What's the point of eating jiaozi in the New Year? Is the record accurate?

Jiaozi, also known as jiaozi, is a traditional special food deeply loved by the people of China. It is the staple food and local snacks for people in northern China, and it is also a New Year's food. There is a folk song called "Xiao Han, eat jiaozi in the New Year."

Jiaozi originated from the ancient trough. Jiaozi, formerly known as Joule, is said to have been first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a doctor in China, with a history of 1800 years. As early as the Three Kingdoms period, this kind of food was mentioned in the book Guangya written by Wei. According to the historical records of the Qing Dynasty: "On New Year's Day, when people are happy, they will get together and leave, such as eating flat food and taking the meaning of young friends." He also said: "Every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year, no matter rich or poor, white bread jiaozi is used, which is called cooking cakes, and it is the same all over the country. A rich family is hidden in gold and silver treasures. If it succeeds, those who provide food for their families will be lucky in the end. " This shows that people eat jiaozi in the Spring Festival, which means good luck, to show that they will bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. "Clear Money", edited by best friend Tsui Hark, said: "There is stuffing in it, or powder horn-both steamed and fried can be eaten, and the boiled soup is called jiaozi." For thousands of years, jiaozi, as a New Year's food, has been loved by people and spread to this day.

The Historical Development of jiaozi

Jiaozi was called "Joule" in Song Dynasty, which is the etymology of the word "Jiaozi" in later generations. This way of writing, in the following Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China, we can still see that the Yuan Dynasty called jiaozi "flat food". During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Shenbang's "Wan Bu Miscellaneous Notes" recorded: "New Year's Day, New Year's greetings, making plaque food." Liu Ruoyu's "Proceedings" records: "Eating fruit snacks is also a plaque on the first day of the New Year's Day." The "plaque" of the "plaque food" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties is now commonly used as "ping". A kind of "flat food" may come from Mongolian.

According to "Guangya" written by Zhang Yi, wei ren of the Three Kingdoms, there was a crescent-shaped food called "Wonton" at that time, which was basically similar to the shape of jiaozi now. By the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, wonton had been "shaped like a crescent moon, and it was delicious all over the world". Presumably, when jiaozi cooked it, he didn't take it out and eat it alone, but put it in a bowl with the soup, so people called jiaozi "wonton" at that time. This way of eating is still popular in some areas of China. For example, when people from Henan and Shaanxi eat jiaozi, they should put some small ingredients such as coriander, chopped green onion, shrimp skin and leek in the soup.

By the Tang Dynasty, jiaozi had become almost the same as jiaozi now, so it was fished out and put on a plate to eat alone.

Jiaozi was called "Joule" in Song Dynasty, which is the etymology of the word "Jiaozi" in later generations. This kind of writing can still be seen in the following Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China.

Jiaozi was called a "flat food" in the Yuan Dynasty. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Shenbang's "Wan Bu Miscellaneous Notes" recorded: "New Year's Day, New Year's greetings, making plaque food." Liu Ruoyu's "Proceedings" records: "Eating fruit snacks is also a plaque on the first day of the New Year's Day." The "plaque" of the "plaque food" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties is now commonly used as "ping". A kind of "flat food" may come from Mongolian.

Some new names about jiaozi appeared in Qing Dynasty, such as "jiaozi", "Water Snack" and "Boiled Bean". The increase of jiaozi's name indicates that its spreading area is expanding, and the custom of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival has become quite popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Generally, jiaozi should wrap it up before New Year's Eve 12, and eat it at midnight. At this time, it is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating jiaozi means "making friends when you are young", and "Zi" is homophonic with "jiaozi", which means "reunion" and "good luck". There are many legends about eating jiaozi in the New Year. In addition, it is said that eating jiaozi's folk language is related to Nu Wa's making people. When Nuwa soil caused people, the ears of loess people were easily frozen off because of the cold weather. In order to prevent the ear from being fixed, Nuwa put a small eye on the ear, tied it with a thin thread, and put the other end of the thread in the mouth of the loess man to bite, so that the ear would be fine. In order to commemorate the achievements of Nu Wa, ordinary people wrapped jiaozi, molded adult ears with flour, wrapped them with stuffing (thread) and ate them with their mouths.

[Edit this paragraph] Allusions

Jiaozi, formerly known as Joule, is said to have been first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, a medical saint in China. The story of his "Quhan Joule Decoction" has spread among the people to this day. Zhang Zhongjing

Zhang Zhongjing was born in Nanyang (Nanyang, Henan) in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since childhood, he has studied medical books hard and learned from others, becoming the founder of traditional Chinese medicine. Treatise on Febrile Diseases, written by him, is a masterpiece of doctors and is regarded as a classic by doctors in past dynasties. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "if you advance, you will survive;" If you retreat, you will save the people; " You can't be a good doctor and you can't be a good doctor. "Zhang Zhongjing not only has good medical skills, but also has noble medical ethics. He took the poor and the rich seriously and saved countless lives.

