In the early years of Jian 'an, Zhang Zhongjing became the magistrate of Changsha. Soon, when the plague was prevalent, his officials could do nothing. He resolutely resigned from the post of prefect, retired to other places, and was determined to treat the people.

At this time, it is the middle of winter. On the way back to his hometown, he saw the poor people who were running for survival. They had no clothes to cover themselves. Many people's ears are frozen and rotten, and their hearts are even worse.

As soon as he got home, doctors swarmed from door to door. However, Zhang Zhongjing always thinks about the poor villagers with frozen ears. When winter comes, let his disciples see him on the solstice. He set up a medical shed on the vacant lot in Dongguan, Nanyang, and put a big pot on the plate to give medicines for treating frostbite to the poor. He put mutton, peppers and herbs for removing cold into the pot, then fished out the mutton and herbs, cooked them and chopped them. He cooked them with "Jiao Er" in a pot, covered them with ear-like dough bags and distributed them to the poor who treated diseases. Everyone drank a big bowl of soup and ate two dumplings. This medicine is called "Quhan Xiaoer Decoction". After eating, people feel hot all over and their ears are burning. From the winter of solstice, Zhang Zhongjing gave up taking medicine every day until New Year's Eve. The villagers' ears were cured by him and they lived happily for a good year.

Since then, every winter, people think of Dr. Zhang treating villagers and imitating the methods of making charming ears and food. In order to distinguish the prescription of Joule Soup, it was renamed Joule Soup. People later called it "jiaozi", which means "Don't talk". Over time, a custom has been formed. Every winter solstice, every family eats jiaozi.

Jiaozi is also called jiaozi. According to historical records, the origin of this name is related to the custom of eating jiaozi on New Year's Eve in China. Spring Festival is a traditional festival in China, and it is also the most grand festival in the lunar calendar. On New Year's Eve, there are vigils and the custom of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. Vigilance and farewell activities vary from region to region, and the most common one is Bao's farewell. It refers to chopping prepared meat and vegetables into stuffing on New Year's Eve, in which the homonym of meat and vegetables is "wealth". Therefore, when cutting vegetables, it is often necessary to make a loud noise so that neighbors can hear it. After the stuffing is mixed, it is wrapped into crescent-shaped food and cooked by the whole family at midnight. This is called Bao's resignation.

According to the old timing method in heavenly stems and earthly branches, when midnight is 12, it is also called "midnight". As soon as the bell rings, people will enter the new year from the old year. This is the so-called "making friends when they are young". In the custom, this kind of stuffing food eaten as a child is entirely to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, so people call it "jiaozi", which is a name passed down from mouth to mouth. Later, when it was used for writing, because jiaozi was a kind of food, the word "Xunzi" was added in front of it, and it became "jiaozi".

According to experts' investigation, the custom of eating jiaozi on New Year's Eve has been widely popular in the Ming Dynasty, and there are records of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival in books such as History of the Forbidden City in Ming Dynasty and Miscellanies of Ten Thousand Parts. By the Qing Dynasty, it had become a custom. In ancient times, jiaozi was called jiaozi, jiaozi, Bian Shi, wonton and boiled bean cake.

Although jiaozi did not become a custom until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it can be traced back to a longer time. According to textual research, jiaozi was a kind of food as early as the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, and it was recorded in Guoxue Ancient City 1978 unearthed in Tengzhou, Shandong Province. In the ancient city of Guo Xue unearthed here, * * * excavated nine tombs, one of which was Guo Xue's tomb in the Spring and Autumn Period. Among a set of bronze ritual vessels unearthed from the tomb, there is a rusty bronze vessel with some white food neatly arranged inside. They are separate triangles with bread crumbs in them. After investigation, this is today's jiaozi and wonton. This is the earliest jiaozi discovered by China.

Jiaozi unearthed from tombs in the Spring and Autumn Period tells us that China has been eating jiaozi for at least 2,500 years.