How did this custom come down? In fact, the custom of eating rice cakes has been handed down from a long time ago. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a minister named Wu Zixu in the State of Wu who was given a sword by Fu Cha, the king of Wu, and he committed suicide. Before Wu Zixu was granted death, he told people he trusted that if the country was in danger after the death of funds and the people had no food, then everyone would go to the edge of the city wall and dig up the land to get food. Gou Jian, the king of Yue, saw that Fu Cha, the king of Wu, had given Wu Zixu a gift of death, so he began to attack Wu with his troops.
Because Fu Cha, the king of Wu, had no strength to resist, the soldiers and people of Wu were trapped in the territory of Wu. Everyone had no food, and many people starved to death. At this time, the person who was told by Wu Zixu suddenly remembered what Wu Zixu told himself before his death, so he went to the city gate and began to dig under the wall, and found that the bricks at the gate were all steamed out with rice flour and kneaded into the shape of bricks. So he gave these rice cakes to the poor people and people who were about to starve to death, and everyone succeeded in overcoming the difficulties with these rice cakes buried by Wu Zixu.
Later, in memory of Wu Zixu, people steamed rice cakes to eat during the Chinese New Year. Because it is steamed during the Chinese New Year, it will also be called rice cake. But now people eat rice cakes not only to commemorate Wu Zixu, but also because they are really delicious, whether they are made sweet or salty.