According to legend, when Zhang Zhongjing was the magistrate of Changsha, he often treated the people. One year, when the local plague was prevalent, he made a cauldron at the entrance of Yamen, giving up medicine to save people, which was deeply loved by Changsha people. After Zhang Zhongjing retired from Changsha, he just caught up with the winter solstice and walked to the shore of the Baihe River in his hometown. He saw that many poor people were hungry and cold, and their ears were frozen. It turned out that typhoid fever was prevalent at that time and many people died. He was very upset and determined to treat them. When Zhang Zhongjing came home, many people sought medical treatment. He is as busy as a bee, but he always remembers those poor people with frozen ears. He followed Changsha's example and told his disciples to build a medical shed and cauldron in an open space in Dongguan, Nanyang, and open it on the day of winter solstice to send medicine to the poor to treat their injuries.

Zhang Zhongjing's Quhan Joule Decoction is a summary of more than 300 years of clinical practice in Han Dynasty. Its practice is to put mutton, pepper and some cold-dispelling medicinal materials into a pot and cook them, then take them out and chop them up, make them into ear-shaped Joules with flour bags, put them into a pot and cook them and distribute them to patients seeking medicine. Everyone has two charming ears and a bowl of soup. After eating Quhan decoction, people feel feverish all over, their qi and blood are smooth, and their ears are warm. People eat from the solstice of winter to New Year's Eve, fighting typhoid fever and curing frozen ears.

Zhang Zhongjing didn't give up taking medicine until New Year's Eve. On the first day of New Year's Day, people celebrate the New Year and the recovery of rotten ears. They cook food for the New Year like burnt ears and eat it on the first morning. People call this kind of food "jiaozi", "jiaozi" or "flat food" and eat it on the solstice of winter and the first day of New Year to commemorate the day when Zhang Zhongjing opened the shed to deliver medicine and treat patients.

Zhang Zhongjing's history is nearly 1800 years ago, but his story of "Quhan Joule Decoction" has been widely circulated among the people. On the solstice of winter and the first day of New Year's Day, people eat jiaozi, and they still remember Zhang Zhongjing's kindness in their hearts. Today, we don't need charming ears to cure frozen ears, but jiaozi has become the most common and favorite food for people.

[Edit this paragraph] Customs and culture

New Year's Eve dinner includes jiaozi. It is one of the most important contents of folk New Year in northern China. In jiaozi on the 30th, because it is an important part of festivals, many rules and established customs are stipulated. These customs are designed to cater to the needs of the New Year atmosphere.

The custom of eating jiaozi during the Spring Festival.

When it comes to China New Year, many people think of getting together as a family to pack jiaozi. Jiaozi is a must at the dinner table. Especially in the north of China, eating jiaozi in jiaozi has become an important activity for most families to celebrate New Year's Eve. As the saying goes: "It's freezing in the cold, so eat jiaozi in the New Year." China New Year is the biggest festival in China. In order to have a good year, the old farmers began to get busy as soon as they entered the threshold of the twelfth lunar month. Starting from the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, commonly known as "off-year", the countdown to the New Year begins, lanterns are decorated, couplets are put up, and the courtyard is cleaned to prepare for a reunion year for distant relatives. On New Year's Eve, the most important activity is to package jiaozi with the whole family.

According to documents, the custom of eating jiaozi in the Spring Festival appeared at the latest in the Ming Dynasty. Then it is particularly noteworthy that by the Qing Dynasty, this custom had become very common and had been fixed. This custom is related to the ancient timing method in China. In ancient China, the twelve earthly branches were used to record the time of day. We divide every day into twelve time periods, so the beginning of every day is noon, which is equivalent to the time from 23: 00 to 1: 00 late at night today. Then at the end of each year, at the age of 30, this is not just the replacement of the old and new days, but the replacement of the old and new years. People in China call it "jiaozi". People in China pay great attention to boundaries, especially the boundaries of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. At this time, we should do some ceremonies and pray for good luck in the coming year. Therefore, eating jiaozi, jiaozi and this "jiaozi" at this time is just a homonym, and jiaozi has such a rich cultural meaning, which was gradually formed by China people. During the Spring Festival, on the first day of the New Year, when eating jiaozi, it is a custom for us to eat jiaozi. For China people who respect their families, on New Year's Eve, the snow outside the window is silent, the lights inside are warm and the pot is steaming. All my thoughts and blessings are wrapped in that thin dumpling skin! The red flame boiled the water, and the more it was cooked, the more delicious it became. Accompanied by firecrackers to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year, jiaozi is full of beautiful expectations for the coming year.

Pay attention to the stuffing in jiaozi.

Jiaozi has long been more than just a kind of food, but when you mention the representative of Chinese food to your friends, you will always mention it. Every part of it contains China culture, which is basically a must-have food for every family on New Year's Eve, expressing people's yearning and appeal for a better life. However, how can we make jiaozi's culture work? Let me introduce the culture of dumpling stuffing to you:

1) celery stuffing-that is, diligent money means diligent money jiaozi.

