On the morning of the Dragon Boat Festival, every family eats rice dumplings to commemorate Qu Yuan. They usually wrap the rice dumplings the day before, cook them at night, and eat them in the morning. Zongzi is mainly made of tender reed leaves that are abundant along river ponds. Bamboo leaves are also used, collectively called zongzi leaves. The traditional form of rice dumplings is triangular, and they are generally named according to the inner pulp. Those made with glutinous rice are called rice dumplings, those with adzuki beans mixed in rice are called adzuki rice dumplings, and those mixed with red dates are called jujube rice dumplings. At most, children who want to study can get the top prize early by eating it. In the past, scholars would eat jujube rice dumplings in the morning on the day they took the imperial examination. Today, parents also make jujube rice dumplings for candidates to eat on the mornings of middle school and university entrance exams.
Be sure to boil eggs in the pot for cooking rice dumplings, and if possible, boil some duck eggs and goose eggs. After eating sweet rice dumplings dipped in sugar, you should eat eggs dipped in salt to top them off. It is said that eating boiled eggs in the rice dumpling pot in May will prevent you from getting sores in the summer; putting duck eggs and goose eggs boiled in the rice dumpling pot in the sun at noon for a while before eating will prevent headaches throughout the summer.
To this day, every year in early May, Chinese people soak glutinous rice, wash rice dumpling leaves, and make rice dumplings, with more varieties of colors. In terms of fillings, in the north there are many Beijing date rice dumplings stuffed with jujubes; in the south there are various fillings such as bean paste, fresh meat, ham, egg yolks, etc., among which Jiaxing rice dumplings in Zhejiang are the representative ones. The custom of eating rice dumplings has been popular in China for thousands of years and has spread to North Korea, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries.
The earliest record of rice dumplings is "Fengshiji" written by Zhou Chu, the prefect of Xinping in the Western Jin Dynasty 1600 years ago. It says: "During the Dragon Boat Festival in midsummer, the millet is cooked."
Liang Liang of the Southern Dynasties Literary scholar Wu Jun said in "Continued Qi Kai Ji": "Qu Yuan threw himself into Miluo and died on May 5th. The people of Chu mourned him, so they stored rice in bamboo tubes and poured water into him as a sacrifice." Therefore, rumors were passed down, and they became customary. It can be seen that people have deep feelings for loyal people. Zongzi did not originate from commemorating Qu Yuan’s death. There are many theories about its origin.
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped in wild rice leaves (wild rice leaves) into the shape of horns, which was called "horn millet"; the rice was packed in bamboo tubes, sealed and roasted, and was called "tube rice dumplings". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet was soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contained alkali, the millet was wrapped in wild rice leaves into a square shape and cooked to become Guangdong alkaline rice dumplings.
In the Jin Dynasty, rice dumplings were officially designated as the Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, the raw materials for making rice dumplings were also added with the traditional Chinese medicine Yizhiren. The cooked rice dumplings were called "Yizhizong". Zhou Chu's "Yueyang Fengtu Ji" records: "It is customary to wrap millet in wild rice leaves...boil it until thoroughly cooked, and eat it from May 5th to the summer solstice. It is called rice dumplings and millet." During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zongzi appears. Rice is adulterated with animal meat, chestnuts, red dates, adzuki beans, etc., and the varieties are increasing. Zongzi is also used as a gift for social interactions.