China holiday food. Also known as corn. Eat for the Dragon Boat Festival. Zongzi appeared in the Jin Dynasty. It has been recorded in the local customs records of Jin and Zhou Dynasties that on May 5, glutinous rice was wrapped in water bamboo leaves to cook rice, which was called corn millet. There are different opinions on the reasons, among which the theory of offering sacrifices to Qu Yuan has a greater influence. According to records, there were many famous zongzi in ancient China. For example, there were educational zongzi in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Yu Jia Zongzi and Jiuzi Zongzi Zongzi in Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty, Qiao Zong, chestnut Zongzi and fruit Zongzi in Bianjing and Lin 'an in Song Dynasty, fruit-filled Zongzi in Suzhou in Ming Dynasty, ham Zongzi in Yangzhou in Qing Dynasty, grey Zongzi, meat Zongzi in Guangzhou and meat Zongzi in Taiwan Province. Now the famous varieties of zongzi are fresh meat zongzi and Babao zongzi in Wufangzhai, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, steamed zongzi in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, and jujube zongzi in Beijing.
The making method of modern zongzi: soak glutinous rice in water for two days, fold it into a funnel shape with several reed leaves, add rice, fold it into a triangular cone shape, tie the outside tightly with thread, put it in a pot, cover it tightly, and cook it over high fire. The packaging materials of zongzi can also be bamboo leaves, bamboo tubes, lotus leaves, corn husks and palm leaves. The stuffing can also be millet or jujube, chestnut and red beans, or fresh meat, ham, barbecued pork, salted eggs and bean paste. Its shape can also be wrapped into pillow shape, weight shape, water chestnut shape and so on. Zongzi is usually eaten hot after being cooked, or it can be eaten cold, or sliced and fried. Zongzi spread to Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other countries in ancient times.
According to Wen Yiduo's research, the Dragon Boat Festival had been held in wuyue long before Qu Yuan threw himself into the Miluo River.
Dragon boat racing and eating zongzi were originally not to commemorate Qu Yuan, but to please the water god-the dragon.
According to "Custom Pass" and "Record of Jingchu's Years Old", women should wrap colorful silk on their hands, insert symbols cut out with colored paper on their heads, and boil blue water to take a bath. Every family should hang Ai in front of them, make it into a tiger shape or a human shape, and drink calamus wine. These are all to avoid swords, evil spirits and plagues.
Anyone who has seen Border Town will never forget the Xiangxi Dragon Boat Festival written by Shen Congwen. Dragon boat racing and eating zongzi are naturally essential. You should also put on new clothes and draw the word "king" on your forehead with realgar wine. What's more special is to watch the boys catch the "big duck with green head and long neck" at the dock. There seems to be no such custom elsewhere. Cui Cui first saw Nuo songs on the night of Dragon Boat Festival. After watching the dragon boat race, she waited for her grandfather at the dock alone. The only one who accompanied her was a yellow dog who couldn't talk.
According to the Record of the Continuation of Qi and Lu, people first used bamboo tubes to store rice and threw water at Qu Yuan. In the middle of the Han Dynasty, Qu Yuan became a saint during the day, saying that all the sacrifices put into the water were taken away by dragons. In the future, they will block the mouth of the bamboo tube with neem leaves, tie it with colorful silk threads, and then throw it into the water, because the dragon is afraid of neem leaves and colorful silk threads. This is naturally a novelist's statement and can't be believed.
The record of zongzi in historical materials began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, zongzi was wrapped in a trumpet shape, which was called "corn millet" The local custom of the Western Jin Dynasty said: "The ancients cooked it with millet leaves, with sharp corners, such as the shape of a palm leaf." He also said that this kind of food is eaten every summer solstice and Dragon Boat Festival. According to ancient records, as early as the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, millet and chicken were sacrificed to ancestors in the summer of solstice. Later, the sacrifice of Zongzi to Qu Yuan in the Dragon Boat Festival was just an evolution and development of the original custom.