Laba prays for the Year of the Dragon
Every year on the eighth day of the lunar month, in a village in central Hunan Province, every family cooks Laba porridge, and also holds the ceremony of "Laba Slaying the Dragon Year". A thousand-year-old custom, it is the village's biggest sacrificial event of the year. Legend has it that the eighth day of the lunar month is the birthday of the "God of Grains". On this day, the god of grains is sacrificed and prayed for a year of good weather and abundant harvest. Legend has it that there is an evil dragon in the "five grains" who "eats grain" on the eighth day of the lunar month. In order to prevent the evil dragon from harming people's grains, people use clay to shape dragons, and pour laba porridge into the dragon's mouth. All make earth dragons, and pour porridge on the dragon head, the one with more porridge on the dragon head wins, this activity is called "Laba Slaying the Dragon Year".
On this afternoon in a village in central Hunan Province, people came to the "Dragon Temple" in the village to participate in the "Laba Year of the Dragon" activity. The villagers bring the finished dragon to the dragon shrine. The "Dragon Temple" is an antique wooden house, and there is a plaque on the wall facing the gate that reads "Dragon Temple". The earth dragons brought by the villagers are placed in order in all corners of the ancestral hall. The front of the ancestral hall was crowded with people, looking forward to the beginning of the dragon slaying ceremony, and as soon as the host announced: "Laba Slaying the Dragon Year" began to fall, cheers and firecrackers immediately sounded. The first link: prayer. Representatives of the villagers lit incense candles, lit Baoding, beat drums, and set off firecrackers for blessing ceremonies. The second link: worship ancestors and the god of grains. The villagers put the dragon's head made by themselves on the offering table, lit incense candles, lit baoding, beat drums, and set off firecrackers to worship their ancestors and the god of grains. The villagers came forward to worship, and the scene was very lively. The third link: dragon slaying ceremony. As soon as the host finished speaking, there was another burst of cheers and firecrackers in the crowd. The respected elders of the village picked up the earth dragon and poured the laba porridge from the dragon's head. The villagers all want to get a "dragon spirit" and have a good harvest next year. The more porridge on the dragon's head, the more people will have a good season and a bumper harvest in the coming year. When the people finished grabbing the porridge, the village strongmen picked up axes and cut off the earthen dragon heads. At this time, firecrackers are fired, gongs and drums are noisy, and dancing and singing happily around the head of the cut down earthen dragon until late at night. For this reason, the "Laba Year of the Dragon" activity ended in singing and laughing.
I am a participant in this year's "Laba Year of the Dragon" event, this kind of cultural custom that has been passed down for thousands of years is really very meaningful, "Laba Year of the Dragon" is not only people's expectation of praying for a good harvest in the coming year, but also the love and wishes of our ancestors for a better life for future generations, as the descendants of Yan and Huang, we must always inherit and carry forward the traditional culture.