Suzhou was the capital of Wu in the ancient Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, the princes dominated and the war lasted for years. Wu built a solid wall to stop the enemy attack.

On this day, the king of Wu gave a banquet to celebrate. During the dinner, the ministers indulged in drinking and having fun, thinking that with a strong city, they could rest easy. See these, China's prime minister Wu Zixu is very worried.

He called his entourage and said, "The civil and military officials in the Qing Dynasty now think that high walls can protect the peace of the State of Wu. Although the city wall can resist enemy soldiers, the people inside will be equally restrained if they want to go out. If the enemy does not fight around, isn't Wu trapped in a cocoon? If you get carried away, you will be in trouble. If anything happens to me, Wu is trapped and food and grass are scarce, you can go to Xiangmen City to dig three feet to get food. "

The entourage thought that Wu Zixu was drunk, but he didn't take it seriously. Soon, the King of Qi died, and Fu Cha succeeded to the throne. He listened to greed and committed suicide for Wu Zixu. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, sent troops to attack the State of Wu and surrounded the capital of the State of Wu. These wax powders saved the whole city. Since then, every household has made a "city brick" of glutinous rice flour as a sacrifice to Wu Zixu during the Chinese New Year. Over time, it is called rice cake.

Extended data

There is an old legend about the origin of rice cakes. In ancient times, there was a monster named Nian, who lived in the deep mountains and forests all the year round. When he is hungry, he catches other animals to satisfy his hunger. But in the severe winter, most animals hide and sleep. When you are hungry, you go down the mountain to hurt the people, rob people for food, and make the people miserable.

Later, there was a clever tribe called "Gaozu". Every winter, when the monster was expected to go down the mountain for food, he cooked a lot of food with food in advance, twisted it into strips and put it outside the door, while people hid at home. When "Nian" came, people couldn't find anyone to eat. When they were hungry, they filled their stomachs with food strips made by people and went back to the mountains after eating.

When people saw the monster go, they all went out to congratulate each other, glad that they had escaped the "Year Pass" and were safe and ready to plough again in spring. In this way, year after year, this method of avoiding animal harm has been handed down. Because the grain bars are made of high, in order to feed the year, the year and the height are linked together, which is called the rice cake (homophonic).