Eating "frozen ears" is a common name for Henan people to eat jiaozi from the winter solstice. Why is there such a diet custom? According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a doctor from Nanyang, was an official in Changsha. When he retired in his later years, it was a snowy winter and the wind was biting. He was very sad when he saw the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River in Nanyang dressed in rags, and many people's ears were frozen rotten. He asked his disciples to set up a medicine shed in Guandong, Nanyang, and put mutton, peppers and some cold-dispelling herbs in a pot, fished them out and chopped them up, imaged their ears with leather bags, and then put them down in the pot to make a medicine called "cold-dispelling and ear-correcting soup" for the people. After eating it, the villagers' ears will be fine. Later, on the solstice of winter, people imitated and cooked, thus forming the custom of "pinching ears". Later, people called it "jiaozi", while others called it "flat food" and "instant noodle jiaozi". It is also said that people will not be frozen in jiaozi after eating the winter solstice. Every year, during the winter solstice of the Lunar New Year, jiaozi is an indispensable holiday feast for both the rich and the poor. As the saying goes: "On October 1st, when the solstice of winter comes, every family eats jiaozi." This custom was left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", who gave up medicine from the winter solstice.
Zhang Zhongjing is from Gedong, Nanyang. Treatise on Febrile Diseases, written by him, is a masterpiece of doctors and is regarded as a classic by doctors in past dynasties. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "if you advance, you will survive;" If you retreat, you will save the people; " You can't be a good doctor and you can't be a good doctor. "When the Eastern Han Dynasty was the magistrate of Changsha, he visited the sick and took medicine, practiced medicine in the lobby, and his medical skills were brilliant. Later, he resolutely resigned and went back to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he got home, it was already 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 and rotten because of the cold weather. He asked his disciples to build a medical shed and a cauldron in Dongguan, Nanyang, and to give up "Quhan Joule Decoction" to treat chilblain on the day of winter solstice. He boiled mutton, peppers and some herbs for removing cold in a pot, then fished out the mutton and herbs for removing cold, chopped them, made them into ear-shaped "horns" with bread, cooked them, and distributed them to people who came to ask for medicine, two horns and a big bowl of broth. People ate "Joule" and drank "Quhan Decoction", and they were all hot, their ears were hot, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations learned the appearance of Joule and packaged it into food, also called "jiaozi" or "flat food".
When you eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, you will never forget the kindness of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", in "Quhan Joule Decoction". Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which is called "jiaozi Bowl, and nobody cares about frozen ears." . Suzhou was the capital of the State of Wu 2,500 years ago. The ancestor of the State of Wu was a descendant of King Tai of Zhou. He inherited the calendar of the Zhou Dynasty and started the year from winter to Sunday. Up to now, the ancient city of Suzhou still has the custom of "the winter solstice is as big as a year".
In winter solstice, Suzhou people also have the custom of eating wonton. According to legend, the prince of Wu was tired of eating delicacies and had no appetite, so the beauty went into the chef and packed a snack for him. The king of Wu ate a big bowl in one breath and repeatedly asked, "What kind of snack is this, so delicious?" Stone thought, "confused monarch can't get rid of chaos, so he casually replied," chaos. Later, in order to commemorate the delicious food created by the teacher, Suzhou people designated wonton as the food for the winter festival. There is a custom in Yinchuan on the solstice of winter. On this day, we will have noodles in soup and steamed stuffed buns with mutton powder soup. Yinchuan people also gave mutton powder soup a special name-"brain". Mutton powder soup is made of mushrooms and mutton, with salt, ginger, onion, garlic, pepper, soy sauce and other seasonings. After the soup is boiled, put it into the chopped powder, soaked vermicelli and wrapped jiaozi, and then add leeks, garlic sprouts and coriander, so that a pot of colorful mutton powder soup-jiaozi is ready, and the fragrance is overflowing and mouth-watering.
