In northern China, on the winter solstice of the lunar calendar, jiaozi becomes an indispensable holiday meal for every household. As the saying goes, "On October 1st, when the winter solstice comes, every family eats dumplings." So why eat jiaozi on the winter solstice?
The Origin of Eating jiaozi on the Winter Solstice
We all know that the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates Qu Yuan's custom of eating zongzi, and on the winter solstice, eating jiaozi is actually left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical saint".
Zhang Zhongjing, a native of Xi 'e, Nanyang, was a famous physician in the Eastern Han Dynasty. His book Treatise on Febrile Diseases is a masterpiece of doctors, and Quhan Jiaoer Decoction is regarded as a classic by doctors of all ages. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "If you advance, you will save the world; if you retreat, you will save the people;" You can't be a good doctor, but also a good doctor. "
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing of Nie, Nanyang County, retired when he retired from his hometown, just in time for that winter, when the wind was biting and the snow was falling.
On both sides of the Baihe River, Zhang Zhongjing saw that many homeless people along the way were sallow and thin, and their clothes were not covered. Because of the cold, many people's ears were frozen and festered, and their hearts could not bear it. So Zhang Zhongjing decided to resign and practice medicine for the people. After research, he developed a therapeutic prescription that can keep out the cold, called "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction". He asked his disciples to set up a shed in an open space in Dongguan, Nanyang, and put it on a big pot to give medicine for the poor. The opening day was the winter solstice, and the medicine given was "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction".
At the beginning, the soup for dispelling cold and charming ears was actually to put mutton, pepper and some drugs for dispelling cold in a pot, take it out and chop it up after it is cooked, wrap it in a flour bag to look like an ear, then put it in a pot, and cook the dough wrapped with stuffing with the original soup.
After the dough bag is finished, it looks like an ear, and because its function is to prevent the ear from freezing, Zhang Zhongjing named it "Jiao Er".
Zhang Zhongjing asked his disciples to give each poor person a bowl of soup and two "jiao 'er". People ate the "jiao 'er", and after taking it, the whole body's blood surged, and the ears were hot and the cold disappeared. No one frostbitten their ears anymore. Zhang Zhongjing gave up medicine until New Year's Eve. On the first day of New Year's Day, people celebrate the New Year and the recovery of rotten ears. They cooked food for the new year just like jiao's ears and ate it on the morning of the first day.
Back to the beginning, when Zhang Zhongjing worked in Changsha, he often treated the people in peacetime and was very loved by the masses.
After retirement, the people of Changsha send representatives to visit their hometown every year. As the saying goes, doctors can't cure their own diseases.
Zhang Zhongjing is also a human being, not a god. One year, Zhang Zhongjing was ill, and he knew that the lamp oil of life was about to burn dry.
People who came to visit him in Changsha said that there was a place with good geomantic omen in Changsha, and they wanted Zhang Zhongjing to live there after a hundred years, but people in Nanyang quit, and the two sides quarreled.
Zhang Zhongjing said: "After eating Changsha water, I don't forget the feelings of my parents in Changsha;" Born in Nanyang, I don't forget my hometown. After I die, you will carry my coffin from Nanyang to Changsha, and bury me there when the spiritual rope breaks. "
In the winter of that year, Zhang Zhongjing drove the crane to the west. The day of death happens to be the winter solstice.
When the funeral procession went to the place where Zhang Zhongjing gave everyone "Quhan Jiaoer Soup", the coffin rope suddenly broke. According to Zhang Zhongjing's instructions, we hit the tomb, disembark the coffin and fill the grave on the spot. The people of the two places, one for you and one for me, kept flowing, built Zhang Zhongjing's grave greatly, and built a temple for him in front of it. This is now the medical shrine.
Zhang Zhongjing died on the winter solstice, and made a soup for everyone to get rid of cold and charming ears on the winter solstice. In order to commemorate him, everyone has to eat jiaozi on the winter solstice, and they all say that when they eat jiaozi on the winter solstice, their ears will not freeze in winter.
Although "Quhan Jiaoer Soup" is rarely eaten now, after years of erosion, the custom of eating jiaozi on the winter solstice has been passed down. Therefore, eating jiaozi on the winter solstice is not forgetting the kindness of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", in "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction". Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which says, "The winter solstice misbehaves the jiaozi bowl, and nobody cares if you freeze your ears.".
What are the winter solstice customs?
1, eat an old saying in jiaozi: "On October 1st, when the winter solstice comes, every household eats dumplings." Every year, on the Winter Solstice of the Lunar New Year, jiaozi is an indispensable holiday meal, regardless of the rich or the poor. The implication of eating jiaozi on the winter solstice is to cool down the cold, and to commemorate the "medical sage" Zhang Zhongjing's giving up medicine on the winter solstice. Jiaozi is eaten in the northern part of China on this day, because jiaozi has the meaning of "eliminating cold". So far, there is a folk saying that "the jiaozi bowl is not good at the winter solstice, and nobody cares if you freeze your ears".
2, eat dumplings The ancients had a poem: "Every family smashed rice to make dumplings, knowing that it was the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty." Eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice is a traditional custom in China, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. There is a saying among the people that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". Tangyuan is also called dumplings, and eating dumplings on the winter solstice is also called "winter solstice dumplings"; Tangyuan can be used to worship ancestors or to give gifts to relatives and friends. In the old days, Shanghainese were most particular about eating glutinous rice balls. They tasted newly brewed sweet white wine, flower cakes and glutinous rice balls at family banquets, and then used meat blocks to worship their ancestors.
3. The custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors on the winter solstice has a long history, and its significance lies in teaching people not to forget the fundamentals and inspiring future generations to respect filial piety.
China people have a tradition of pursuing the future with caution, and they will never forget to offer sacrifices to their ancestors on holidays. Sacrifice food or flowers to ancestors, or sweep the graves to show gratitude and memory. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, the winter solstice ancestor worship is attached great importance. There is also a folk saying that the winter solstice is as big as a year.
It is said that Mencius, the sage, died on the winter solstice. Because his fellow villagers were very sad, he abolished the previous ceremony to celebrate the winter solstice and gradually changed to the tradition of ancestor worship. There are two forms of ancestor worship in the winter solstice: one is outdoor and the other is indoor. Outdoor memorial service, held in ancestral graves. The indoor memorial service is held in the ancestral hall.
That's what I know about the origin of eating jiaozi on the winter solstice, and now jiaozi has become an indispensable holiday meal.