What is the origin of eating jiaozi on the winter solstice?

Jiaozi is a traditional food that our people love. Its production method is to make a thin and soft dumpling skin with flour, and then chop up fresh meat, cabbage and so on. Mix with seasoning to make stuffing, wrap it up and cook it in a pot until jiaozi comes to the surface. It is characterized by thin skin and tender stuffing, delicious taste, unique shape and wide appetite.

Jiaozi, formerly known as Joule, was first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a doctor in China.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, disasters were serious everywhere, and many people fell ill. There is a famous doctor in Nanyang named Zhang Ji and Zhong Jing. He studied medical books hard since childhood, learned from others and became the founder of traditional Chinese medicine. Zhang Zhongjing is not only good at medical skills, but also noble in medical ethics. He took the poor and the rich seriously and saved countless lives.

When Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha, he often treated the people. One year, when the local plague was prevalent, he made a cauldron at the entrance of Yamen, giving up medicine to save people, which was deeply loved by Changsha people. After Zhang Zhongjing retired from Changsha and returned to his hometown, he walked to the shore of the Baihe River in his hometown and saw many poor people hungry and cold, and their ears were frozen. He was very upset and determined to treat them. When Zhang Zhongjing came home, many people sought medical treatment. He is as busy as a bee, but he always remembers those poor people with frozen ears. He followed Changsha's example and told his disciples to build a medical shed and cauldron in an open space in Dongguan, Nanyang, and open it on the day of winter solstice to send medicine to the poor to treat their injuries.

Zhang Zhongjing's medicine is called "Quhan Joule Decoction". Its practice is to put mutton, pepper and some herbs to remove cold into a pot and cook them. After cooking, take these things out and chop them up, and make them into ear-shaped "Joules" with leather bags. After cooking in the pot, it will be distributed to patients who ask for medicine. Everyone has two charming ears and a bowl of soup. After eating Quhan decoction, people feel feverish all over, their qi and blood are smooth, and their ears are warm. After eating it for a while, the patient's rotten ears healed.

Zhang Zhongjing didn't give up taking medicine until New Year's Eve. On the first day of the new year, people celebrate the new year and the recovery of rotten ears. They cook New Year's food like Joules and eat it on the first morning. People call this kind of food "jiaozi's Ear", "jiaozi" or partial eclipse, and eat it on the winter solstice and the first day of the New Year to commemorate the day when Zhang Zhongjing opened the shed to give medicine and cure patients.

Zhang Zhongjing's history is nearly 1800 years ago, but his story of "Quhan Joule Decoction" has been widely circulated among the people. On the solstice of winter and the first day of New Year's Day, people eat jiaozi, and they still remember Zhang Zhongjing's kindness in their hearts. Today, we don't need charming ears to cure frozen ears, but jiaozi has become the most common and favorite food for people.