Why Eat Dumplings on Winter Solstice

It is said that dumplings are eaten on the winter solstice in honor of Zhang Zhongjing, the "Sage of Medicine".

There is a short story about Zhang Zhongjing:

When Zhang Zhongjing returned to his hometown, it was the coldest month of the year, and it was snowing heavily, and the winds were bone-chilling. Zhang Zhongjing was so saddened that he asked his disciples to set up a tent and a cauldron, and on the winter solstice, he made "Cold-expelling Ear Soup" for the people to cure their frostbite.

Zhang Zhongjing pinched this half-medicine, half-food food into the shape of an ear and named it Jiao Er, which later evolved into dumplings. Eating dumplings at the winter solstice is a way of not forgetting the life-saving kindness of the "Sage of Healing," Zhang Zhongjing, and to this day there is a folk song that says, "If you don't serve a bowl of dumplings at the winter solstice, no one will take care of you when your ears are frozen. "The first time I saw this was when I was in the middle of the night, and the second time I was in the middle of the night.

While we no longer use dumplings to cure frozen ears, they have become the most common and favorite food.