Diligence: that is, diligence and diligence; Often diligence (frequency) is constantly flowing, which is called diligence. It is a blessing to endless material wealth; It is also a blessing for hard work and pragmatism.

2) leek stuffing-which means "making a fortune", is called "making a fortune in jiaozi".

Long time: that is, over time, it is called long-term wealth. Long-term prayer is a kind of material wealth; It is also a blessing to eternity, hoping that people will live for a long time-health, harmony, happiness and happiness.

3) Chinese cabbage stuffing-that is, the meaning of Baibao, so it is called Baibao jiaozi.

Hundred: quantifiers, that is, hundreds of meanings, are called hundred treasures. Blessing for all kinds of wealth; Or wish the newlyweds a long life together.

4) Mushroom stuffing-drum wealth, which means drum wealth in jiaozi.

Drum: It just rises high and sticks out. Mushrooms are shaped like an upward arrow, or the trend of the stock market, meaning upward and full, which is called drum wealth; Or express good wishes for the younger generation to get ahead.

5) Sauerkraut stuffing means counting money, so it is called counting money jiaozi.

Calculation: that is, inspection and settlement. If the money is enough for one night, how much is it? Call it counting money; Or for the blessing of choice, choice is greater than effort, I hope relatives and friends can make a good choice and make a good choice.

6) Meat and vegetable stuffing means wealth, so it is called rich jiaozi.

Yes: there is. Anyone who has seen Zhao Benshan's sketches will forget "talented, so talented!" What about this famous saying? Call it wealth; I wish you rich and more talented.

7) Fish stuffing means surplus wealth, so it is called surplus wealth jiaozi.

Yu: It is surplus. I wish you a surplus every year. This is called surplus wealth. What you pay is hard work, what you get is wealth, and what I leave behind is health.

8) Beef stuffing-beef dish, which means beef dish jiaozi.

Cattle: that is, the meaning of cattle, the favorite of stock trading friends, every day in the bull market, cattle are called cattle wealth; I hope my friends are healthy and full of energy.

9) Mutton stuffing-that is, if you are rich, you will be rich in jiaozi.

Ocean: that is, vast and numerous; It's wider than the sea. I wish you a fortune. This is called making a fortune.

10) jujube stuffing-meaning auspicious jiaozi.

Zhao: Well, just like the god of wealth, you can control the wealth in the world. This is called luck. Traditionally, I like to wrap coins in jiaozi. I get the best luck, but it is not very safe and hygienic, so I wrap big red dates and wish my food prosperity and enthusiasm in the new year.

1 1) Wild vegetable stuffing-that is, the meaning of wild wealth, so it is called wild wealth jiaozi.

Wild: wild, or accidental. Who doesn't like green and healthy windfall? It's called wild wealth.

12) Dish stuffing-that is, money is money, so it is money for jiaozi.

The god of wealth arrives: that is, the god of wealth arrives, which means both receiving money and receiving money. Vegetable stuffing, namely vegetarian stuffing and vegetable stuffing, is called wealth.

13) Sweet stuffing-it means adding money, so it is called adding money to jiaozi.

Increase wealth: that is, increase, increase. Namely candy or jiaozi, moon cakes, etc. ; It is even more homophonic with genius, and it is called adding wealth.

Therefore, there is a blessing message from jiaozi culture:

Jiaozi wishes you-

To be a diligent person, husband and wife have all kinds of treasures, and family is even more valuable. Investing to make money, going out to make money, adding money in the door, meeting wild money, making money every day, making money in the body, making money in the career, making money in the family for a long time, making money in everything and making money in life.

The symbolic significance of Bao jiaozi

New Year's Eve dinner includes jiaozi. It is one of the most important contents of the folk New Year in northern China. In jiaozi on the 30th, because it is an important part of festivals, many rules and established customs are stipulated. These customs are designed to cater to the needs of the New Year atmosphere.

When wrapping jiaozi, people usually wrap Jin Ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into stuffing. Eat the best and sugar, life will be sweeter in the coming year, eat peanuts, live a long and healthy life, eat dates and chestnuts, and have a baby early.

In some areas, when people eat jiaozi, they have to match some non-staple food to show their good luck. If you eat tofu, it symbolizes the happiness of the whole family; Eating persimmons symbolizes all the best; Eat three fresh vegetables. It symbolizes that Sanyang opens Thailand. People in Taiwan Province Province eat fish balls, meatballs and seaweed, symbolizing reunion and wealth. Jiaozi has various fillings and making methods. Even the same kind of jiaozi has different ways of eating: Daur people in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang want to cook jiaozi with vermicelli broth. Then even the soup with jiaozi to eat; In some areas of Henan Province, jiaozi is cooked with noodles, which is called "gold thread penetrates gold ingot".