the local people's suffering from illness and the theocracy ruled by Brahman (one of the four Indian classes). As a result, he abandoned his lofty position and went out to seek a way to enlighten himself according to religious doctrine. After six years of enduring a very hard life and self-torture, he realized the truth of Buddhism while sitting under the bodhi tree on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. It is remembered that during these six years, Sakyamuni only ate rice every day. So by eating porridge on the eighth day of the 12th month every year people commemorate him.
公眾號：英語學習
三優範文網