Jiaozi is a traditional food that our people love. Its preparation method is to make a thin and soft dumpling skin with flour, then chop up fresh meat, cabbage, etc., mix with seasoning as stuffing, wrap it and cook it in a pot until jiaozi floats to the surface. It is characterized by thin skin and tender stuffing, delicious taste, unique shape and insatiable appetite.

Jiaozi, formerly known as Jiaoer, was first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage in China.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, disasters were serious everywhere, and many people suffered from diseases. There is a famous doctor named Zhang Ji in Nanyang, whose name is Zhongjing. He studied medical books hard since childhood and learned from others, becoming the founder of traditional Chinese medicine. Zhang Zhongjing not only has a good medical skill, but also has a noble medical ethics. He has treated the poor and the rich seriously and saved countless lives.

When Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha, he often cured diseases for the people. One year, when the local plague prevailed, he built a cauldron at the entrance of Yamen, giving up medicine to save people, which won the love of Changsha people. After Zhang Zhongjing retired from Changsha to his hometown, he walked to the shore of the Baihe River in his hometown and saw many poor people suffering from hunger and cold, and their ears were frozen. He was very upset and determined to treat them. When Zhang Zhongjing came home, there were many people seeking medical treatment. He was as busy as a bee, but he always remembered the poor people with frozen ears. Following the example of Changsha, he told his disciples to set up a medical shed and cauldron in an open space in Dongguan, Nanyang, and open it on the day of the winter solstice to give medicine to the poor to cure their injuries.

Zhang Zhongjing's medicine is called "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction". Its practice is to boil mutton, pepper and some herbs for dispelling cold in a pot. After cooking, take these things out and chop them up, and make them into ear-shaped "Jiaoer" with a dough bag. After cooking in the pot, they will be distributed to patients begging for medicine. Each person has two charming ears and a bowl of soup. After eating Quhan decoction, people feel warm all over, their blood is smooth, and their ears get warm. After eating it for a while, the patient's rotten ears healed.

Zhang Zhongjing gave up medicine until New Year's Eve. On the first day of the New Year, people celebrate the New Year, and also celebrate the recovery of rotten ears. They cooked food for the New Year just like Jiaoer and ate it on the morning of the first day. People call this kind of food "dumpling ears", "jiaozi" or partial eclipse, and eat it on the winter solstice and the first day of the new year to commemorate the day when Zhang Zhongjing opened a shed to give medicine and cure patients.

Zhang Zhongjing is nearly 1800 years ago, but his story of "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction" has been widely circulated among the people. On the winter solstice and the first day of New Year's Day, people eat jiaozi, and they still remember Zhang Zhongjing's kindness in their hearts. Today, we don't need to cure frozen rotten ears with charming ears, but jiaozi has become the most common and favorite food for people.