臘八節(jié)(the Laba Festival)在農(nóng)歷最后一個月的第八天慶祝，標志著春節(jié)慶祝 活動的開始。“臘”指“臘月(the 12thlunar month)”，是農(nóng)歷第十二個月，“八”指的 是數(shù)字8。臘八節(jié)通常在1月中旬。大多數(shù)漢族人遵循臘八節(jié)喝臘八粥(Laba rice porridge)的習俗。臘八粥最早在宋朝傳入中國。據(jù)史料記載，一些大型寺廟會為窮人提供臘八粥來表達對佛祖(Buddha)的虔誠。明朝時，臘八粥成為皇帝在此節(jié)日賞賜群臣的神圣食物。
【參考譯文】
Laba Festival is celebrated on the eighth day of thelast lunar month, marking the beginning ofcelebrating the Chinese Spring Festival. La means the12th lunar month and ba means the number eight.The date usually falls in mid-January. The majorityof people from Han nationality has followed the tradition of eating Laba rice porridge on theLaba Festival. Laba rice porridge was first introduced to China in the Song Dynasty. Accordingto historical records, some large temples would offer the poor Laba rice porridge to show theirfaith to Buddha. In the Ming Dynasty, it became a holy food that emperors would use to awardtheir officials on the festival.
