Zhang Zhongjing was a native of Nanyang, who lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Zhang Zhongjing was too punctual in Changsha, visiting patients to administer medicine and practicing medicine in the lobby. After that, he resolutely resigned his official post and returned to his hometown to treat his neighbors. When he returned home, it was winter. At that time, he saw that the villagers on both sides of the White River were yellow and thin, hungry and cold, and many people's ears were frozen. So he asked the disciples to set up a medical shed in Nanyang Dongguan, support a cauldron, and give "cold and ear soup" to heal frostbite on the day of the winter solstice.
He put the lamb and some cold-repellent herbs in a pot and boiled it, then fished out the lamb and medicine and chopped it, used bread to form an ear-like "jiao'er", cooked it, and distributed it to each person who came to ask for medicine with two "jiao'er" and a large bowl of broth. People ate "delicate ears" and drank "cold soup", and their bodies were warm, their ears were warm, and their frostbitten ears were cured. Later generations learned the appearance of "delicate ears" and wrapped them into food, also called "dumplings" or "flat food".
The custom of eating dumplings on the winter solstice was thus formed and passed down to today, so every year on the day of the winter solstice of the lunar calendar, whether rich or poor, dumplings are an indispensable holiday meal. Proverb Yun: "On the first of October, the winter solstice arrives, and every household eats dumplings." This is also to commemorate the custom left by the "holy doctor" Zhang Zhongjing on the winter solstice.