Why do you eat glutinous rice balls on the solstice of winter in the south?

Southerners eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter, because jiaozi means perfection and reunion.

As the southern folk proverb says, "the winter festival is as big as the New Year", and the winter solstice is also a day of reunion. Eating dumplings with family symbolizes satiety.

Eating glutinous rice balls was established in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. On the solstice of winter, it is necessary to "make glutinous rice balls" or "powder glutinous rice balls". These are also officially recorded in historical materials. The history says that "on the winter solstice, powdered glutinous rice is a pill, which is called' glutinous rice balls'". After jiaozi is wrapped up, it is necessary to offer sacrifices to the gods and ancestors, and then the whole family will eat around. This is called "adding years".

Eating dumplings is a traditional custom from winter solstice, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. "Tangyuan" is an essential food from winter solstice, and it is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Circle" means "reunion" and "perfection". Eating dumplings on the solstice in winter is also called "the solstice group in winter", and there is a folk saying that "eating dumplings is one year older".

Other customs in winter in southern Japan

1, fermented rice wine

Traditional Gusu people will drink winter wine on the night of winter solstice. Winter wine is a kind of rice wine, which is brewed with sweet-scented osmanthus and has a pleasant aroma. Gusu people will drink winter wine on the night of winter solstice, and at the same time, they will serve all kinds of braised beef and braised mutton.

2. Nine-layer cake for ancestor worship

In Taiwan Province Province, China, the tradition of offering nine-layer cakes to ancestors from winter to the sun is still preserved. On or before the winter solstice, people with the same surname and clan will gather in the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors in order of age, commonly known as "ancestor worship."

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".