It is said that the earliest zongzi had no special shape, but there was a legend about Meng Jiangnv in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that Meng Jiangnv wants to visit her husband who works outside. Before leaving, he was afraid that his husband was hungry, and racked his brains to bring delicious food to his husband who was working outside to express his mind. After some consideration, he decided to wrap zongzi for him.
The materials used to make zongzi in China are quite different, but most of them are plants with wide leaves, so it is ideal to choose the ones with wide leaves and long and tough leaves. However, for the leaves that meet the requirements, due to the limited width, the triangular wrapping method is summarized. Generally, only two leaves can be used to wrap one leaf, and the people's intelligence is immeasurable.
There is another saying about Qu Yuan. Making the triangle into the shape of a "human" and throwing it into the Miluo River can stop the dragon from eating Qu Yuan's meat. Zongzi is a kind of holiday food in China, which is eaten on the Dragon Boat Festival. There are different opinions on the reasons for its shape, among which there are more opinions on offering sacrifices to Qu Yuan, and the legendary shape is more reasonable. The conclusion is that if the package is triangular, there is no need for extra bending. If it is square, rice is easy to leak out and more leaves are needed.
The most reasonable explanation is that the triangle wrapping method is simple, the shape is not too big, it is easier to cook, and the leaves are more elastic along the fiber direction and not easy to tear, so the early zongzi are often triangular.