Many areas in China pay attention to eating rice cakes during the Spring Festival. It is said that the earliest rice cakes were used to worship gods and ancestors on New Year's Eve, and later became food for the Spring Festival. The rice cake is yellow and white, symbolizing gold and silver. The rice cake is also called "rice cake", which is homophonic with "getting taller every year", indicating that people's work and life are getting better every year. Therefore, there is a poem by predecessors, which called the rice cake: "The meaning of the rice cake is slightly deeper, and it is as white as silver and gold. I look forward to high profits when I am old, and I really hope that I have money. " Because of its high homophonic and diverse tastes, rice cakes have almost become a must-have food for every family during the Spring Festival.
There are many ancient legends about the origin of rice cakes:
According to legend, in ancient times, there was a monster named Nian. In the severe winter, it went down the mountain to grab people to eat. There is a clever tribe called Gao. Every winter, they cut the grain into pieces in advance and put it outside the door. People hide at home. After the new year, people fill their stomachs with food left outside the door. After the monster left with a full stomach, people went out to congratulate themselves and were glad that they had survived the last year safely. This custom has been handed down year after year. Because the food bars are made by Gao's family, in order to support the customs of the new year, the year and Gao are linked together and called rice cakes (homophonic).
Another legend is related to Wu Zixu. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wu Zixu, a doctor of the State of Wu, built Helongcheng. He said to his men: After my death, if the country is in trouble and the people are hungry, you can dig a few feet under the city gate and find food for yourself. After Wu Zixu's death, the State of Yue conquered the State of Wu. In times of crisis, someone remembered Wu Zixu's entrustment before his death, so they tore down the city walls and dug up the land. Sure enough, they dug up many edible "city bricks", that is, rice cakes, and finally got through the difficulties. Later, in the twelfth lunar month, people used glutinous rice to make rice cakes to offer sacrifices to Wu Zixu, and at the same time they also took the auspicious meaning of climbing mountains step by step every year.
The taste of rice cakes varies from place to place. Beijingers like to eat jujube rice cakes, 100-fruit rice cakes and white rice cakes made of glutinous rice or yellow rice. Hebei people like to add jujube, red beans and mung beans to rice cakes and steam them together. In northern Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places, it is customary to eat yellow wheat fried rice cakes during the New Year, and some people will also stuff them with bean paste and jujube paste, while Shandong people steam rice cakes with yellow rice and red dates. The rice cakes in the north are mainly sweet, steamed or fried, and some people simply eat them with sugar. Although slightly different, the meaning is the same. Eating rice cakes in the New Year contains people's wishes and yearning for a happy and beautiful life.