The origin of the Winter Solstice's eating dumplings

The Winter Solstice is the earliest one of the 24 solar terms, which is between December 21 and 22 of the Gregorian calendar each year. It is said that every year on the Winter Solstice's day in the lunar calendar, dumplings are an essential holiday meal, regardless of whether they are rich or poor. As the saying goes, "the Winter Solstice goes to every household to eat dumplings." According to textual research, this custom is left in memory of the "medical sage" Zhang Zhongjing and the Winter Solstice.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, disasters were serious everywhere, and many people suffered from diseases. In Nanyang, there was a famous doctor named Zhang Ji, the word Zhongjing, who studied hard from an early age and learned from others and became the founder of traditional Chinese medicine. Zhang Zhongjing is not only skillful in medical skills, he can cure all difficult and complicated diseases by hand, but also has noble medical morality. he treats both rich and poor people seriously and saves countless lives.

When Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha, he often eliminated diseases and diseases for the people. One year, when the local plague prevailed, he set up a cauldron in front of the Yamen, gave up medicine to save people, and won the love of the people of Changsha. After returning home from Changsha, Zhang Zhongjing went to the bank of Baihe in his hometown and saw many poor people suffering from hunger and cold, and their ears were frozen to death. He was so upset that he was determined to treat them. When Zhang Zhongjing returned home, there were many people seeking medical treatment, and he was very busy, but he was always worried about the poor people whose ears were frozen. Imitating the method he did in Changsha, he asked his disciples to set up a medical shed and a cauldron on a vacant lot in Dongguan, Nanyang, and opened it on the Winter Solstice's day to give up medicine to the poor to treat their injuries.

Zhang Zhongjing's medicine is called "Quhan Jiaoer decoction". Its practice is to boil mutton, chili peppers and some cold-dispelling herbs in a pot, remove these things and cut them up, wrap them into ear-shaped "delicate ears" in dough, and give them to patients begging for medicine when cooked in the pot. Each has two delicate ears and a bowl of soup. After eating Quhan decoction, people have a fever all over, the blood is unobstructed, and their ears become warm. After eating for a while, the patient's rotten ears healed.

Zhang Zhongjing gave up medicine until New Year's Eve. On the first day of the Lunar New year, people celebrate the New year and the recovery of bad ears, so they cook Chinese New year food like Jiaoer and eat it in the morning of the first day of the new year. People call this food "dumpling ears", "dumplings" or partial eclipse, eaten on the Winter Solstice and the first day of the Lunar New year to commemorate the day when Zhang Zhongjing opened the shed to give up medicine and cure patients. Zhang Zhongjing has been around for nearly 1800 years, but the story of his "Quhan Jiao ear decoction" has been widely spread among the people. Whenever the Winter Solstice and the first day of the Lunar New year, people eat dumplings, Zhang Zhongjing's kindness is still in mind. Today, we don't need Jiao ears to treat frozen ears, but dumplings have become the most common and favorite food.

Zhang Zhongjing is a native of Nanyang. He wrote the Theory of typhoid and Miscellaneous Diseases, which is a collection of great achievements of physicians and is regarded as a classic by doctors of all ages. Zhang Zhongjing has a famous saying: "enter, save the world, retreat, save the people, can not be a good minister, but also a good doctor." In the Eastern Han Dynasty, he served as the Taishou of Changsha, visiting patients and practicing medicine in the lobby. After that, he resolutely resigned his official and went back to his hometown to treat his neighbors. It was winter when he returned to his hometown. He saw that the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River were yellow and skinny, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen to death. He asked his disciples to set up a medical shed in Dongguan, Nanyang, set up a cauldron, and gave up "Quhan Jiaoer decoction" to treat chilblain on that day of the Winter Solstice. He boiled mutton, chili peppers and some cold medicine in a pot, then took out mutton and medicine and chopped them up. After cooking, he gave two "delicate ears" and a large bowl of broth to each of the people who came to ask for medicine. People ate "Jiao ear" and drank "Quhan decoction". They were warm all over, their ears were feverish and their frostbitten ears were cured. Future generations learn the appearance of "Jiao er" and wrap it into food, also known as "dumplings" or "flat food".

The Winter Solstice eats dumplings because he never forgets the grace of "medical sage" Zhang Zhongjing "Quhan Jiao ear decoction". Up to now, there is still a folk song in Nanyang that "the Winter Solstice misbehaved dumpling bowls, frozen off his ears and no one cares about them". In modern times, it is more common for the Winter Solstice to eat dumplings in northern China. As the saying goes, "the Winter Solstice comes to eat dumplings." While the south eats tangyuan, of course, there are exceptions. For example, in Tengzhou and other places in Shandong Province, the Winter Solstice is accustomed to counting nine, and it is popular to drink mutton soup on the same day, which means to ward off the cold.