每年农历十二月初八是中国的传统节日，腊八节，也是佛教的一个重要节日。
腊八这一天有吃腊八粥的习俗。
中国喝腊八粥的历史，已经有一千多年。
最早从宋代开始。
每到腊八这一天，不论是谁，都要做腊八粥。
各地的腊八粥材料有不同。
腊八粥做好以后，先拜祭祖先，然后在中午之前送给亲朋好友，最后全家团聚在一起吃。
吃剩的腊八粥，保存着吃了几天还有剩下来的，是好兆头，意思是“年年有余”。
如果把腊八粥送给穷人吃，是会带给自己好运的。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
narration saved locally, offline — from https://download.mandarinbean.com/audio?source=aHR0cHM6Ly90cmFmZmljLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vbGVhcm5jaGluZXNlL0xhYmFfRmVzdGl2YWxfLV81MDEwLm1wMw&filename=Laba-Festival.mp3&signature=bffa0f6300d2db1defe3365323e6957a993d7e623135d0d9c17fc7e6133098aa
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 每 | měi | each / every |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 农历 | nóng lì | the traditional Chinese calendar / the lunar calendar |
| 十 | shí | ten / 10 |
| 二 | èr | two / 2 |
| 月 | yuè | month / monthly |
| 初八 | chū bā | the eighth day of a lunar month |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only) |
| 中国 | Zhōng guó | China |
| 的 | de | possessive particle (of; 's) / modifying particle (used after an attribute to modify a noun or to form a nominal expression) |
| 传统 | chuán tǒng | traditional / conventional |
| 节日 | jié rì | holiday / festival |
| 腊八 | là bā | the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month; Laba Festival |
| 节 | jié | seasonal festival |
| 也 | yě | also; too; as well; (not ...) either |
| 佛教 | Fó jiào | Buddhism |
| 一 | yī | one / single / a (article) |
| 个 | gè | classifier for people or objects in general |
| 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major |
| 这 | zhè | this; these |
| 天 | tiān | day |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume / to eat at |
| 粥 | zhōu | congee / gruel / porridge |
| 习俗 | xí sú | custom / tradition / local tradition / convention |
| 喝 | hē | to drink |
| 历史 | lì shǐ | history |
| 已经 | yǐ jīng | already |
| 千 | qiān | thousand |
| 多 | duō | (after a numeral) ... odd |
| 最 | zuì | (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est |
| 早 | zǎo | early |
| 从 | cóng | from; through; via / (bound form) retainer; attendant / (bound form) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate / (bound form) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor |
| 宋代 | Sòng dài | Song dynasty (960-1279) |
| 开始 | kāi shǐ | to begin / to start |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive / to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point) / (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point) |
| 不论 | bù lùn | whatever / no matter what (who, how etc) / regardless of |
| 谁 | shéi | who |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely |
| 要 | yào | will; shall; about to / need to; should / if |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce |
| 各 | gè | each / every |
| 地 | dì | earth / ground / field / place / land |
| 材料 | cái liào | (raw) material / (fig.) person who has the potential to do the job |
| 不同 | bù tóng | different / distinct / not the same / not alike |
| 好 | hǎo | (verb complement indicating completion) |
| 以后 | yǐ hòu | after / later / afterwards / following / later on / in the future |
| 先 | xiān | beforehand; first; earlier / at first; originally / for the time being; for now |
| 拜祭 | bài jì | to worship / to observe religious rites / to pay one's respects (to one's ancestors etc) |
| 祖先 | zǔ xiān | ancestors; forebears / (biology) ancestral species; ancient species from which present-day species evolved |
| 然后 | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards |
| 在 | zài | (of sb or sth) to be (located) at |
| 中午 | zhōng wǔ | noon / midday |
| 之前 | zhī qián | before / prior to |
| 送 | sòng | to give (as a present) |
| 给 | gěi | to / for / for the benefit of / to do sth (for sb) |
| 亲朋好友 | qīn péng hǎo yǒu | friends and family / kith and kin |
| 最后 | zuì hòu | finally; in the end |
| 全 | quán | all / whole / entire / every / complete |
| 家 | jiā | home / family / (polite) my (sister, uncle etc) |
| 团聚 | tuán jù | to reunite / to have a reunion |
| 一起 | yī qǐ | together; in company (with) |
| 剩 | shèng | to remain / to be left / to have as remainder |
| 保存 | bǎo cún | to conserve; to preserve; to keep; to store; (computing) to save (a file etc) |
| 着 | zhe | aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker) / (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now) |
| 几 | jǐ | several / a few |
| 还 | hái | still, still in progress, yet |
| 下来 | xià lái | (completed action marker) |
| 兆头 | zhào tou | omen / portent / sign |
| 意思 | yì si | idea / opinion / meaning |
| 年年有余 | nián nián yǒu yú | lit. (may you) have abundance year after year |
| 如果 | rú guǒ | if; in case; in the event that |
| 把 | bǎ | (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}) |
| 穷人 | qióng rén | poor people / the poor |
| 会 | huì | to be likely to; to be sure to |
| 带 | dài | to wear / to carry / to take along / to bear / to bring |
| 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; (attributive) one's own |
| 好运 | hǎo yùn | good luck |