Why do we eat jiaozi from the winter solstice on 20 17? The origin and legend of eating jiaozi.
The origin and legend of eating jiaozi from winter solstice.
The Origin and Legend of Eating jiaozi from Winter Solstice —— Winter Solstice Beaten by a Small Stick
One day more than 3,000 years ago, Duke Zhou played with sticks in Luoyang for a long time. He found that the shadow of the stick was different every day. So, according to the length of the shadow, he finalized the solstice in winter and the solstice in summer. Therefore, among the 24 solar terms, summer solstice and winter solstice are the first to be determined.
Of course, the stick is just a joke. Duke Zhou's tool for measuring the sun's shadow is called a map gauge, which is an 8-foot-high benchmark. On the summer solstice, the shadow at noon is 1.5 feet; The winter solstice is 13.5 feet, which is the longest day in a year. After this day, the shadow of the sun became shorter and shorter, and the weather began to get warmer.
At that time, it was a thousand miles away from natural science, and no one knew why. However, the warmer weather and the sprouting of plants are always something to be happy about, representing the beginning of a new life and worth remembering.
So in the calendar of the Zhou Dynasty, the first month is November in the summer calendar (our current lunar calendar). Therefore, the longest solstice in winter has become the beginning of a new year, which is equivalent to New Year's Day now.
From consideration to Qin, this habit has not changed. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once again adopted the summer calendar (lunar calendar) that the first month was separated from winter to Japan and China. In other words, in ancient times, people celebrated the winter solstice, which was actually equivalent to celebrating the New Year.
After the Han Dynasty separated the winter solstice from the New Year, it was called "off-year" to remind people that the year is approaching and time is running out, which also means that the winter solstice still plays an important role.
The origin and legend of eating jiaozi from winter solstice.
The origin and legend of eating jiaozi in winter solstice: eating a bite of jiaozi in winter solstice that separates heaven and earth.
Then the problem is coming. As a diner, what did the ancients eat on the solstice in winter?
Eat jiaozi!
The most popular version about the origin of jiaozi is that Zhang Zhongjing invented "jiaozi Decoction" to treat people with colds. This is a beautiful story, but it is not the case.
In 1970s and 1980s, Jiaozi was found in the tombs of Tang Dynasty in Astana Village, Turpan, Xinjiang, Three Kingdoms in Zhongxian County, Chongqing, and Chunqiu Tomb in Tengzhou, Shandong Province. So judging from the unearthed cultural relics, jiaozi originated in China for more than two thousand years. However, jiaozi used to be called Wonton instead of jiaozi. In the north, jiaozi and Wonton are not the same thing, but in the south, they keep this title.
Back to the beginning, why did you eat jiaozi on the winter solstice? Joseph Needham, a foreign scholar, pointed out in his book History of Ancient Scientific Thought in China: "The oldest relic left by chaos is the wonton that people in China generally eat today, that is, the word" chaos "was replaced by the word" food ".
The story of Pangu in Shan Hai Jing says: "Heaven and earth are chaotic, like an egg, and Pangu is in the egg" ("Heaven and earth are chaotic, like a chicken, Pangu was born in it"). Later, Pangu came out of chaos, separated heaven and earth and created this new world.
Whether it is a square wonton skin or a round dumpling skin wrapped with stuffing, it symbolizes the chaotic world.
The original meaning of the winter solstice is the beginning of a year, and the days begin to get longer, which has a special meaning of reopening the world and sprouting everything. So on this day, biting wonton will open up a new world. In the concept of China people, its edible importance is not to satisfy hunger, but a solemn and sacred ceremony, which adds happiness, longevity and auspiciousness.
If these processes and attention are regarded as a complete ceremony, eating wonton (jiaozi) is obviously an earth-shattering event.
The origin and legend of eating jiaozi from winter solstice: the story behind jiaozi
The word "wonton" first appeared in a dictionary compiled by Cao Wei people during the Three Kingdoms period. In later literature, its name was changed again and again for a very shameful reason. ...
In Song Dynasty, wonton was called "jiaozi" and "Joule". It is said in Dream of China in Tokyo that there used to be a "crystal joule" in Kaifeng Night Market. Of course, there is the name wonton. Looking through the poems written by the ancients casually, many people mentioned eating wonton on the solstice in winter, but I really don't understand why they like to eat duck meat. For example:
Duck wonton looks like local conditions and customs, while glutinous pills and hemp juice hinder the nostalgia.
Struggle like stuttering, duck wonton outside Xiuzhou.
Duck wonton is slightly salty, and wine after snow is cheap.
The name "jiaozi" has been passed down to the Ming Dynasty. In the eighth edition of Jin Ping Mei Hua Ci, it is said that when Pan Jinlian and other Ximen Qing, they "made a cage of jiaozi with minced meat for Ximen Qing to eat". The "jiao" here undoubtedly refers to steamed dumplings with meat.
It is these names that let us discover the meaningful world of jiaozi. This is probably the reason why jiaozi has always been in a high position in China's food culture.