When and where the custom of eating Yuanxiao originated, people have different opinions. It is said that at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, King Zhao and Chu passed the Yangtze River on his way back from the countryside and saw something floating on the river, which was white and yellow, and there was a kind of rouge-red pulp in it, which was very sweet. People didn't know what it was, so Zhao Haoqi sent someone to ask Confucius. Confucius said, "This duckweed fruit is also a sign of the master's revival."

Because this day is the fifteenth day of the first month, on this day in the future, Zhao Haoqi ordered his men to imitate this fruit with flour and cook it with red stuffing made of hawthorn. There is also a saying that Yuanxiao was originally called Tangyuan. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there was a maid-in-waiting named Yuanxiao, who was very good at making dumplings. Since then, the world has been named after this maid-in-waiting. These two legends are not recorded in historical materials, so they are not credible.

Folk custom of eating Yuanxiao on Lantern Festival. Yuanxiao is called "Tangyuan", "Zi Yuan", "Floating Zi Yuan" and "Shui Yuan" in the south. It is made of glutinous rice (sweet potato in some areas), solid and stuffed. The fillings are red bean paste, sugar, hawthorn and so on. Can be boiled, fried, steamed and fried.