The origin of the twelfth lunar month is closely related to the ancient sacrificial rites of the La Festival. This designation can be traced back to the pre-Qin period, when people held the La Festival at the end of the year to worship ancestors and the myriad deities. Originally, the La Festival referred to the ritual of obtaining game through hunting to offer sacrifices to ancestors and the myriad deities. Due to the homophonic relationship between "Layue" and "hunting," the term "Layue" emerged. After Qin Shi Huang unified the six states, he decreed that the month marking the transition from winter to spring be designated as Layue, celebrating national unity and praying for prosperity in the coming year.
