The Origin and Significance of Eating Zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival [Introduction]

Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is mainly to commemorate Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan was a minister of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was exiled because he aroused the interests of Qin nobles.

In the process of exile, he learned that the capital of Chu was captured by Qin, so he threw a stone into the Miluo River and died. Later, in order to commemorate and mourn him, people threw rice balls and eggs into the Miluo River and slowly developed to eat zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival.

Morphological style

Because of different regions, the material and even the shape of the "wrap" are very different. For example, people used horns to worship the sky in the early days, so in the Han and Jin Dynasties, zongzi was mostly made into horns as one of the products of ancestor worship. In addition, there are regular triangles, regular quadrangles, pointed triangles, squares, long strips and so on.

Because of the different eating habits in different places, zongzi has formed a north-south flavor, among which the more famous zongzi are: the representative variety of Beijing Zongzi North Zongzi, which is a large, trapezoid or triangle. Most products on the market are glutinous rice balls. In rural areas, people are still used to eating zongzi. Beijing Zongzi is sticky, tough, fragrant and unique. Most of them are filled with red dates and bean paste, and a few are filled with preserved fruit.