The legend of eating jiaozi on the winter solstice
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a famous doctor named Zhang Zhongjing in Nanyang. His medical skill is very high, no matter what difficult diseases, he can get rid of them by hand, and people praise him as a medical saint with a wonderful hand to rejuvenate.
Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha. When he retired from his old age, it was winter. The wind was biting and the snow was fluttering. He walked to the bank of the Baihe River and saw the poor villagers who were running around for a living. They were sallow and emaciated, and their clothes were not covered. Many people's ears were frozen and rotten, and his heart was very uncomfortable.
As soon as Zhang Zhongjing got home, many people came to see a doctor. Although he was very busy, he always remembered the poor villagers with frozen ears. He told his disciples to set up a shed in an open space in Dongguan, Nanyang, put a big pot on it, and opened it on the day of the winter solstice to give medicine to the poor to treat frostbite. The medicine for giving up is called "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction". The practice is to use mutton, pepper and some cold-dispelling herbs to boil in a pot. After cooking, take out the mutton medicine and chop it up, and put it into an ear-shaped "jiao-er" with a dough bag. Then give it to people who come to ask for medicine, and each person will give a big bowl of soup and two charming ears. People eat Jiao Er and drink Quhan Tang, but they feel warm all over and their ears are hot.
Besides, when Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha, he often treated the local people and was loved by the people there. After he retired from his old age and returned to his hometown, the people in Changsha missed him. Every year, several respected old people were elected to visit him with the wishes of the villagers. That year, Zhang Zhongjing was seriously ill, and the old man in Changsha said: There is a good place in Changsha, and I want him to be buried in Changsha when he dies. Where are the people in Nanyang willing to follow? We quarreled about it in two minutes. Zhang Zhongjing said: "I have eaten Changsha water, and I don't forget the feelings of Changsha's parents;" I was born in Nanyang, and I don't forget my hometown. When I die, you carry my coffin and walk in the direction of Changsha. Just bury me where the spiritual rope is broken. "Hearing this, the people no longer argue.
On the winter solstice that year,
Zhang Zhongjing passed away. Many people came to Changsha to mourn and transport his body to Changsha. According to his will, people in Nanyang and Changsha carried coffins on the road, and when they reached the place where the soup for dispelling cold and charming ears was given, the spiritual rope suddenly broke. All the people are busy playing the tomb, getting down the coffin and filling the grave. You pick it, I carry it, and it keeps flowing around the clock, making Zhang Zhongjing's grave very big. Another temple was built in front of Zhang Zhongjing's grave, which is now the medical shrine.
Zhang Zhongjing died on the winter solstice, and opened the soup for dispelling cold and charming ears on the winter solstice. In order to commemorate this day, every household eats jiaozi every year on the winter solstice, and says that if you eat jiaozi on the winter solstice, your ears will not freeze off.
Legends and culture of jiaozi
According to legend, jiaozi was first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage in China. For a long time, jiaozi, as a New Year's food, has been loved by people and passed down to this day.
In fact, jiaozi originated from the ancient slot. Jiaozi was called "Jiao Er" in Song Dynasty, which was the etymology of the word "jiaozi" in later generations. This way of writing, in the following Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China, we can still see that the Yuan Dynasty called jiaozi a "flat food". During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Bang's Miscellaneous Notes of Wan Department recorded: "New Year's Day, New Year's greetings, making plaque food". Liu Ruoyu's "Deliberation in Records" states: "On the first day of the Lunar New Year, eating fruit snacks is also a plaque." The "plaque" of the "plaque food" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties has now been commonly used as "flat". A "flat food" may come from Mongolian.
During the Qing Dynasty, new appellations about jiaozi appeared, such as "dumpling", "water snack" and "boiled cake". The increase of jiaozi's name shows that its spreading area is expanding, and the custom of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival has been quite popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Generally, jiaozi should be wrapped up before 12 o'clock in the evening of New Year's Eve and eaten at midnight. At this time, it is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating jiaozi means "making friends at a younger age", and "zi" is homophonic with "dumpling", which means "happy reunion" and "good luck". There are many legends about eating jiaozi in the New Year, one of which is to commemorate Pangu's epoch-making. In addition, it is also said that eating jiaozi's folk language is related to Nu Wa's making people. When Nu Wa's soil caused people, the ears of the loess people were easily frozen off because of the cold weather. In order to make the ears not be fixed, Nu Wa put a small eye in the ear, tied it with a thin thread, and put the other end of the thread in the mouth of the loess people to bite it, so as to make the ears well. In order to commemorate the achievements of Nu Wa, ordinary people wrapped jiaozi, shaped it into an adult's ear with flour, wrapped it with stuffing (thread) and ate it with their mouths.
jiaozi is a kind of delicious food. When you mention the representative of Chinese cuisine to your friends, you will always mention it. Every part of it contains Chinese national culture, is a must-have food for every family on New Year's Eve, and expresses people's yearning for a better life. All kinds of jiaozi have different meanings. For example, celery stuffing is called Qincai Dumpling, which is a blessing to diligence and pragmatism. The leek stuffing is called Jiucai Dumpling, which means wishing people long-term health, harmony, happiness and happiness. Cabbage stuffing is called Baicai Dumpling, which is a blessing for all kinds of wealth and a good wish for the newlyweds to grow old together. Mushroom stuffing is called drum wealth dumplings, which is a good wish for the rich or the younger generation to get ahead.