My family eats jiaozi regularly. It can be said that many kinds of vegetables can be used as stuffing, and with beef, mutton, pork or seafood, or plain dumplings, they can be delicious. Looking at the whole country, especially in the north, the frequency of eating jiaozi is not low, and people's love for jiaozi can be seen.
However, do you know the origin of jiaozi, which is commonplace?
There are many historical records and folklore about the origin of jiaozi.
Jiaozi, formerly known as Jiao 'er, is said to have been first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage in the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to legend, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", served as the prefect of Changsha, then resigned and returned to his hometown. Just in time for the winter solstice, he saw that the people in Nanyang were hungry and cold, and their ears were frostbitten. At that time, typhoid fever was prevalent and many people died. Zhang Zhongjing summed up the clinical practice in the Han Dynasty for more than 300 years, so he set up a medical shed in the local area, set up a cauldron, cooked mutton, peppers and herbs for removing cold and warming, made them into ear shapes with flour bags, and gave them to the poor with soup and food after cooking. The common people ate from the winter solstice to New Year's Eve, resisted typhoid fever and cured their frozen ears. Since then, villagers and future generations have imitated the production and called it "dumpling ears".
The real appearance of the name "jiaozi" (slot) was from the Song Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, and there was a record of "Crystal Corner" in "Dream of China in Tokyo", indicating that there were many varieties of jiaozi in the Song Dynasty. "Corner" is the etymology of the word "jiaozi" in later generations.
By the Yuan Dynasty, there were more varieties in jiaozi, and names such as moving column corner, hump corner and flipping face corner all appeared frequently in the literary records at that time.
Jiaozi in the Ming Dynasty is very similar to jiaozi now, and it is called "water snacks" or "flat food" in The History of Ming Palace.
According to textual research, the development of jiaozi in the Qing Dynasty was quite common. At this time, there were various methods to make dough in jiaozi, and the dumpling stuffing was rich in varieties. The making methods could be boiled, steamed and fried, which was the prototype of dumplings, steamed dumplings and fried stickers.
In China, jiaozi is not only a delicacy, but also a symbol. When wrapping jiaozi, people often wrap Jin Ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into stuffing. Those who eat the best and sugar will have a sweeter life in the coming year, those who eat peanuts will live a long and healthy life, and those who eat dates and chestnuts will have a baby early. In some areas, when people eat jiaozi, they also have to match some non-staple food to show good luck, such as eating tofu, which symbolizes the happiness of the whole family; Eating persimmon symbolizes all the best; Eating three fresh vegetables symbolizes the prosperity of three yang. In some places in the south, eggs will be broken up during the Spring Festival, and then heated to make a crust and wrapped with meat stuffing, which is called egg dumplings.
In most parts of northern China, jiaozi is a must-eat food during the Spring Festival every year, and jiaozi is also eaten in many provinces and cities during the winter solstice. The New Year's Eve package of jiaozi has become a beautiful scenery, a tradition and a custom, unique to China.