Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional festivals - Why do you wrap dates on the Dragon Boat Festival?

Why do you wrap dates on the Dragon Boat Festival?

Eating zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional custom in China. According to historical records, eating zongzi originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and it was gradually passed down to commemorate Qu Yuan, a doctor of Chu State.

Chinese Name: Eating Zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival: Traditional Festival Customs Origin Time: Spring and Autumn and Warring States related festivals: Dragon Boat Festival

Historical allusions:

The earliest record of zongzi was "Scenery" written by Zhou Department of Xinping Prefecture about 0/600 years ago in the Western Jin Dynasty: "Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, cooking millet."

Wu Yun, a litterateur of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, said in the Story of the Continuation of Qi: "Qu Yuan died in Miluo on May 5, and the Chu people mourned it, so they stored rice in bamboo tubes and sacrificed it with water." So the rumor passed down and became a custom. It can be seen that people have deep feelings for loyal people Zongzi didn't come to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan. There are many opinions about its origin.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, millet was wrapped in water bamboo (water bamboo) into a horn shape, which was called "horn millet". Rice packed in bamboo tubes is sealed and baked, which is called "tube dumplings". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contains alkali, the millet is wrapped in leaves into a quadrilateral, and when cooked, it becomes Guangdong sour rice dumplings.

In Jin Dynasty, Zongzi was officially designated as Dragon Boat Festival food. At this time, in addition to glutinous rice, jiaozi also added Alpinia oxyphylla, and the boiled jiaozi was called "Yizhi jiaozi". At that time, the "Yueyang Local Records" written by Zhou people recorded: "Customs are wrapped in leaves.

Millet, ... cooked, boiled, and vomited. From May 5 to the summer solstice, a zongzi and a millet. "During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, miscellaneous zongzi appeared. Rice is mixed with animal meat, chestnuts, red dates, red beans and so on. And there are more and more varieties. Zongzi is also used as a cross.

Here's to the present.

The rice used for zongzi in the Tang Dynasty is "white as jade", and its shape appears conical and rhombic. There is a record of "Da Tang Zongzi" in Japanese literature. In the Song Dynasty, there were "candied zongzi", that is, fruits.

Put it in zongzi. The poet Su Dongpo wrote the poem "See Yangmei in Zongzi". At this time, there were also advertisements for building pavilions and wooden chariots and horses with zongzi, indicating that eating zongzi was very fashionable in the Song Dynasty. In the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the packaging materials of zongzi were changed from

The leaves of Zizania latifolia became the leaves of Taiwan Province Zizyphus jujuba, and then zongzi wrapped in reed leaves appeared. Additional materials such as bean paste, pork, pine nuts, dates, walnuts, etc. appeared, and the varieties were more colorful.

On the morning of Dragon Boat Festival, every family eats zongzi.

In memory of Qu Yuan, Zongzi is usually wrapped the day before, cooked at night and eaten in the morning. Zongzi is mainly made of tender reed leaves and bamboo leaves, collectively called Zongzi leaves. The traditional form of zongzi is triangle, which generally has roots.

According to the name of the inner pulp, glutinous rice is called glutinous rice dumplings, adzuki beans are called adzuki bean dumplings, and jujube is called jujube dumplings. Jujube jiaozi homophones "junior high school", so it eats the most. Children who plan to study can win the championship early. Read in the past

On the day when people take the imperial examination, they eat jujube jiaozi in the morning. So far, on the morning of the entrance examination for middle schools and universities, parents have to wrap dates and jiaozi for candidates.

You must cook eggs in the pot where zongzi is cooked, and if possible, cook some duck eggs and goose eggs. After eating sweet zongzi dipped in sugar, eat eggs dipped in salt. It is said that eating boiled eggs in zongzi pot at the end of May will not cause sores in summer; At noon, put the duck eggs and goose eggs cooked in the zongzi pot in the sun for a while before eating, so that you won't have a headache all summer.

To this day, at the beginning of May every year, people in China have to soak glutinous rice, wash zongzi leaves and wrap zongzi, with more varieties of colors. From the perspective of stuffing, there are many dates in the north, such as jiaozi; There are red bean paste, fresh meat and fire in the south.

Legs, egg yolks and other fillings, of which Zhejiang Jiaxing Zongzi is the representative. The custom of eating zongzi has been popular in China for thousands of years and spread to South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asian countries.