1, jiaozi
As the proverb goes, "On October 1st, when the winter solstice comes, every family eats dumplings." This custom was left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", who gave up medicine on the winter solstice.
According to legend, when Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage, retired to his hometown and returned to Nanyang, it was in the snowy winter. He was very sad when he saw that many people's ears in Nanyang were frozen and rotten. He asked his disciples to set up a medical shed in Guandong, Nanyang, cook it in a pot with mutton, pepper and some cold-dispelling herbs, take it out and chop it up, image the ears with a leather bag, then put it down and cook it in a pot, and make a kind of medicine called "soup for dispelling cold and correcting ears" for the people to eat. After eating, the villagers' ears were cured. Later, on the winter solstice, people imitated and cooked food, thus forming the custom of eating jiaozi.
2. Wonton
In the past, there was a saying in old Beijing that "winter solstice wonton and summer solstice noodles". According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu in the north often harassed the frontier, and the people were restless. At that time, there were two leaders of Hun tribe and Tun tribe, which were very cruel. The people hated it, so they wrapped it into a corner with meat stuffing and called it "wonton" with the sound of "muddy" and "tun". Hate to eat, and seek to calm the war and live a peaceful life. Because wonton was originally made on the winter solstice, every family eats wonton on the winter solstice.
3. Eat mutton
The custom of eating mutton on the winter solstice is said to have started from the Han Dynasty. According to legend, Liu Bang, the Emperor Gaozu, ate mutton cooked by Fan Kuai on the winter solstice, which made him feel particularly delicious and full of praise. Since then, the custom of eating mutton on the winter solstice has been formed among the people. Nowadays, people eat dog meat, mutton and various nourishing foods on the winter solstice in order to have a good omen for the coming year.
4. Tangyuan
Tangyuan is a necessary food for the winter solstice. This is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Round" means reunion and perfection, and the dumplings eaten on the winter solstice are also called "winter solstice dumplings". The ancients had a poem saying: "Every family beats rice to make glutinous rice balls, knowing that it is the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty."
As the saying goes in southern China, "Winter Festival is as big as a year" and "Winter Festival has not returned to our ancestors". It means that people who go out must go home to worship their ancestors anyway on the winter solstice, otherwise they will have no concept of ancestral home. Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait attach great importance to the winter solstice and regard it as a reunion festival.
5. Jiangnan rice
In Jiangnan water town, there is a custom that the whole family get together on the night of the winter solstice to eat red beans and glutinous rice. According to legend, * * * Gong's was a gifted scholar who did many evils and died on the winter solstice. After his death, he became an epidemic ghost and continued to harm the people. However, this epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red bean rice on the winter solstice to ward off the epidemic ghost and prevent and cure diseases.
Whether it's a bowl of hot glutinous rice balls or a plate of delicious jiaozi, on other days, it may just be a kind of food. However, on the winter solstice, they represent China people's persistence in traditional festivals and their beautiful expectations for their families. Whether for the sake of "reunion" or in memory of doctor Zhang Zhongjing, these traditional delicacies are no longer just food, but a way to express their love for their families.