1 About the origin of Zongzi in the AD. In 340 BC, Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet and doctor of the State of Chu, faced with the pain of national subjugation, threw a big stone into the Guluo River in grief and indignation on May 5th. In order not to make fish and shrimp hurt his body, people put rice in bamboo tubes into the river to attract fish and shrimp to eat. In the future, in order to show respect and memory for Qu Yuan, people put rice in bamboo tubes and put it into a memorial ceremony on this day, which is the origin of the earliest zongzi in China-"Tongzong".

2. The origin of Zongzi in the Spring and Autumn Period. According to records, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped in leaves of Zizania latifolia (Zizania latifolia) into a horn shape, which was called "horn millet"; Rice packed in bamboo tubes is sealed and roasted, which is called "tube zongzi". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the millet was soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contained alkali, the millet was wrapped in leaves to form a quadrangle and cooked, which was called Guangdong Suanshui Zongzi.

3. In the Song Dynasty, there was a "candied dumpling", that is, the fruit entered the dumpling. Su Dongpo, a poet, has a poem "See Yangmei in Zongzi". At this time, there were also advertisements made of zongzi piled into pavilions and wooden carts and horses, indicating that eating zongzi was very fashionable in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the wrapping material of zongzi changed from leaves to leaves. Later, zongzi wrapped with reed leaves appeared, and additional materials such as bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates, walnuts and so on appeared, and the varieties were more colorful.

Extended data

Traditional customs—

Among the traditional festivals, the variety and complexity of folk customs, or only the Dragon Boat Festival can be compared with the Spring Festival, all have the themes of rituals and customs such as praying for blessings and eliminating disasters, which places people's desire to welcome auspicious blessings and ward off evil spirits and eliminate disasters. The Dragon Boat Festival has mixed a variety of folk customs in the historical development and evolution. There are many customs of the Dragon Boat Festival, which are diverse in form, colorful in content and lively and festive.

Because of different regional cultures, there are differences in the content or details of customs in different parts of the country. The customs of the Dragon Boat Festival mainly include picking dragon boats, dragon festival, picking herbs, hanging wormwood and calamus, worshipping ancestors, washing herbal water, drinking water at noon, soaking dragon boats in water, eating zongzi, flying kites, tying colorful silk thread, fumigating Atractylodes lancea, wearing sachets and so on.