The winter solstice is an important solar term for the Chinese nation. There is a folk saying that "the winter solstice is as big as the new year", so the ancients called the winter solstice "sub-year", "winter festival", "winter", "Little Year" and so on. In northern my country, on the winter solstice of the lunar calendar, dumplings become an essential holiday meal for every household. Why do we eat dumplings during the Winter Solstice? Who does eating dumplings on the Winter Solstice commemorate? Let’s take a look!

The story of Winter Solstice and Zhang Zhongjing

Zhang Zhongjing is a native of Xi'e, Nanyang. His book "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" is a collection of the great achievements of medical doctors. For classics. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "If you advance, you will save the world; if you retreat, you will save the people; if you cannot be a good prime minister, you should also be a good doctor."

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as the prefect of Changsha, visiting patients and administering medicine, and practicing medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors. It was winter when he returned home.

He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were emaciated and hungry, and many of them had their ears rotten by the cold. He asked his disciples to set up a medical tent and a large pot in Dongguan, Nanyang, and use "Jiao Er" to treat chilblains on the winter solstice.

He put the mutton and some cold-repelling medicinal materials in a pot and boiled it. Then he took out the mutton and the medicinal materials, chopped them into pieces, and used bread to make ear-like "Jiao Er". After cooking, he distributed them to Those who came to seek medicine were each given two "Jiao ears" and a large bowl of broth.

People ate "Jiao Er" and drank "Quhan Tang", their whole bodies became warm, their ears felt hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations imitated the appearance of "Jiao Er" and wrapped them into food, also called "dumplings" or "flat food".

It turns out that eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice is to remember the kindness of "Medical Saint" Zhang Zhongjing's "Quhan Jiao Er Soup". To this day, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, "If you don't bring dumpling bowls during the winter solstice, your ears will freeze off and no one will care".

Winter Solstice Customs

01 North | Eating Dumplings

Northerners love dumplings too deeply. After all, they have to eat dumplings all year round, no matter what the solar terms are. , no dumplings, no festival. Moreover, they don’t serve dumpling bowls during the Winter Solstice, and no one cares if their ears are frozen. This shows how high the status of eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice is in their hearts, especially those from the Northeast, who love dumplings so deeply! ?

The tradition of eating dumplings during the Winter Solstice is said to be related to the Chinese medical scientist Zhang Zhongjing. He invented dumplings and was originally named "Jiao'er". He once used "Cold-Expelling Jiao'er Decoction" to treat the disease. It helped many poor people whose ears were broken by hunger and cold. Later, every winter solstice, everyone would imitate the practice and eat dumplings, and there was a custom of eating dumplings. The fillings of dumplings are not very particular. Northeastern people like to eat pickled cabbage fillings, Shandong people like to eat mackerel fillings, Beijingers like fennel fillings, and some people like home-cooked leek, eggs, mushrooms and pork the most. Dumplings, can they be unpalatable? !

On the day of the winter solstice, the whole family goes to battle together and performs their duties, making stuffing, kneading noodles, rolling out dough, and making dumplings. When the hot dumplings are served on the table, the festive atmosphere is really there!

02 South | Eating glutinous rice balls

While northerners eat dumplings dipped in vinegar, southerners are feeling the sweet hit of glutinous rice balls on their tongues.

In Chaoshan, locals call glutinous rice balls "Dongjie Wan", but they have no fillings. It is better to roll the winter festival pills into large and small shapes. This is called "Father and Son Gongsun Pills", which symbolizes the completeness of the family at the end of the year. Winter Festival Balls are usually cooked before dawn. The brown sugar soup is cooked, and the balls are put into the pot. After cooking, the ancestors are worshiped first, and then the whole family is called up to eat the soup balls. It is commonly known as: "If you don't eat the soup balls, the sky will be dark."

When glutinous rice balls arrived in Taizhou, they changed their name again: Leiyuan. Fry the soybeans and grind them into soybean powder, add brown sugar and sesame seeds and mix well; knead the glutinous rice flour and water into a dough, cut it into the size of a table tennis ball, roll it into a ball, flatten it gently and cook it in boiling water, then roll it in the soybean powder. A circle, this kind of movement is called "Lei" in Taizhou dialect. Similar to the method of making Leiyuan, there is Fuzhou people's Cizi. The difference is that it is rolled with a mixture of white sugar, cooked black sesame powder, crushed peanuts, and cooked soybean powder. Each one is firm and cute. The most amazing thing should be the Yangzhou people's Winter Solstice glutinous rice balls. Each one is as big as half a fist. The fillings are mostly fresh meat and shepherd's purse. Two people with small appetites can eat enough.

In addition to glutinous rice balls, Jiaxing people living in the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River also eat red beans and glutinous rice. It is said to ward off epidemic ghosts, prevent disasters and cure diseases.

03｜Sacrificing heaven and ancestors —

Many areas have the custom of worshiping heaven and ancestors on the winter solstice, and some places still celebrate the festival on the winter solstice. Every household places family trees, ancestor images, memorial tablets, etc. in the upper hall of the home, sets up the offering table, arranges incense burners, offerings, etc. While worshiping ancestors, some places also offer sacrifices to the gods of heaven and earth, and kowtow to the gods to pray for good weather and prosperity for the family and everything in the coming year.

04 ｜Nine-nine to relieve the cold?—

Start counting nine on the day after the winter solstice. This is what people call "counting nine in advance of winter". Counting nine days is one nine, counting another nine days is twenty-nine, and so on, until the number "nine-nine" is counted, the "nine" is exhausted. "Jiujin Yanghua blooms", then the weather will be warm. After the ninth lunar month, literati and poets engaged in so-called cold-relieving activities. They chose a "nine" day and invited nine people to drink together ("wine" and "nine" are homophonic). Nine dishes and nine bowls were used on the banquet, and "flower nine" was used for the table. "Piece" is used to take the meaning of ninety-nine to relieve the cold.

The winter solstice is the harbinger of spring. Although winter is approaching gradually, the footsteps of spring can be vaguely heard in the howling cold wind.