Do we eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve? Where does the custom of eating dumplings on New Year’s Eve come from?

Do we eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve? Where does the custom of eating dumplings on New Year’s Eve come from?
Eating is a major traditional culture of China. China has a wide variety of traditional foods, and there are even more foods eaten during the Spring Festival. So do we eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve? The Chinese New Year is a very important festival in China. Fortune Teller.com has carefully prepared some relevant knowledge about the 2018 Chinese New Year and New Year’s Eve for you. Let’s take a sneak peek!

Do we eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve?

Eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year is a custom for people in the north. On the night of New Year’s Eve, as soon as the clock strikes midnight, we start eating dumplings. Eating dumplings means "changing the year and handing over the money". This custom began in the early Ming Dynasty, and the homonym of the original "jiaozi" evolved into "jiaozi". Moreover, because white flour dumplings are shaped like silver ingots, serving them in bowls on the table symbolizes "making a fortune in the New Year and silver ingots rolling in."
Since dumplings on New Year’s Eve are an important part of the festival, there are many rules and customs that have been stipulated. These customs are all designed to match the atmosphere of the New Year.

Where does the custom of eating dumplings on New Year’s Eve come from?

In the Song Dynasty, dumplings were called "jiao'er", which is the origin of the word "dumplings" in later generations. In the Yuan Dynasty, dumplings were called "bianshi". During the Qing Dynasty, new names for dumplings appeared, such as "dumplings", "water dim sum", and "boiled buns". The increase in the number of names for dumplings indicates that the area in which dumplings are distributed is constantly expanding.
The custom of eating dumplings during the Spring Festival was quite popular among the people during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Dumplings should be wrapped before midnight on New Year’s Eve and eaten at midnight, which is the beginning of the first day of the first lunar month. Eating dumplings means "changing the year and handing over the child". "Zi" means "midnight", and "jiao" is homophonic with "dumplings", which means "joyful reunion" and "good luck".
Dumplings have become an indispensable food during the Spring Festival for two reasons: first, dumplings are shaped like ingots. People eat dumplings during the Spring Festival to get the sound of "attracting wealth and treasure". Secondly, dumplings have stuffing, which makes it convenient for people to wrap all kinds of auspicious things into the stuffing to express their wishes for the new year.
When making dumplings, people often put gold ruyi, sugar, peanuts, dates and chestnuts into the filling. Those who eat Ruyi and sugar will have a sweeter life in the coming year. Those who eat peanuts will be healthy and live longer. Those who eat dates and chestnuts will have children soon.

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