As the saying goes, "Winter solstice jiaozi, summer solstice noodles", tomorrow is the winter solstice. Don't forget to eat jiaozi. There is a folk song that goes like this: If you don't pack jiaozi on the winter solstice, no one will care. To say that this winter solstice is a very important traditional festival in life, it has a history of more than two thousand years.
In the north, people eat jiaozi on the solstice in winter to commemorate Zhang Zhongjing, the "medical sage". It is said that it was winter when Zhang Zhongjing resigned and returned to his hometown. When he saw the villagers on both sides of the Baihe River hungry and cold, many people's ears froze. Let his disciples set up a cauldron, and on the solstice of winter, they cooked something called "Jiaoer" with bread like ears for everyone to eat, and all the frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations learned to look like Joule, wrapped it up and made it into food, also called jiaozi. Not only that, in winter solstice, many places still have the habit of eating dog meat and mutton. According to legend, Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu, ate dog meat on the solstice in winter, which was particularly delicious. Since then, the custom of eating dog meat from winter solstice has been formed among the people.
In the south, there are customs of cooking dumplings, eating dumplings and making long noodles. Speaking of the winter solstice, it is really "every family makes glutinous rice balls, knowing that it is the winter solstice of the Ming Dynasty". In some places, there is also the custom of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors during the winter solstice. There is a folk proverb that "the solstice in winter is as big as a year", and the solstice in winter can be said to be a festival second only to the Spring Festival.
In terms of health preservation, the solstice in winter is a good opportunity for health preservation, mainly because "the solstice in winter is the sun" and "qi starts from the solstice in winter". The key point of health care should be to pay attention to a small amount of meals, avoid anger and impatience, maintain a good mood, pay attention to rational use of the brain, prevent excessive fatigue, and pay attention to strengthening physical exercise.