Why do you eat jiaozi on the winter solstice in southern Fujian? When did this custom come into being?

The custom of eating glutinous rice balls from winter solstice in southern Fujian has a long history. When Yao was young, he ordered the brothers Xihe and Heshibi to calculate the sun, the moon and the stars, taking the year of the year as the solar term.

In the Zhou Dynasty, with the winter festival, the king would hold a ceremony to worship heaven on the solstice of winter. After the Han Dynasty, every winter solstice, there will be ceremonies to worship heaven, gods, ancestors and Hedong. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, sacrificial ceremonies were more grand, and grand ceremonies were held as usual in various places. There is even a saying that the solstice in winter is as big as a year.

On the day of the Ming, Qing and Winter Solstice, every family will pack jiaozi to worship the gods and ancestors, and then the family will gather around jiaozi to eat, which is called "adding years", so it is a folk custom to eat jiaozi in the winter solstice to make them one year older.

On the solstice of winter, there is a very interesting custom in southern Fujian, that is, Bao jiaozi. I remember my grandmother said that eating jiaozi on the winter solstice made me one year older. When I was young, I liked the solar terms from winter solstice best. I can eat jiaozi, and making jiaozi is also interesting. In the past, every family would prepare rice materials for jiaozi one or two days before the winter solstice. The materials used were glutinous rice and japonica rice. Rice must be soaked, washed and drained before it can be ground into powder. Rice noodles must be made into balls with boiling water and a little oil. It can also be kneaded into small balls, small and exquisite animals, gold ingots and silver treasures. The animals made are lifelike.

Every place has some interesting customs. Now, some places still celebrate the winter solstice as a festival. In northern China, it is customary to slaughter sheep and eat jiaozi and wonton from winter solstice, while in southern China, it is customary to eat glutinous rice balls and noodles from winter solstice on this day. There is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors in winter solstice in various regions.