Why do you eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter?

Because it is a traditional custom in our country to eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter.

In China, the reasons for eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter are as follows:

Eating jiaozi in the winter of solstice originated from doctor Zhang Zhongjing. When he saw people's ears were frozen in the cold, he used bread to drive away the cold and cooked it into Joule soup to cure people's ears.

Winter solstice is the first of the 24 solar terms, which is called "sub-year". During the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, the day before winter ended the year. In ancient times, the winter solstice was a very important festival. It is said that the winter solstice was as big as a year. The imperial court and the people have always attached great importance to it, and there have been sacrificial activities since the Zhou Dynasty.

On the solstice after winter, the weather is mainly cold, so people often keep warm and nourish yang to resist cold evil. Jiaozi is a delicious food with comprehensive nutrition and easy digestion and absorption. You can stuff mutton, cabbage, green onions, leeks and radishes. These dishes are warm and have a certain warming effect on the human body.

People in Hangzhou eat rice cakes on the solstice in winter. From the late Ming and early Qing dynasties to the present, people in Hangzhou like to eat rice cakes on the solstice in winter. In winter solstice, you can cook rice cakes with different flavors, eat rice cakes in winter solstice and get old, which is auspicious. In Sichuan, it is the solstice to eat mutton soup in winter, and mutton is the first tonic in winter. In the area around the two lakes, red beans and glutinous rice must be eaten on the solstice in winter.

In winter solstice, different places have different customs. In the north, there are customs of slaughtering sheep, eating jiaozi and eating wonton on the solstice in winter. In the south, there is a custom of eating glutinous rice balls and long noodles from winter solstice, while in Su Beiren, there is a custom of eating fried tofu with green onions from winter solstice. Eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter is also said to be a good deed 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." .

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, every household will eat jiaozi on the solstice of winter." This custom was left in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a "medical sage", who gave up medicine from the winter solstice.