Today’s post begins a series on living well with the seasons. Living well in winter tells the story of Zhang, Zhong Jing and his gift of dumplings to the world.
节气 Jie Qi (sub-season): 冬至 Dong Zhi (Winter Arrival)
Culture
冬至吃饺不冬耳
Translation: Start to eat water-boiled dumplings on “Winter Arrival” and it will prevent getting frostbite on the ears.
This Ancient Chinese saying “冬至吃饺不冬耳” along with the custom of eating water-boiled dumplings are used to remember “医圣” — “the Sage of Chinese Medicine,” 张仲景 (Zhang, Zhong-Jing 150–219 A.D.) of 东汉 (East Han Dynasty). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Zhongjing)
The Story of Zhang, Zhong Jing
When Zhang, Zhong Jing was the governor of Chang Sha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changsha), he served the people as a government official. In his spare time, he utilized Chinese Medicine to heal poor people of a lower social status who couldn’t afford to see regular Chinese doctors for their ailments. They were the servants, maids, peasants, factory workers, widows, and older people.
It was during the bitter cold winter time, Zhang, Zhong Jing quit his job to go back to his native town. On his journey, he saw many people on the road, cold and hungry. A lot of them had severe frostbite on their ears. Feeling compassion in his heart, Zhang, Zhong Jing determined to make “祛寒娇耳汤” Qu Han Jiao Er Tang (Expel cold, rejuvenate and nourish ear soup) to heal people’s ears. 祛寒 Qu Han means to expel cold. 娇耳 Jiao Er means well-nourished ear. 汤 tang means soup.
Invention of Dumplings
Zhang, Zhong Jing asked his students to build a tent as his temporary clinic. And then, he instructed them to put lamb meat and Chinese food-grade herbs which have the property of expelling cold from the body in a large wok to cook. After everything was well cooked, he asked them to take the ingredients out and minced them and then enclosed them in sacks made of flour. They made these sacks into shapes that resembled well-nourished ears. Then, they put these sacks back into the wok to cook some more.
After all these were done, it was the day of 冬至 Dong Zhi “Winter Arrival.” Zhang, Zhong Jing and his students served those people around them this soup. After eating the hot 娇耳 Jiao Er sacks and drank the hot soup, all of them felt hot from their toes to their head. The warming property of the lamb and the herbs made their ears warm. After a while, their ears healed from the frostbite and became well-nourished ears. From then on, this dish was called 娇耳 Jiao Er. Later, people simplified it to 饺子 Jiao Zi (dumpling).
Focus Keyphrase: Living Well In Winter
Image used with permission from https://noelravi.ee/baasuuringud/zhang-zhongjing-142-220/
