Beginning of winter doesn't eat jiaozi, and nobody cares about his frozen ears.

"beginning of winter acted recklessly in jiaozi bowl, and no one cared whether his ears were frozen." This is a folk song handed down in memory of Zhang Zhongjing, a medical saint.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing was a magistrate in Changsha, visiting doctors and practicing medicine in the lobby. Later, he resolutely resigned and went back to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he got home, it was already winter. He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were sallow and emaciated, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. He boiled mutton, pepper and some herbs for dispelling cold in a pot, then took out mutton and medicine and chopped them up, making ear-shaped dumplings with bread. After cooking, he distributed two horns and a big bowl of broth to everyone who came to ask for medicine.

People ate Joules and drank Soup. They were all warm and their ears were hot, and they were all well. Later generations learned the appearance of Joule and packaged it into food, also called "jiaozi" or "flat food". Beginning of winter eats jiaozi, which is why Nanyang people never forget the doctor Zhang Zhongjing.

Jiaozi has a long history of development

In fact, the earliest appearance of jiaozi can be traced back to the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period. During the period of 1978, archaeologists discovered a set of bronze ritual vessels, in which some white triangular foods were placed, and there were bread crumbs in them. Archaeologists believe that these foods may be the original state of jiaozi and wonton eaten today.

Jiaozi and wonton are both representative foods of northern pasta culture. They are not the same thing, but they are similar in appearance. So for a long time in history, jiaozi was equated with wonton.

By the Qing Dynasty, it was very common to eat jiaozi on New Year's Eve. People usually wrap jiaozi before midnight on New Year's Eve and eat it at midnight. Eating jiaozi at this time means "making friends at a young age". Homophonic, Zi stands for "Zi Shi", which not only indicates the alternation of the old and new years, but also places people's good wishes for more than a year, and the name of "Jiaozi" is gradually unified and fixed.