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臘月初八，我國人民有吃臘八粥習俗。據說臘八粥傳自印度，和佛教始祖釋迦牟尼有關。釋迦牟尼本是古印度北部迦毗羅衛國（今尼泊爾境內）凈飯王的兒子，他見眾生受生老病死等痛苦折磨，又不滿當時婆羅門的神權統治，舍棄王位，出家修道。初無收獲，后經六年苦行，于臘月八日在菩提樹下悟道成佛。在這六年苦行中，每日僅食一麻一米。后人不忘他所受的苦難，于每年臘月初八吃粥以做紀念?！芭D八”就成了“佛祖成道紀念日”。臘八粥在古時是用紅小豆、糯米煮成，現在在中國各地臘八粥的花樣，爭奇競巧，品種繁多。
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 "(臘) were held in the twelfth lunar month when people offered their preys to the gods of heaven and earth. The Chinese characters for prey (獵物) and the twelfth month (臘) 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 .
