Why do you eat glutinous rice balls on Lantern Festival? What is the origin?

At first, people called this kind of glutinous rice balls "floating glutinous rice balls", and later they were called "glutinous rice balls" or "glutinous rice balls". These names "Reunion" are similar in pronunciation, meaning reunion, symbolizing family reunion, harmony and happiness. People also miss their departed relatives and place their best wishes on their future lives.

Tangyuan originated in the Song Dynasty. At that time, Mingzhou (now Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province) began to eat a novel food, which was filled with black sesame seeds and lard, added with a little sugar, and wrapped in glutinous rice flour. After cooking, it tastes sweet, delicious and interesting. Because this glutinous rice dumpling floats and is heavy when cooked in a pot, it was originally called "floating Zi Yuan" and was later renamed as jiaozi in some areas.

Extended data:

Eating dumplings is a traditional custom of China people, especially in the south of the Yangtze River. There is a folk saying that "eating glutinous rice balls is one year older". Chen Zhisui's poem "Tangyuan" said: "Every winter solstice, everyone cooks, one year old, do you know?" There is a saying in Ningbo: "Every family in Ningbo makes glutinous rice balls, and contentment is always happy." Hu also wrote a poem: "Xiangze glutinous rice is used as dumplings, and boiling water is rich and salty." The entrance is sweet and smooth, and the family is happy and drunk. " "Ningbo Tangyuan" is an essential food and a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. "Circle" means "reunion" and "perfection". Eating glutinous rice balls during festivals symbolizes family harmony and auspiciousness, so it is also called "floating Zi Yuan".

On the 15th day of the first month of the Lantern Festival, Ningbo Tangyuan, as a kind of food, has a long history in China. This kind of food was originally called "floating Zi Yuan", and later it was called "Tangyuan", also known as Yuanxiao; "Tangyuan" contains sesame seeds, red bean paste, walnuts, nuts, jujube paste and so on. And wrapped in glutinous rice flour into a circle, you can be vegetarian and have different flavors. It can be boiled, fried and steamed, which means happy reunion.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-sweet glutinous dumplings