"Clear barnyard grass banknotes" edited by Xu Ke said: "There is stuffing in it, or it is called powder horn-both steamed food and fried food can be used, and boiled soup is called dumplings." For thousands of years, jiaozi, as a New Year's food, has been loved by people, and has been passed down to this day.
In its long development process, jiaozi has various names, including "prison pill", "flat food", "dumpling bait" and "powder horn" in ancient times. In the Tang Dynasty, jiaozi was called "Tang Zhong Prison Pill"; The Yuan Dynasty was called "Shiluo Jiaoer"; In the late Ming dynasty, it was called "powder angle"; The Qing Dynasty called it "flat food".
In addition to these written records, we can also see the complete jiaozi of the Tang Dynasty more than 1,300 years ago. It was unearthed from the tomb of Tang Dynasty in Astana, Turpan County, Xinjiang. When unearthed, a jiaozi and four wonton were put together in a wooden bowl. Thus, at least in the Tang Dynasty, jiaozi had been introduced to the remote areas of our country.
References:
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New Year's Eve package jiaozi. It is one of the most important contents of folk Chinese New Year in the vast areas of northern China. There are many rules and established customs, which are all to meet the needs of the atmosphere of the New Year. ..
Jiaozi in New Year's Eve
As the folk proverb goes, "It's cold and mild, so eat jiaozi for the New Year." The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month is the time for people to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. On this day, people have to prepare many delicious foods and hold various meaningful activities from morning till night. People call this day "Chinese New Year". The Chinese New Year is the most solemn festival of the Chinese nation. In order to have a good year, the old farmers began to be busy as soon as they entered the threshold of the twelfth lunar month. Especially since the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "off-year", people have entered the countdown to the New Year, and they are busy day and night. There is a popular Chinese New Year Song in Henan:
Twenty-three, the altar official;
Twenty-four, sweep the house;
Twenty-five, grinding bean curd;
Twenty-six, to cut the meat;
Twenty-seven, kill pigs and chickens;
Twenty-eight, steamed jujube flowers;
Twenty-nine, go to play wine;
Year 30, Bao jiaozi;
On the first day of New Year's Day, I squatted on my ass.
New Year's Eve package jiaozi. It is one of the most important contents of folk Chinese New Year in the vast areas of northern China. In jiaozi on the 30th, because it is an important part of the festival, many rules and established customs have been stipulated. These customs are all to meet the needs of the atmosphere of the New Year. Pay attention to the stuffing of dumplings. jiaozi first mixes the stuffing of dumplings. Dumplings are filled with meat and vegetables, and some places are strictly different, but more are mixed with meat and vegetables. 30-year-old jiaozi should be enough for the whole family to eat at 30 nights and the morning of the first day. On New Year's Eve, dumplings are usually mixed with meat and vegetables. Pork or mutton is cut into small diced meat, marinated with seasonings, and then the tender leaves of Chinese cabbage are chopped into coarse grains with a knife, some water is squeezed out, and human meat and seasonings are added to mix. In the process of stuffing making, the most important thing is chopping stuffing, which is the process of finely chopping Chinese cabbage with a knife. When chopping vegetables, the knife collides with the chopping board, making a powerful "bang" sound. Because of the constant change of force, this sound gives a rhythmic change of strength and rhythm, like a particularly beautiful music, which spreads to all neighbors. People all hope that the chopping sound at home is the loudest and longest in the village. Meat and vegetables are mixed with stuffing, which is homophonic "having money", and the stuffing is the loudest and takes a long time, which means "having more money for a long time". The longer it takes to chop vegetables, the more jiaozi there are, symbolizing the prosperous life. Jiaozi pays attention to the shape of New Year's Eve, and jiaozi also pays attention to the shape. Most areas are used to keeping the traditional meniscus shape. When wrapping this shape, you should fold the dough in half and knead it along the edge of a semicircle with the thumb and forefinger of your right hand. You should knead it carefully and evenly, which is called "pinching happiness". Some farmhouses pinch the two corners of jiaozi, which have been pinched into a crescent shape, into an "ingot" shape, which is placed on the curtain, symbolizing the wealth everywhere and the house full of gold and silver. There are also some farmers who pinch jiaozi with grain-shaped patterns, like grain-full and huge grains of wheat, symbolizing a bumper harvest in the new year. But more is to wrap jiaozi into several shapes, which indicates that the next year will be full of money, food and Man Cang, and life will flourish. Jiaozi's jiaozi, which pays attention to the 30-year-old package, not only pays attention to its shape, but also has its own rules. First of all, you can't put it anywhere. As the saying goes: "Busy, don't let jiaozi mess around." Daily package of jiaozi, horizontal and vertical pendulum, all with its intention, 30-year-old package of jiaozi is not. In Shandong and other places, the curtain should be round. First, a few ingot-shaped jiaozi should be placed in the middle, and then they should be placed neatly layer by layer around the ingot, which is a folk saying that "the circle is blessed". Some people even stipulate that no matter how big or small the curtains are, only 99 curtains can be placed on each curtain, and they should be covered with