After jiaozi made the noodle soup, he presented a bowl first and then a bowl to his neighbor. The mutton powder soup dumpling jiaozi has a unique way, and its taste is spicy and delicious. Now it has become a special snack in Yinchuan. People in Xiapu County attach great importance to the Winter Solstice Festival. On the eve of the Winter Solstice, every household should rub jiaozi and wrap jiaozi. Jiaozi in Xiapu has unique local characteristics, and its dialect is called "Mizi". According to Xiapu County Records. Winter custom, "people grind glutinous rice into powder, shred radish and cook it, mix it with brown sugar, and make it into a half-moon shape with shredded radish as stuffing."
Laba rice in Xiapu now has many flavors and patterns, including shredded radish stuffing, sugar stuffing, meat stuffing and vegetable stuffing. Xiapu Sansha people also use seafood as stuffing. In Chaoshan area, winter solstice, also known as "Little New Year", is a large-scale folk festival. On this day, ordinary people should prepare enough three kinds of animals and fruits, such as pork, chicken and fish, to go to the ancestral temple to worship their ancestors, and then their families will sit around the table and have a meal. In coastal areas, fishermen should worship their ancestors before going fishing, pray for the fishermen and pray for the gods and ancestors to bless their safe return from the sea.
There is a saying in Chaoshan that "eat the winter festival round for one year", in which "the winter festival round" is the glutinous rice balls, which are also called sweet pills in Chaoshan area. The custom of eating sweet pills from winter solstice is almost common in Chaoshan area. A long time ago, these sweet pills were not only used for eating, but also pasted on the roofs and beams of their homes. First, the sweet pills are round, which indicates a bumper harvest and family reunion next year. Secondly, they are used to thank the mice for sending five seeds to farmers. Nowadays, people don't eat sweet pills, but the custom of eating glutinous rice balls on the winter solstice is still popular today. In the southern water town of China, it is a custom for the whole family to get together to eat red beans and glutinous rice on the night of winter solstice.
According to legend, * * * Gong was a troubled wit who died in the winter. Become a plague ghost after death and continue to harm the people. However, this epidemic ghost is most afraid of red beans, so people cook red beans and glutinous rice on the solstice in winter to drive away the epidemic ghost and prevent disasters. People in Hangzhou like to eat rice cakes on the solstice in winter to celebrate. Every winter solstice, people make cakes to worship their ancestors or give them to relatives and friends. In diet, three meals will make different flavors of rice cakes, such as rice cakes mixed with sesame powder and sugar, fried rice cakes with shredded pork and so on. People in Hangzhou eat rice cakes on the solstice in winter for good luck, which means getting old.
Various winter solstice eating customs on the land of China are still widely spread today, which is enough to show the important influence of this day on people's farming, work and life. Indeed, when winter comes, the solstice is the cathode and the sun is the spirit. After that, there was slight chills, severe chills and a count of nine, which indicated that the coldest day of the year was coming. Therefore, after the winter solstice, we should pay more attention to keep warm and eat more warm food in our diet to enhance our ability to keep out the cold. As the saying goes: winter solstice jiaozi, summer solstice noodles.
multiplication table
Closely related to the winter solstice is the Jiujiu Song, which has been circulating in Beijing for hundreds of years. From the date of winter on the solstice, nine days are counted as a unit, and the winter of 99 * * *, 1929 is over. Walking on the ice in 3949;
5969 see willows along the river; 79 rivers open 89 geese;
99 plus 19, plowing cattle everywhere. In Taiwan Province Province, China, the tradition of offering nine-layer cakes to ancestors from winter to the sun is still preserved. Glutinous rice flour is used to knead animals such as chickens, ducks, turtles, pigs, cattle and sheep. , a symbol of good luck, and then put it in a steamer and steam it layer by layer to worship the ancestors to show that they don't forget their ancestors. In the early days of the winter solstice or before and after the agreement, people with the same surname and clan gather in the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors one by one in the order of generations. After the ceremony, there will be a grand banquet for the people who come to worship their ancestors. Everyone drinks heartily and meets again after a long separation, which is called "food ancestor". The ancestors of the winter solstice festival are handed down from generation to generation in Taiwan Province to show that they have never forgotten their roots.