Don’t eat dumplings or freeze ears during the Winter Solstice.

According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing wrapped cold-resistant medicinal materials in dough, cooked them, and distributed them to the poor on the coldest day of the winter solstice, so that they could survive the winter safely.

Because poor people often lose their ears in the severe cold, Zhang Zhongjing shaped this half-medicine, half-food thing into the shape of an ear and named it Jiao Er. Later, eating Jiao Er during the Winter Solstice gradually became a custom, and the name Jiao Er gradually became dumplings.

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As early as the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago, China had used Tugui to observe the sun and determine the winter solstice, which is one of the twenty-four solar terms. The earliest one worked out is between December 21 and 23 of the Gregorian calendar every year. This day is the shortest day and the longest night in the whole year in the northern hemisphere.

People believe that the winter solstice is the natural transformation of yin and yang, and is a blessing from God. In the Han Dynasty, the winter solstice was regarded as the "Winter Festival", and the government would hold a congratulatory ceremony called "Winter Congratulations" and have a routine holiday. On the Winter Solstice, there are different customs in the north and south of China. Dumplings are eaten in most parts of the north, and glutinous rice balls are eaten in the south. There is also a proverb: When the winter solstice comes, eat dumplings, as well as poems and film and television works about this solar term.