Eating zongzi has moral significance. Summary of the origin and legend of zongzi
4hw.com.cn: the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese festival, is coming soon. In China, food is all over the ancient and modern times. The festival is always inseparable from food. The Dragon Boat Festival has the custom of eating zongzi since ancient times, but do you know why you eat Zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival? Origin of zongzi? Let's take a look with Xiaobian!
The Dragon Boat Festival is coming, and the rice dumplings are fragrant. Folklore experts said that zongzi was endowed with moral meaning during the Warring States period, and was officially designated as the Dragon Boat Festival food in the Jin Dynasty. It is one of the most profound traditional foods in Chinese history.
Luo Shuwei, a researcher at the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, said that zongzi, originally known as "tube zongzi", is a seasonal food. It is packed with sticky rice in bamboo tubes and cooked with plant ash juice. It has unique color, aroma and taste. It can clear heat, reduce fire and regulate gastrointestinal tract. The appearance of zongzi marks the turn of the year into summer. It is a signal of the turning point of life in a year. At first, it has no special commemorative significance.
In the spring and Autumn period, Zizania latifolia (Zizania latifolia) was gradually used to wrap sticky rice into ox horn shape to worship ancestors and gods, which was called 'cornmillet'. The reason why zongzi was wrapped in ox horn shape was that ancient ancestors liked to use animals with horns as sacrifices. They believed that the horns of animals were spiritual objects that communicated between man and God, so as to have a bumper harvest and a full warehouse.
During the Warring States period, Qu Yuan, a doctor of the state of Chu, was patriotic and worried about the people. Later, he was killed by a sycophant minister. It is said that he threw himself into the Miluo River on the fifth day of May. People hurt his death, so they began to associate Qu Yuan's death with the Dragon Boat Festival. Originally, dragon boat racing was a relic of the dragon totem worship of the ancient Yue nation, but it turned into driving a dragon boat to save Qu Yuan; Throw 'corns' into the river to avoid fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs damaging Qu Yuan's body, so as to express the respect and sacrifice to heroes. Since then, the Dragon Boat Festival has also been given a festival with moral meaning.
According to historical records, zongzi was officially designated as the food for the Dragon Boat Festival in the Jin Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, rice dumplings were 'white as jade', and their shapes also appeared in diamonds and cones, becoming festival or folk snacks. In the Song Dynasty, there appeared 'preserved rice dumplings', that is, fruits into rice dumplings. After the Yuan Dynasty, zongzi was no longer limited to wild rice leaves, but changed to Ruo leaves and reed leaves. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, zongzi was given auspicious meaning. It is said that at that time, those who took part in the imperial examination had to eat a kind of slender zongzi like a brush before the examination, which was called 'pen zongzi', homonymous with 'Bizhong'. Another saying is that if you eat this' pen Zong ', you will have a brilliant pen in your chest and can get good results.
Luo Shuwei said that zongzi, which carries the feelings of family and country, integrates true feelings and comes out of the long river of history, is still favored by people and has become an important symbol for the inheritance of Chinese folk culture and food culture.