The origin of eating glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival turns out to be such an interesting legend

Eating glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival is a long-standing traditional custom in China. So, do you know the origin of eating glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival? Next, please see the content related to eating glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival.

The Origin of Eating Tangyuan on Lantern Festival

According to records, eating glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival was first seen in the Song Dynasty. At that time, glutinous rice balls were called "yuanzi", "floating yuanzi", "lactose yuanzi" and "sugar yuan", and businessmen also called it "yuanbao". In the Song Dynasty poet Zhou Bida's "Pingyuan Xugao", it was written that "During the Lantern Festival, the floating Yuanzi are cooked. It seems that the predecessors have never written this." Glutinous rice balls are usually filled with sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, osmanthus, walnut kernels, nuts, jujube paste, etc. They are wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round shape. They can be meat or vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be cooked in soup, fried, or steamed. Eating glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival not only symbolizes a happy reunion, but also in Shaanxi Province, glutinous rice balls are "rolled" in glutinous rice flour and then boiled or fried, symbolizing warmth and reunion.

The legend of eating glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival

The Kitchen God came down to earth to investigate the people's sentiments

In ancient times, in order to understand the customs of the people, the Jade Emperor sent the Kitchen God to earth to investigate and report to heaven on the third day of every month. One year, on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God reported to the Jade Emperor: the people on earth work hard every day, and eat only simple meals 365 days a year. If this continues, the people will definitely overwork and damage their bodies, which will affect them.

Taibai Jinxing offers advice

Upon hearing the report, the Jade Emperor immediately gathered his ministers to discuss a good strategy. Finally, Taibai Jinxing offered a suggestion: We can let the people take some medicine for chronic poisoning, and when they slowly become ill, they will naturally rest. The Jade Emperor thought this was a good plan, so he asked the God of Cooking to secretly throw madness medicine into the people's rice pots on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.