4hw.org: in the north of China, dumplings are always eaten at the winter solstice. There is no connection between dumplings and the winter solstice. Why are they involved? Let's start from the life experience of dumplings. Let's see who invented dumplings!
Dumplings are the traditional food loved by Chinese people. The method of making it is to make thin and soft dumpling skin with flour first, then chop up fresh meat, cabbage, etc., mix with seasoning for filling, and then boil the dumpling in the pot until it floats to the surface. It is characterized by thin skin, tender filling, delicious taste, unique shape and endless food.
Jiaoer, the original name of dumpling, was first invented by Zhang Zhongjing, the doctor of our country.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, many people suffered from serious disasters. Nanyang has a famous doctor named Zhang Ji, Zhongjing. He has studied hard since he was a child to learn from others and become the founder of traditional Chinese medicine. Zhang Zhongjing is not only skilled in medicine, but also able to get rid of all kinds of difficult and miscellaneous diseases. His medical ethics is noble. No matter the poor or the rich, he has seriously treated them and saved countless lives.
When Zhang Zhongjing was an official in Changsha, he often treated diseases for the people. One year, local plague prevailed. He built a big pot at yamen's entrance and gave up medicine to save people, which was deeply loved by Changsha people. After returning home from Changsha, Zhang Zhongjing went to the Bank of Baihe River in his hometown and saw many poor people suffer from hunger and cold, and their ears are frozen. He was very distressed and determined to save them. When Zhang Zhongjing returned home, there were many people seeking medical treatment. He was very busy, but he always remembered the poor people with cold and rotten ears. He imitated the method in Changsha, and asked his disciples to set up a medical shed and a big pot on a vacant lot in Dongguan, Nanyang, and open it on the day of the winter solstice to give medicine to the poor for treatment.
Zhang Zhongjing's medicine is called "Quhan Jiaoer Decoction", which is boiled in a pot with mutton, prickly ash (not pepper injection) and some Quhan herbs. After cooking, they are fished out and chopped. Then they are wrapped into ears like "Jiaoer" with dough. After cooking in the pot, they are distributed to patients begging for medicine. Each of them has two ears and a bowl of soup. After people eat Quhan soup, they get fever all over their body, their blood is smooth and their ears are warm. After eating for a while, the patient's rotten ears will be all right.
Zhang Zhongjing gave up medicine until the thirtieth of the lunar new year. On the first day of the lunar new year, people celebrate the new year and the recovery of bad ears. They make new year's food like jiao'er and eat it in the morning of the first day of the lunar new year. People call this kind of food "dumpling ear", "dumpling" or partial food. It is eaten on the winter solstice and the first day of the new year to commemorate the day when Zhang Zhongjing opened a shed for medicine and cured patients.
Zhang Zhongjing is nearly 1800 years old, but his story of "Quhan Jiaoer soup" has been widely spread among the people. Every winter solstice and new year's day, people eat dumplings and still remember Zhang Zhongjing's kindness. Today, we don't need to treat frozen ears with Jiaoer, but dumplings have become the most common and favorite food for people