Winter Solstice, also known as Winter Festival, Yasui Festival, Changzhi Festival, etc., has both natural and humanistic connotations. It is not only an important solar term among the 24 solar terms, but also a traditional Chinese folk festival.

In ancient times, there was a folk saying that "the winter solstice is as big as the new year".

So do you know what customary foods are eaten during the Winter Solstice?

The following is the custom food I brought to you about the Winter Solstice. I hope it can help you! 1. Dumpling proverb goes: "On October 1st, when the winter solstice arrives, every household eats dumplings." This custom is to commemorate the "Medical Saint"

Zhang Zhongjing left the medicine behind during the winter solstice.

It is said that when the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing retired and returned to his hometown in Nanyang, it was a snowy winter. He saw that many people in Nanyang had their ears rotten by the cold. He felt very sad and asked his disciples to set up a medical tent in Guandong, Nanyang.

Put mutton, chili and some cold-repelling medicinal materials in a pot and cook, take it out and chop it into pieces, wrap it in dough to look like ears, put it in the pot and cook it to make a kind of soup called "cold-repelling ear correction soup"

Medicines were distributed to the people.

After taking it, the villagers' ears were cured.

Later, people imitated making and eating dumplings every winter solstice, thus forming the custom of eating dumplings.

2. Wontons In the past, there was a saying in old Beijing that “Winter Solstice Wontons and Summer Solstice Noodles” were used.

According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, the Huns from the north often harassed the frontiers, and the people had no peace.

At that time, there were two leaders in the Xiongnu tribe, the Hun clan and the Tun clan, who were very ferocious.

The people hated it so much that they used meat fillings to wrap it into wontons and called them "wontons" after taking the sounds of "hun" and "tun".

He eats his hatred and hopes to quell the war and live a peaceful life.

Because wontons were first made on the winter solstice, every household eats wontons on the winter solstice.

3. Eating mutton The custom of eating mutton during the Winter Solstice is said to have started in the Han Dynasty.

According to legend, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, ate the mutton cooked by Fan Kuai on the day of the winter solstice. He thought it tasted particularly delicious and was full of praise.

Since then, the folk custom of eating mutton during the Winter Solstice has been formed.

Nowadays, people eat dog meat, mutton and various nutritious foods on the day of the winter solstice in order to have a good omen in the coming year.

4. Tangyuan Tangyuan is a must-have food during the Winter Solstice.

This is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Yuan" means reunion and perfection. The glutinous rice balls eaten during the Winter Solstice are also called "Winter Solstice Tuan".

An ancient poem said: "Every family pounded rice to make glutinous rice balls, knowing that it was the winter solstice in the Ming Dynasty." Folk proverbs in the southern region said: "The Winter Festival is as big as the New Year" and "the ancestors will not return to the Winter Festival."

It means that people who go out must rush home to worship their ancestors on the winter solstice, otherwise they have no concept of ancestral family.

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 the Jiangnan water towns, there is a custom of the whole family gathering together to eat red bean glutinous rice on the night of the winter solstice.

According to legend, there was an untalented man of the Gong clan of the Han Dynasty who committed many evil deeds and died on the winter solstice. After his death, he turned into a plague ghost and continued to harm the people.

However, this plague ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook and eat red bean rice on the winter solstice to ward off plague ghosts and prevent disasters and diseases.

Whether it's a bowl of hot glutinous rice balls or a plate of delicious dumplings, on other days, it may just be a kind of food.

But on the winter solstice, they represent the Chinese people's persistence in traditional festivals and their good expectations for their families. Whether it is for "reunion" or to commemorate the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing, these traditional delicacies are no longer just food.

It is a reflection of the best wishes of the family and a way to express love to the family.