Why do you eat dumplings on the winter solstice

The winter solstice originated in the Zhou Dynasty, and the Duke of Zhou set the longest day of the year as the first day of the new year, so from Zhou to Qin, the winter solstice was regarded as a new year.

The reason for eating dumplings on the winter solstice is not to forget the grace of the "medical saint" Zhang Zhongjing's "dispelling cold and delicate ear soup".

The reasons for eating dumplings on the winter solstice in my country are as follows:

In the north of our country, there is a saying of "winter solstice dumplings and summer solstice noodles", the original name of dumplings is "Jiao'er", according to legend, it is invented by Shengzhang Zhongjing, a doctor who is lacking in China, and it has a history of more than 1,800 years.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the famous doctor Zhang Zhongjing saw that many poor people were hungry and cold, and their ears were frozen, so he invented the "cold Jiao Er Soup", which was to boil mutton, chili pepper and some Zheng potato cold medicine in the pot, and then take out these things and chop them after cooking, wrap them into an ear-shaped "Jiao Ear" with dough, and give them to the patients after cooking, two Jiao Er per person, and a bowl of soup.

After eating the cold soup, people have a fever all over their bodies, their blood is smooth, their ears are warmed, and the patient's rotten ears are cured for a while. Zhang Zhongjingshe's medicine lasted until the thirtieth of the Chinese New Year's Eve. On the first day of the New Year, people celebrate the New Year, and also celebrate the rotten ears, so they imitate the appearance of Jiao'er to make food, and call it "dumpling ears" and "dumplings".

Since then, the story of "dispelling cold and delicate ear soup" has been widely circulated among the people. Every winter solstice and the first day of the Lunar New Year, people eat dumplings, and they still remember Zhang Zhongjing's kindness in their hearts. Therefore, now there is a saying that "eating dumplings on the winter solstice will not freeze your ears in winter".

The winter solstice ranks first among the 24 solar terms, called "sub-year", and the day before the winter solstice is specified as the end of the year during the Yin and Zhou periods. In ancient times, the winter solstice was a very important festival, there was a saying that the winter solstice was as big as the year, and the court and the people have always attached great importance to it, and there have been sacrificial activities since the Zhou Dynasty.

After the winter solstice, the cold weather is the main thing, so people tend to warm up and nourish yang energy to resist cold evil. Dumplings are a kind of nutritious and easy to digest and absorb food, can be filled with mutton, cabbage, green onions, leeks, radish, etc., these dishes are warm, can play a certain role in warming the human body.

On the day of the winter solstice, the most popular folk custom is to "eat dumplings", in addition to eating dumplings, there are actually a lot of folk customs that have been handed down since ancient times, eating dumplings.

Eat dumplings. As the old saying goes, "October 1, the winter solstice arrives, and every household eats dumplings" and "winter solstice dumplings, summer solstice noodles".

Origin: According to legend, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing, "that is, the author of the book "Treatise on Injuries and Miscellaneous Diseases", after stepping down as Changsha Taishou, Taishou is now the mayor, Mayor Zhang Zhongjing returned to his hometown of Henan, just entered Henan, it was the winter of the old age, he saw that the people were hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. So after leaving office, Mayor Zhang asked people to set up a medical shed in the urban area, personally attacked and sat in the cold wind, and his ears were also frostbitten, and then arranged for someone to set up a large cauldron, light a fire, put mutton and cold-warding herbs into a cauldron to cook, take out and chop them, cook them in the shape of bread into ears, and add a bowl of soup to distribute to the people who are sick and frostbitten.

The common people ate it, and sure enough, their whole body was warm, and their frostbitten ears were healed. Since then, the common people have also learned from Mayor Zhang, wrapping meat and vegetables into ear-shaped food, which is now dumplings.

Eat ravioli. Origin: According to legend, it is necessary to start with the beautiful Xi Shi, saying that during the Warring States Period, the Yue Kingdom was defeated, and the Yue King Goujian was taken to the Wu State to be humiliated.

