According to records, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped into horns by leaves of zinia latifolia, which was called "horny millet". Rice packed in bamboo tubes is sealed and baked, which is called "tube dumplings". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contains alkali, the millet is wrapped in leaves into a quadrilateral, and when cooked, it becomes Guangdong sour rice dumplings.
In Jin Dynasty, Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, jiaozi also added Alpinia oxyphylla, and the boiled jiaozi was called "Yizhi jiaozi". The "Yueyang Local Records" written by Zhou people at that time recorded: "It is customary to wrap millet with leaves, cook it and cook it thoroughly. From May 5 to the solstice in summer, there is a zongzi and a millet. " During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, miscellaneous zongzi appeared. Rice is mixed with animal meat, chestnuts, red dates, red beans and so on. And there are more and more varieties. Zongzi is also used as a gift for communication.
The rice used for zongzi in the Tang Dynasty is "white as jade", and its shape appears conical and rhombic. There is a record of "Da Tang Zongzi" in Japanese literature. There was a kind of "candied zongzi" in the Song Dynasty, that is, fruit was put into zongzi. The poet Su Dongpo wrote the poem "See Yangmei in Zongzi". At this time, there were also advertisements for building pavilions and wooden chariots and horses with zongzi, indicating that eating zongzi was very fashionable in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the wrapping material of zongzi changed from leaves to leaves. Later, zongzi wrapped in reed leaves appeared, and additional materials such as bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates and walnuts appeared, and the varieties were more colorful.
On the morning of Dragon Boat Festival, every family eats zongzi to commemorate Qu Yuan. Zongzi is usually wrapped the day before, cooked at night and eaten in the morning. Zongzi is mainly made of tender reed leaves and bamboo leaves, collectively called Zongzi leaves. The traditional form of zongzi is a triangle, which is generally named after the inner pulp. Glutinous rice is called rice zongzi, red bean zongzi is called red bean zongzi, and jujube zongzi is called jujube zongzi. Jujube jiaozi homophones "junior high school", so it eats the most. Children who plan to study can win the championship early. In the past, Jinshi ate jujube jiaozi on the morning of taking the imperial examination. Up to now, on the morning of the entrance examination day in middle schools and universities, parents have to make jujube jiaozi for the candidates.
You must cook eggs in the pot where zongzi is cooked, and if possible, cook some duck eggs and goose eggs. After eating sweet zongzi dipped in sugar, eat eggs dipped in salt. It is said that eating boiled eggs in zongzi pot at the end of May will not cause sores in summer; At noon, put the duck eggs and goose eggs cooked in the zongzi pot in the sun for a while before eating, so that you won't have a headache all summer.
To this day, at the beginning of May every year, people in China have to soak glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves and wrap zongzi, with more varieties of colors. From the perspective of stuffing, there are many dates in the north, such as jiaozi; There are many kinds of fillings in the south, such as red bean paste, fresh meat, ham and egg yolk, among which Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years and spread to South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.