Why do we eat rice cakes during Chinese New Year? What is the origin of eating rice cakes?

Why do we eat rice cakes during Chinese New Year? What is the origin of eating rice cakes?
During the Spring Festival, people in many parts of our country pay attention to eating rice cakes. Rice cake is also called "nianniangao", which is homophonic with "nianniangao", meaning "higher every year", meaning that people's work and life will improve year by year. What is the origin of eating rice cakes? So if you want to know more about the 2018 Spring Festival, then continue to wander in the 2018 Spring Festival special topic on the Fortune Teller website! Rice cake has a long history of thousands of years in my country and is an important part of our food culture. We know that rice cakes are made from glutinous rice. Our ancestors began to grow rice as early as 7,000 years ago. As early as the Han Dynasty, people at that time had many names for rice cakes, such as "rice cake", "bait" and "ci". The production method of rice cakes is also recorded in ancient books. After steaming the glutinous rice, pound it into rice cake while it is hot, then cut it into peach kernel size, put it in a cool place to dry, and fry it in a pan before eating, then roll it in sugar and eat it.
It is said that the earliest rice cakes were used for sacrificial offerings, to worship gods on New Year's Eve and to worship ancestors on New Year's Day. Later, they became a seasonal food for the Spring Festival, carrying good hopes every year. Eating rice cake is not only because it is a delicacy, but also because it has a good meaning, expressing the wish of "getting taller every year". Legend 1:
In ancient times, there was a monster called "Nian" that lived in the mountains and forests all year round. When it was hungry, it would catch other animals to satisfy its hunger. But in the severe winter, most animals hide and hibernate. When "Nian" was extremely hungry, it would come down the mountain to harm the common people, snatching people as food, making the common people suffer.
Later, there was a clever tribe called the "Gao Clan". During the severe winter, when they expected the monster to come down the mountain to look for food, they would make a lot of food with grain in advance, roll it into strips, press it into pieces and place them outside the door, while the people hid at home. When "Nian" arrived, it couldn't find anyone to eat, so it was so hungry that it ate the food made by people. After eating, it returned to the mountains. When people saw the monster had gone away, they all came out of their homes to congratulate each other, feeling lucky that they had escaped the "Nian" and were now safe and sound and could prepare for spring plowing.
This method of avoiding animal harm has been passed down year after year. Because the grain strips were made by Gao for the purpose of feeding "Nian" to overcome the barrier, so they combined "Nian" and "Gao" together and called it "nian gao" (homonym).
Legend 2:
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, after King Fuchai of Wu established his capital in Suzhou, he indulged in wine and sex all day long. The general Wu Zixu had a premonition that there would be trouble. Therefore, when Wu Zixu was building the Suzhou city wall, he made bricks out of glutinous rice and buried them underground. When the King of Wu gave him a sword and forced him to commit suicide, he told his relatives: "After I die, if there is a famine, you can dig three feet underground under the city to find food." After Wu Zixu's death, the war between Wu and Yue broke out again, and the city was out of food. It was also the New Year, and the villagers remembered Wu Zixu's words and rushed to dig three feet underground. As expected, they found glutinous rice bricks to fill their stomachs. Since then, people in Suzhou have made rice cakes during the Chinese New Year to commemorate Wu Zixu. Gradually, the custom of eating rice cakes during the Chinese New Year has become popular all over the country.

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