The winter solstice is one of the 24 solar terms in a year. There is no fixed day in November of the lunar calendar, but this year it is on December 22nd.

When Emperor Yao was in ancient times, he ordered Xi's and He's brothers to calculate the sun, moon and stars, and set the solar terms at the age. By the Zhou Dynasty, there was a winter festival, and the king would hold a ceremony to worship heaven on the winter solstice. After the Han Dynasty, every winter solstice, there were ceremonies to worship heaven, gods, ancestors, and He Dong. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the sacrificial ceremonies were more grand, and all localities held grand ceremonies as usual. There was even a saying that the winter solstice was as big as the year. On the day of the Ming, Qing and Winter Solstice, each family will make dumplings to worship the gods and ancestors, and then the family will get together and eat dumplings around, which is called "adding years", so it is a folk custom that eating dumplings on the winter solstice will make them one year older.

In the past, in the agricultural society, one or two days before the winter solstice, every household began to prepare sacrifices for the festival, and prepared to make glutinous rice balls. First, glutinous rice was soaked in water, ground into rice slurry with a stone mill, and after squeezing the water, it became a "round rice wife". The night before, all the families gathered and kneaded it into a round. The round was divided into red and white, the red one was called "golden round" and the white one was called "silver round" On the day of the winter solstice, before dawn, the women got up and made a fire to cook dumplings, first to worship their ancestors, and then to eat dumplings around the family. Therefore, eating dumplings on the winter solstice not only means that the sun (sunshine) is gradually coming back, but also means reunion. Modern people prefer to regard it as a symbol of perfection.

The Origin of Eating jiaozi on the Winter Solstice;

Every year, on the Winter Solstice of the Lunar New Year, jiaozi is an indispensable holiday meal, regardless of the rich or the poor. As the saying goes, "October 1st, when is the winter solstice? Every household eats dumplings. " This custom was left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", who gave up medicine on the winter solstice.

Zhang Zhongjing is a native of Gedong, Nanyang. He wrote Treatise on Febrile Diseases, which is a masterpiece of doctors and is regarded as a classic by doctors of all ages. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "If you advance, you will save the world; if you retreat, you will save the people;" You can't be a good doctor, but also a good doctor. " In the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as the prefect of Changsha, visiting the sick and applying medicine, and practicing medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he returned home, it was winter. He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. He asked his disciples to set up a medical shed and a cauldron in Dongguan, Nanyang, and give up "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction" to cure chilblain on the day of the winter solstice. He boiled mutton, peppers and some herbs for dispelling cold in a pot, then fished out the mutton and medicines and chopped them, and made them into ear-like "jiao-er" with bread. After cooking, he distributed two "jiao-er" and a big bowl of broth to everyone who came to ask for medicine. People ate "Jiao Er" and drank "Quhan Tang", and they were warm all over, with fever in both ears and frostbitten ears cured. Later generations learned the look of "Jiao Er" and packaged it into food, also called "jiaozi" or "flat food".

Eating jiaozi on the winter solstice is not forgetting the kindness of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", in "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction". Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which says, "The winter solstice misbehaves the jiaozi bowl, and nobody cares if you freeze your ears.".