The origin of eating dumplings at the beginning of winter is the saying that "the time of the handover is the time of the handover". The beginning of winter is the turn of the fall and winter seasons, so dumplings at the time of the handover should not be left out.

Eating dumplings at the beginning of the winter season symbolizes people's hope for a better winter, and also improves their lives on the day of the beginning of winter, which is "as good as dumplings". There is also a saying that because dumplings are shaped like ears, people think that if they eat them, their ears will not freeze in winter. There is a proverb that says: "If you don't serve dumplings at the beginning of winter, your ears will freeze and no one will care. Some folklore experts believe that the winter is the turn of the autumn and winter seasons, is "the time of the cross".

So eating dumplings at this time has the meaning of "obeying the will of heaven". In addition, China used to be a farming society, and people who had worked all year took advantage of the day of winter to take a break and reward the family for their hard work throughout the year. There is another story about the origin of dumplings. It is said that the original name of dumplings was "Jiao Er", which was first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, the sage of Chinese medicine.

Winter Solstice Customs

Legend has it that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Zhang Zhongjing returned to his hometown after resigning from his post, just in time for the winter solstice, he saw that the common people were so hungry and cold that their ears were frostbitten. So he wrapped the dough in the shape of an ear and boiled it with medicinal herbs to give it to the people and cured them. In his honor, the custom of eating dumplings has been passed down. Dumplings as early as the Three Kingdoms have been, but the dumplings will be similar to the current wontons, after cooking and soup together in a bowl to mix and eat, so the people at that time called the dumplings "wontons".

It wasn't until the Tang Dynasty that dumplings became the same as they are now. In folklore, there is a custom of celebrating or worshipping winter on the first day of winter. On this day, people changed into new clothes, congratulated each other and visited their teachers as if it was New Year. Later, these activities were gradually simplified, but to date, there are still some activities, such as organizing winter schools and visiting teachers, which are held at the beginning of winter.