In order to make King Goujian return to China as soon as possible, the doctor of Yue Guo Wen and Fan Li sent the beautiful Xi Shi to Wu Wangfu to please him and send King Yue back as soon as possible. But the Xi Shi people are in Han in Cao Ying, and they miss their old father at home every day. It was the winter solstice, Xi Shi missed his hometown, and went to the kitchen to cook a meal in his hometown, but the delicate beauty knew how to operate.

So he casually pinched the rolled dough and a little bit of meat, threw the unknown gnocchi into the pot, and cooked it quickly. At this moment, Wu Wangfu happened to be passing by and saw Xi Shi eating a dim sum that he had never seen before, so he asked for a bowl. As soon as King Wu ate it, he said yes again and again, and then asked Xi Shi, "What is this dim sum called?"

Xi Shi responded speechlessly, and casually said two words, "Chaos", which was intended to satirize Wu Wangfu's detention of Yue Wang Goujian, who was confused and chaotic. I don't want to, King Wu heard it as "wonton". Since then, there has been another delicious food "ravioli".

Because the people do not forget the grace of the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing, they will eat dumplings every winter solstice.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, on the way back to his hometown, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical saint, saw a large number of people who were hungry and cold because of the cold and cold, Zhang Zhongjing couldn't bear to look directly, and used some foods such as mutton and chili peppers as dumpling filling, wrapped in dough into ear-shaped food, and cooked in a pot for the people to eat.

The winter solstice, commonly known as the "Winter Festival", is an important solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar. On this day, because the direct point of the sun shines directly on the Tropic of Capricorn, the northern hemisphere has the shortest day and the longest night, and after the winter solstice, the day will become longer day by day and the night will gradually become shorter.

Where not to eat dumplings on the winter solstice:

1. Hangzhou: Hangzhou people like to eat rice cakes on the day of the winter solstice to celebrate. Every winter solstice, cakes will be made to worship ancestors or give gifts to relatives and friends.

2. Jiangnan: In China's Jiangnan water town, there is a custom for the whole family to gather together to eat red beans and glutinous rice on the night of the winter solstice.

3. Shanghai: Shanghai people are accustomed to eating glutinous rice balls on the day of the winter solstice to celebrate the arrival of the winter solstice. The dough is made from glutinous rice flour, and various fillings are added to the bread, and the rice balls are used to worship ancestors and give gifts to relatives and friends.

4. Ningxia: On the day of the winter solstice, there is a custom in Yinchuan that on this day, you should drink powder soup and eat mutton powder soup dumplings. Full year old.

The above content reference: Encyclopedia - Winter Solstice Dumplings.

The reason for eating dumplings on the winter solstice is to commemorate the "medical saint" Zhang Zhongjing, who left the medicine on the winter solstice. The specific events are as follows:

There are many folk sayings about the inventor of dumplings, and one of the more recognized ones is invented by Zhang Xianjing, the "medical saint". In ancient times, dumplings were not called dumplings, but "Jiao'er".

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a winter when the weather was particularly cold, and there were many people like Zhang Yijing who came to seek medical treatment. Most of them had frostbite in their ears because the weather was too cold. Zhang Xianjing couldn't bear to suffer the poor people, so he set up a greenhouse on the day of the winter solstice, set up a cauldron, and applied medicine to the local people to treat their injuries.

Among them, the medicine he administered is called "dispelling cold Jiao'er soup", which is to boil mutton, chili pepper and some cold-warding ingredients in a pot, and then take out these ingredients and wrap them with dough, which resembles a human ear. After that, it is cooked in a pot and distributed to the patient. And the good regretful people who ate these "Jiao'er" and "Jiao'er soup to dispel the cold" quickly healed the chilblains in their ears.

In order to thank Zhang Xinjing for his kindness in opening a shed and medicine, the local people also learned to make dumplings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so with the spread of this story, more and more people also made dumplings to eat on the day of the winter solstice solar term in order to prevent frostbite in winter, so this custom spread. The agricultural proverb that circulates among the people, "If you don't serve a dumpling bowl on the winter solstice, no one cares if you freeze your ears", also comes from this!