What does it mean for boys to eat jiaozi? Why do northerners like to eat jiaozi on holidays?

Eat jiaozi on New Year's Day, jiaozi on the fifth day of the first month, and jiaozi on the winter solstice ... For many people, jiaozi seems to be the "standard" of festivals, with countless beautiful meanings.

However, some people say that jiaozi is a folk staple food and local snacks in northern China, and it is also a food for the New Year. However, in the south, people usually eat glutinous rice balls and braised chicken with sesame oil on the solstice in winter, and the custom of eating jiaozi on holidays mainly exists in the north.

So, why do northerners like to eat jiaozi on holidays? How did jiaozi come from?

Data Map: The picture shows handmade jiaozi products. Photo by Wang Yuyang

The "Evolutionary History" of a Delicious Food

There are several different views about the origin of jiaozi. One of them thinks that Jiaozi originated from the ancient "groove", which is also the etymology of the word "Jiaozi" today.

According to records, glutinous rice balls were called prison pills in the Tang Dynasty, or they were also called powder horns. The Song Dynasty was called Jiao, and Dream of China in Tokyo said that Bianjing had crystal horns and fried horns. In the Qing Dynasty, jiaozi was also called "Cooking Cake" besides "eating flat food".

In the Ming Dynasty, there were many ways to be a jiaozi. For example, baked jiaozi made of hot soup noodles and fried jiaozi; There is a kind of "jiao mi" in Song Health, written by Vae, which is a kind of fried jiaozi filled with peeled walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts or molasses and red bean paste.

Later, it was mentioned in the "Clear Barnyard Grass Notes" compiled by Xu Ke, a writer, that "boiling soup with water is called jiaozi." This can probably be regarded as a relatively clear description and definition of "Jiaozi".

With the passage of time, this food has been attached with various legends, some of which are quite legendary. It is said that when Nu Wa gave birth to a child, the weather was very cold, and the ears of little people made of loess easily fell off. In order to solve these problems, she thought of a way.

Nuwa pierced a small hole in the villain's ear, then tied it with a thin thread, and the other end of the thread was put in the villain's mouth to bite. Over time, people began to wrap up jiaozi's commemorative Nuwa, saying that if you eat jiaozi in winter, your ears will not freeze.

When did you start eating jiaozi on New Year's Day?

So, when did people start eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival?

Data Map: jiaozi is wrapped. Photo by Rob

Wang, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that jiaozi, as an agreed food on the first day of the Lunar New Year, may have originated in the Ming Dynasty, and there are special games in jiaozi.

This statement is indeed traceable. According to the Records of Liu Ruoyu's Proceedings in Ming Dynasty, jiaozi was called "flat food" in Ming Palace. On the first day of the first month, it is said that "drinking pepper and cypress wine and eating snacks means eating flat." Or it contains a secret money bag, and the person who gets it will be blessed for one year. "

Putting wallets in "water snacks" indicates that people who eat them will have good luck in the coming year, which is very similar to the current Chinese New Year custom.

The Chronicle of Yanjing in the Qing Dynasty also recorded eating jiaozi in the New Year. For example, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, "no matter how rich or poor, they all eat white flour (jiaozi), which is called cooking cakes." The whole country is natural, there is no difference. "

At this time, jiaozi's popularity seems to be getting higher and higher. It is mentioned in "I occasionally hear heaven": "From the first day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, the common name breaks five. An old case of drinking water for five days, a famous dish in the north. "

Some people say that this fully shows the importance and affection of jiaozi in local folk customs.

Jiaozi VS wonton

However, a careful observation of relevant customs reveals an interesting point in proverbs, such as "10/day, when the solstice comes in winter, every household eats jiaozi", "winter solstice wonton, summer solstice noodles".

Data Map: The picture shows Five Blessingg Dumpling Banquet to welcome the winter solstice. Han she

It is said that the ancient wonton and jiaozi used to refer to a kind of food. Wonton appeared very early, and its appearance is very similar to the "chaos" mentioned in Zhuangzi, hence its name.

The Ming Dynasty's Wanli Wild Collection quoted some interesting antitheses circulating in Beijing at that time, such as "thin-skinned crispy wonton, Toona sinensis dumplings, peach blossom steamed dumplings", from which we can see that jiaozi and wonton have been clearly distinguished.

Folk expert Xiao Fang said that the ancient winter solstice was once considered as the beginning of a year, so you should eat wonton. Jiaozi is similar in shape and making method to wonton. Later, this custom gradually evolved into eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival.

However, he also mentioned that the custom of eating jiaozi on holidays really mainly exists in the north, such as the solstice in winter, beginning of winter and so on, while eating jiaozi on New Year's Eve means "giving it to children". In ancient southern customs, jiaozi was not very popular.

"Before that, there was no wheat in the south," he said. In the past, in the south, jiaozi and glutinous rice balls were eaten on the solstice in winter, and rice cakes and all kinds of stir-fry were eaten in the New Year, instead of jiaozi.

The Cultural Connotation of a Bowl of jiaozi

Nowadays, jiaozi is a very common food, which can be eaten at any time of the year, not just on the first day of the New Year or a festival.

Data Map: Previously, there was an endless stream of guests in a jiaozi store in Beijing. This is the fifth day of the first lunar month, commonly known as "Breaking Five" by northerners, and it also coincides with beginning of spring in China's traditional 24 solar terms, while northerners in China have always had the custom of eating jiaozi and spring cakes on this day. China News Agency issued Cui Nan photo

From the perspective of folklore, jiaozi is delicious, and it was indeed a rare food in the past when the material was poor; Food eaten during festivals is usually endowed with beautiful meanings. Jiaozi is shaped like an ingot, and it also has the auspicious meaning of "making money into treasure".

As for the reason why northerners like to eat jiaozi on holidays, some netizens once concluded that they don't have to eat jiaozi on holidays, but they like the feeling that the whole family will pack jiaozi, share delicious food together, talk and laugh, and make noise.

It can be seen that jiaozi is more than just delicious food. While eating jiaozi, people are more concerned about the cultural atmosphere and deep feelings of the festival.

(Source: China News Network)