The Origin and Legend of Winter Solstice

The origin and legend of the winter solstice: According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing was a doctor in Nanyang, who used to be a medical official to treat frozen ears for villagers.

The custom of eating jiaozi can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to legend, Zhang Zhongjing, a doctor in Nanyang, was originally a medical officer. It was a snowy winter when he returned to his hometown to retire. He saw that the villagers in Nanyang were hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. So he asked his disciples to set up a medicine shed in Guandong, Nanyang, and put mutton, peppers and some cold-dispelling herbs in a pot, took them out and chopped them up, kneaded them into the shape of ears with leather bags, and then put them down and cooked them in a pot to make "soup for dispelling cold and correcting ears" for the villagers to eat.

After the villagers had eaten, their frozen ears were cured. Later, on the solstice in winter, people imitated this way of eating by pinching their ears, saying that eating jiaozi on the solstice in winter would not freeze people. Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang, which is called "jiaozi Bowl, and nobody cares about frozen ears." .

Other legends and stories

According to legend, during the Six Dynasties in Liang Wudi, the old name of Nanjing was Jiankang City. One day, an old man presented a tree species to Liang Wudi, saying that this tree species was collected from a deep valley in southern Xinjiang, which brought together the aura of heaven and earth. Take good care of them, and you can bless the girders. Emperor Liang looked at it and said, "It's just a cypress seed." Do not believe, planted in the palace. In two or three years, although no one took care of it, the tree species still took root and sprouted, and it was lush. After several years, the gas field condensed and was born as a tree essence.

Emperor Liang believed in Buddhism, built temples extensively, wasted people's money, ignored state affairs, and became a monk wholeheartedly, and the people mourned. Liang Wudi himself does not eat meat, and the people are not allowed to eat meat, nor are they allowed to sacrifice meat. The immortal was not happy when he saw that the tribute was vegetarian, so he hit the jade emperor and said it was disrespectful to the immortal. The jade emperor was not happy when he heard it. Therefore, the three-year drought in Jiankang City was taken as punishment.

After Jiao died, the Jade Emperor rebelled in Houjing, starved Emperor Liang to death in Taicheng, and put Xu Jiao in charge of the people's food. The cypress attached to Jiao Zhen has also guarded Jiankang City for thousands of years, but it has not fallen. War and fire did not damage it, and it has been passed down to this day for the Six Dynasties. People thanked her, named the food she invented jiaozi, ate jiaozi during the winter solstice when she was born, and offered sacrifices to the ancestors of the gods during the winter solstice to show their respect.