curtains. Therefore, it can only be achieved by adjusting the spacing and row spacing of jiaozi, which is called "endless happiness". There is also an interesting story about this custom in folklore: a long time ago, in a poor mountain village, there was a poor family who often ate the last meal without the next. On New Year's Eve, there is no white flour or vegetables at home, and I am worried when I listen to the sound of chopping vegetables in my neighbors. Helpless, I had to borrow rice noodles from my relatives and friends. After making up the noodles, I made some miscellaneous vegetables and stuffed them into stuffing, so I wrapped up jiaozi. Because the noodles are borrowed, the jiaozi of the bag is particularly precious. When placed, it goes round and round from the inside out, which is very neat and beautiful. Kitchen God, who just came back from heaven, was very happy to see it. There was a rich man in the same village, and his family was rich. He was used to eating delicacies on weekdays and didn't care about jiaozi at all. On New Year's Eve, the stuffing was made with meat, eggs and other materials, wrapped into jiaozi, and placed on the curtain. Jiaozi, a small material, tastes completely different after being cooked in the pot. Pork stuffing has become a radish dish. And that poor family's jiaozi turned into a stuffed meat and eggs. It turned out that the Kitchen God was very dissatisfied with the attitude of the rich man's family to pack jiaozi. In order to punish him, he secretly switched the two jiaozi. The next day, it spread in the village. From then on, no matter how busy people are, jiaozi at the age of 30 should be placed neatly to win a "circle of happiness". But in some parts of Heilongjiang, jiaozi can't be placed in a circle. It is said that putting jiaozi in a circle will make the days go by and die. It must be lined up horizontally, so that financial resources can flow in all directions.
Jiaozi is particular about cooking and eating.
New Year's Eve not only includes jiaozi, but also eats jiaozi. As the saying goes, "Eat jiaozi on New Year's Eve-there are no outsiders." It shows that jiaozi on the New Year's Eve is a symbol of family reunion. On this day, jiaozi should be eaten on New Year's Eve, which not only means family reunion, but also means to renew children. The custom of eating jiaozi on New Year's Eve has a long history, at least in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The History of the Ming Palace recorded the custom of eating jiaozi in the New Year. "From the fifth watch ..., eat dim sum, that is, eat flat food." After the inheritance and perfection, the custom of eating jiaozi on New Year's Eve was formed, which meant to say goodbye to the old and renew the old. On New Year's Eve in jiaozi, accompanied by the sound of firecrackers to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, jiaozi was put into a boiling pot, cooked and fished out for the gods and ancestors first, and then jiaozi was eaten with other foods.
Cooking jiaozi on New Year's Eve is also very particular. The firewood used for the fire should be made of beans or sesame seeds, which means that the fire will burn more and more vigorously, and the days in the coming year will be as high as sesame blossoms. When cooking jiaozi in a pot, you can't stir it with a shovel. You should move it along the edge of the pot in one direction to form a circle, which means the same as placing jiaozi. In eastern Shandong, boiled jiaozi is usually boiled a few times on purpose, but you can't say taboos such as broken, broken and rotten, but you should say "earned" or "rose". Because there are dishes in jiaozi, which are homophonic for "wealth", jiaozi "earned", which means "making money", in order to gain luck and win a favor, so as to increase the happy atmosphere on New Year's Eve. In some places in central Gansu, when jiaozi is cooked on New Year's Eve, a little noodles are added to cook and eat together, which is euphemistically called "silver silk wrapped around ingots". Noodles should be thin, and jiaozi should be wrapped in an ingot shape, which means longevity and wealth. It is also a good luck and a good hope for people.
When eating jiaozi, there are also customs. The first bowl should be offered first, to the ancestors and to the gods. Jiaozi, who offered this offering, is also particular about it. There is a saying among the people in Hebei that "there are three ghosts and four gods". Is to offer three bowls to the gods, three for each bowl; Provide four bowls for the ancestors, and each bowl contains four jiaozi; Only the Kitchen God is the most disrespected. Only 1 bowl of jiaozi is served, and only 1 bowl is served. However, some people feel sorry and just fill a few. In some places, after jiaozi arrives at the altar, the old people at home will also read a prayer phrase devoutly, such as:
A flat food with two sharp heads,
Into the pot into thousands.
Gold spoon, silver bowl end,
End to the table to respect the elderly.
The gods liked it when they saw it,
Keep safe all the year round.
The second bowl of jiaozi should be served to the livestock to show their love for them. In the old days, large livestock, such as cattle and horses, were the main labor tools for farmers, and people also hoped that livestock would usher in a safe and smooth year like people. Only the third bowl can be eaten by the family. On New Year's Eve, there were many kinds of New Year's Eve dinners, but none of them could be eaten. Only jiaozi had to eat them. Remember clearly when eating, it is better to eat even numbers, not odd numbers. Some old people in the family say something while eating: "More food (wealth), more food" and other old sayings. After dinner, jiaozi's plates and bowls, and even jiaozi's pot, must be deliberately left behind on the curtain of raw jiaozi, which is called "more than one year". Even the stuffing and dough used in jiaozi should have "extra heads".