Why do we eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year? When did they start?

The origin and legend of eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year

Dumplings are a folk food with a long history and are very popular among the people. There is a folk saying that "dumplings are not as delicious as dumplings". During the Spring Festival, dumplings have become an indispensable delicacy.

According to "Guang Ya" written by Zhang Yi, a native of the Three Kingdoms Wei Dynasty, there was a food called "wonton" shaped like a crescent moon at that time, which was basically similar in shape to today's dumplings. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, wontons were "shaped like a crescent moon and were eaten all over the world." It is speculated that after the dumplings were cooked at that time, they were not taken out and eaten separately, but mixed with the soup in a bowl and eaten, so people at that time called the dumplings "wontons". This way of eating is still popular in some areas of my country. For example, when people in Henan, Shaanxi and other places eat dumplings, they put some coriander, chopped green onion, dried shrimps, leeks and other small ingredients in the soup.

About the Tang Dynasty, dumplings had become exactly the same as today's dumplings, and they were taken out and eaten separately on a plate.

In the Song Dynasty, dumplings were called "Jiaoer", which is the etymology of the word "dumplings" in later generations. This writing method can still be seen in the Yuan, Ming, Qing and the Republic of China.

In the Yuan Dynasty, dumplings were called "Bianshi". "Wanshu Miscellaneous Notes" published during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty records: "New Year's Day greetings... as a plaque." Liu Ruoyu's "Ziuzhongzhi" records: "On the first day of the Lunar New Year's Day... we eat fruit snacks, that is, plaque food." The "bian" in "bianshi" in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties is now commonly known as "bian". The name "Bianshi" may come from Mongolian.

During the Qing Dynasty, new names for dumplings appeared, such as "dumplings", "water dim sum" and "boiled dumplings". The increase in the names of dumplings shows that the area where they are spread continues to expand.

The folk custom of eating dumplings during the Spring Festival was quite popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Dumplings are usually made before 12 o'clock in the evening on New Year's Eve and eaten at midnight. This is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating dumplings means "Gengsui Jiaozi", and "子" means "子". "Shi" is homophonic with "dumpling", which means "happy reunion" and "good luck".

There are many legends about eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year. One is to commemorate the founding of the world by Pangu and the end of chaos; the other is that it is homophonic with "hundun", which means "full of food". In addition, there is also a folk saying that eating dumplings is related to Nuwa's creation of human beings. When Nuwa kneaded earth to create a human being, the loess people's ears were easily frozen due to the cold weather. In order to keep the ears in place, Nuwa pierced a small eye in the human ear and tied the ear with a thin thread. , put the other end of the thread in the mouth of the loess and bite it to complete the ears. In order to commemorate Nuwa's achievements, the common people made dumplings, shaped into the shape of human ears with dough, filled with stuffing (thread), and eaten with their mouths.

Dumplings have become an indispensable program food during the Spring Festival for the following reasons: First, dumplings are shaped like ingots. People eat dumplings during the Spring Festival to "bring in wealth". Secondly, the dumplings are stuffed, which makes it easy for people to wrap various auspicious things in the stuffing to express people's wishes for the new year.

When making dumplings, people often put Jin Ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into the fillings. Those who eat as they wish and eat sweets will have sweeter days in the coming year; those who eat peanuts will be healthy and live longer; those who eat dates and chestnuts will have children early.

In some areas, when eating dumplings, they also eat some non-staple food to show good luck. For example, eating tofu symbolizes the happiness of the whole family; eating persimmons symbolizes everything going well; and eating three fresh vegetables. It symbolizes the prosperity of the three Yangs. Taiwanese people eat fish balls, meat balls, and cabbage to symbolize reunion and prosperity.

There are many types of dumplings depending on their fillings and preparation methods. Even though they are the same kind of dumplings, they have different ways of eating them: the Daur people in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang cook the dumplings in vermicelli broth. Then eat it with soup and dumplings; in some areas of Henan, dumplings and noodles are boiled together, which is known as "gold thread threading ingots".

Dumplings, a special delicacy, not only bring joy to people during the New Year, they have also become an important part of Chinese food culture.