Why do we eat glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival? Does eating glutinous rice balls represent auspicious reunion?

Why do we eat glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival? Does eating glutinous rice balls represent auspicious reunion?
Eating glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival is one of the festival customs. There are more and more varieties of glutinous rice balls, and the taste of glutinous rice ball skins and glutinous rice ball fillings are becoming more and more special. Why do we eat glutinous rice balls on the Lantern Festival? Does eating glutinous rice balls represent auspicious reunion? The first month of the lunar calendar is an important month. Let us pay attention to the traditional festivals in the first month and have a good start of the month together. For more knowledge related to the first month of the lunar year, please pay attention to the 2020 first month special topic on Shuimoxiansheng.com.

Why do we eat glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival?

《1》The name of glutinous rice balls is similar to the pronunciation of "reunion":
It means reunion, symbolizing the whole family being together, harmonious and happy. People also use it to miss their separated relatives and express their good wishes for future life.
《2》Eating Yuanxiao on the 15th day of the first lunar month is a common custom:
Eating Yuanxiao on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is a common custom throughout the country. Glutinous Rice Balls are also called "tangtuan" or "yuanzi" or "tuanzi". People in the south also call them "shuiyuan" or "floating yuanzi". Every fifteenth day of the first lunar month, almost every household eats Yuanxiao.
3. Historical and cultural heritage
"Yuanxiao" as a food has a long history in China. In the Song Dynasty, a novel food for the Lantern Festival became popular among the people.
This kind of food was originally called "Fuyuanzi" and later called "Yuanxiao". Businessmen also gave it a nice name "Yuanbao".
In ancient times, Yuanxiao was quite expensive. There is a poem that says: "The distinguished guest hangs the curtain to look at the Imperial Street, and all the treasures in the market come at once. There is no way to pass the flower stand in front of the curtain, and you cannot return without money."
《4》How to make glutinous rice balls:
Yuanxiao, also known as "tangyuan", is filled with sugar, rose, sesame, bean paste, osmanthus, walnut kernels, nuts, jujube paste, etc. It is wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a round shape. It can be meat or vegetarian, with different flavors.
It can be cooked in soup, fried, or steamed, symbolizing reunion and happiness.
——The glutinous rice balls in Shaanxi are not wrapped but "rolled" in glutinous rice flour, and then boiled or fried. They are hot and round.

Does eating glutinous rice balls represent a lucky reunion?

》Eating Tangyuan on the Lantern Festival symbolizes family reunion, happiness and good luck <br /> Yuanxiao was originally called "Tangyuan" because it floats on the water after being boiled, which is very beautiful and reminds people of a bright moon hanging in the sky.
There is a bright moon in the sky, dumplings in the bowl, and every family is reunited, symbolizing reunion and auspiciousness. Therefore, eating Yuanxiao expresses people's love for family reunion.
——Benefits of eating glutinous rice balls: keep warm, nourish the spleen and stomach, and benefit the lungs <br /> The main material of glutinous rice balls for Yuanxiao Festival is glutinous rice. The Compendium of Materia Medica points out that glutinous rice is a grain that nourishes the spleen and stomach and benefits the lungs. Glutinous rice is sweet and warm in nature. Eating it can replenish the body's qi and blood and nourish the spleen and stomach.
The coldest time of winter is the 39th day of winter. Although it has passed now, the weather is still cold and warm. The stomach qi is the most easily damaged in cold days.
The ancients used glutinous rice to make dumplings during the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. In addition to the stickiness of glutinous rice, which makes it easy to put the dumplings into the pot without falling apart, glutinous rice also has the property of keeping out the cold.
——Precautions for eating glutinous rice balls:
Don’t eat too much: Glutinous rice balls are high-calorie, high-sugar foods that contain oil and lack nutrients. Apart from calories and sugar, they don’t have much nutrition.
It is not suitable to eat it in the morning: the gastrointestinal function is weakest in the morning, and the outer skin of glutinous rice balls is mostly made of glutinous rice, which is not easy to digest. Eating it for breakfast can easily cause indigestion.
When eating glutinous rice balls, do not eat other high-sugar foods, and reduce the intake of other staple foods: generally speaking, eating 3 glutinous rice balls is equivalent to 1 tael of staple food. The general staple food intake is about 2 taels, and it is best to control the number of dumplings to about five to six. Excessive intake will cause burden on the stomach.
Eat less fried glutinous rice balls: Although fried glutinous rice balls are crispy, they will make the fat content of the glutinous rice balls, which are high in fat, even higher, and increase the energy density, making them a more unhealthy food. For patients with gallbladder and pancreatic diseases, eating fried dumplings is likely to aggravate their condition.

<<:  What month is the first lunar month of 2020 in the Gregorian calendar? Is the 2020 Spring Festival in the first lunar month?

>>:  Is the 12th day of February, the year of the rat, 2020, a good day? Is it an auspicious day?

Recommend

List of the lucky god's directions for December 23, 2021

The twelfth month of the lunar calendar is the las...