The shape of the rice dumpling is imitated by Meng Jiangnu’s three-inch golden lotus

It is said that the early rice dumplings had no fixed shape, but the triangular rice dumplings we usually see now look like the three-inch golden lotus of a woman with bound feet. Golden lotus. According to legend in the Ming Dynasty, this is Meng Jiangnu's miserable masterpiece.

According to legend, Meng Jiangnu’s husband Fan Xiliang was arrested to build the Great Wall. He was gone for three years and there was no news from him. Meng Jiangnu was also a woman who valued love and justice. She missed her husband day and night, looking through the autumn water, but saw no one coming back. After enduring the helpless misery, she settled in with her parents-in-law and resolutely embarked on a long journey to find her husband.

Before leaving, he was afraid that her husband would starve, so he racked his brains to bring delicious food to her beloved husband to express her feelings. After much thought, I decided to make rice dumplings for him.

The wise Meng Jiangnu thought that it was very windy and cold in the northern frontier, so the rice dumplings wrapped with sticky rice would not be blown dry and cracked by the wind. There are also three dates placed in each rice dumpling, symbolizing three years of separation, or red beans representing lovesickness. The shape of the rice dumplings was made to imitate her own feet. She wanted to tell her husband how difficult it was for his wife to travel thousands of miles across mountains and rivers.

Since then, every time during the Dragon Boat Festival, when people eat rice dumplings, they will think of the touching story of Meng Jiangnu’s long journey to find her husband. With infinite feelings, the rice dumplings made by people will naturally become triangular.

Qu Yuan and Meng Jiangnu were both figures from the Warring States Period and are well-known in China; judging from this legendary story, eating rice dumplings has a history of thousands of years in our country. It gives us first to love our country - to take on the responsibilities that society should bear; to love our family - to protect and stabilize the smallest unit of society.

Zongzi gives us an extremely charming legend! Every Chinese should make this traditional festival extraordinarily warm and wonderful in the light of the legend.

Cultural customs of Zongzi:

Zongzi is a kind of "籺", which is a tribute that people use to worship gods and ancestors during festivals. Worshiping gods and ancestors is an ancient traditional custom. There are many varieties of zhan, and different zhan are made for different festivals. Zongzhi is a tribute to the gods and ancestors during the Dragon Boat Festival. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, millet was soaked in plant ash water. Because the water contained "alkali", the millet was wrapped in wild rice leaves into a square shape and cooked, which became Guangdong alkaline rice dumplings.

Eating rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional custom in my country. Zongzi are mainly made of Zong leaves, Ruo leaves or wild reed leaves, collectively called Zong leaves. The traditional form of rice dumplings is triangular, and they are usually named according to their inner flesh. Zongzi comes in many shapes, reflecting different regional characteristics. Zongzi not only come in many shapes and varieties, but also have different flavors in different parts of China, with sweet and salty being the main types.

The sweet flavors include white rice dumplings, red bean rice dumplings, broad bean rice dumplings, date rice dumplings, rose rice dumplings, melon rice dumplings, bean paste lard rice dumplings, date mud lard rice dumplings, etc. Savory flavors include: pork rice dumplings, ham rice dumplings, sausage rice dumplings, shrimp rice dumplings, diced meat rice dumplings, etc., but pork rice dumplings are more common.

There are also southern-style rice dumplings with egg yolk and meat from Hainan (Hainan), assorted rice dumplings, bean paste rice dumplings, mushrooms, etc.; there is also a "double rice dumpling" with one end sweet and one salty, one rice dumpling with two flavors.

In central Guangxi, large pillow rice dumplings shaped like pillows are popular. The large pillow rice dumplings in Guizhong area use half a catty to one catty of rice; while in Guilin area, one catty of rice can be used to make six or seven small pillow rice dumplings. In the north of Guilin, dog-head rice dumplings shaped like a dog's head are popular. The ingredients used in the process of making rice dumplings have their own characteristics.

For example, people in Guilin like to add a little alkali powder when making rice dumplings to produce an alkali aroma in the cooked rice dumplings; while people in Quanzhou like to soak glutinous rice in straw gray water when making rice dumplings. The rice dumplings made in this way are both It has a moderate alkaline aroma and an appetizing color.

Hainan’s rice dumplings are different from those in the north. They are made of Zongzi wrapped in a square cone shape and weigh about half a kilogram. Salted egg yolk, pork, pig’s trotters, salted fish, barbecued pork, and chicken wings can be put into the glutinous rice. Wait for filling. The flavor is unique. When the hot rice dumplings are peeled off, there is first the fragrance of tangerine leaves and glutinous rice, and then the strong fragrance of meat and eggs.

It has both strong and light aromas and a variety of meat and vegetables, which will whet the appetite of the eaters. Hainan rice dumplings are most famous for Ding'an black pork rice dumplings, Danzhou Luoji rice dumplings, and Chengmai Ruixi rice dumplings. In addition, Hainan rice dumplings also include alkaline rice dumplings made by soaking plant ash in water and soaking glutinous rice in the supernatant.