The Custom of Eating Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival | lantern festival food
The15thdayofthefirstlunarmonthistheLanternFestival,atraditionalfestivalinChina.Peopleeatyuanxiaoonthisday.Yuanxiaoaresmallballsmadeofglutinousriceflourwithorwithoutfilling.Itsfillingcanbebeanpaste,whitesugar,hawthorn,anddriedfruitofallkinds.Yuanxiaocanbeboiled,friedorsteamed.Itwascalledfuyuanziinthepast,andlatertangtuanortangyuan,allofwhichhaveasimilarpronunciationastuanyuan,meaningreunion.Sothisfoodisasymbolofunion,harmonyandhappinessforthefamily.Peoplealsoeatittocherishthememoryoflovedones...
The 15th day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival, a traditional festival in China. People eat yuanxiao on this day. Yuanxiao are small balls made of glutinous rice flour with or without filling. Its filling can be bean paste, white sugar, hawthorn, and dried fruit of all kinds. Yuanxiao can be boiled, fried or steamed. It was called fuyuanzi in the past, and later tangtuan or tangyuan, all of which have a similar pronunciation as tuanyuan, meaning reunion. So this food is a symbol of union, harmony and happiness for the family. People also eat it to cherish the memory of loved ones not beside them and express their good wishes for the future.
Like the balls in lion dances and dragon dances, tangyuan is also a symbol of the moon, and eating tangyuan symbolizes worshiping and appreciating the moon. A poet named Zhou Bida once compared yuanxiao to the moon in his poem “Yuanxiao Fuyuanzi”. He wrote, “Stars shed light even behind dark clouds; pearls distin...