Just had my first bowl of Tang Yuan and As I was chewing away on my first bowl of Tang Yuan balls in hot soup, I counted down how many days were left till the end of Chinese New Year.
Traditionally, Chinese New Year celebrations last for 15 days and the last day is known as the Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao Jie (元宵节). On this day, a delightful dessert called Tang Yuan is normally served as part of the family reunion meal. Tāng Yuan is made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water.
Tang Yuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled. They are traditionally eaten during Yuan Xiao, or the Lantern Festival. It is also served as a dessert on Chinese wedding day, Winter Solstice Festival and any occasions such as family reunion because tang yuan sounds a lot like ‘tuan yuan’ (团圆 ), which means ‘reunion’.
According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, there was man named Dongfang Shuo. He was one of the emperor’s favourite advisor. One fine winter day, while walking in the garden, he heard a girl crying and wanting to jump into a well to commit suicide. Dong Fang stopped her and asked her why. The lady, Yuan Xiao, was a maid in the emperor's palace. She was very sad that she never had a chance to see her family since she started working in the palace. Dongfang promised to find a way to reunite her with her family.
Dong Fang left the palace and set up a fortune-telling stall on the street. Due to his reputation, many people came to him to get their fortunes told. To everyone, he gave the same prediction - a calamitous fire is going to happen on the fifteenth lunar day. The rumor spread quickly and people asked Dong Fang for help. Dong Fang said that on the thirteenth lunar day, the God of Fire would send down a fairy in red riding a black horse to burn down the city. When people saw the fairy they should ask her for mercy.
On the 13th Lunar day, Yuan Xiao pretended to be the red fairy. When people asked for her help, she said that she had a copy of a decree from the God of Fire that should be taken to the emperor. After she left, people went to the palace to show the emperor the decree which stated that the capital city would be burned down on the fifteenth day.
The emperor asked Dong Fang for advice. Dong Fang said that the God of Fire liked to eat sweet dumplings (汤圆 / tang yuan). Hence he would get Yuan Xiao, who makes very good Tang Yuan, to cook them on the fifteenth lunar day. At the same time, the emperor should also order every house to prepare Tang Yuan to worship the God of Fire.
In addition, every house in the city should hang red lanterns and set off fire crackers. Lastly, everyone in the palace and people outside the city should carry their lanterns on the street to watch the lantern decorations and fireworks. The Jade Emperor would then be deceived and everyone would avoid the fiery disaster.
The emperor agreed to the plan. Lanterns were hung everywhere in the capital city on the night of the fifteenth lunar day. People were walking on the streets. Fire-crackers were set off making lots of noise. It looked like the entire city was on fire.
Yuan Xiao's parents went to the palace to watch the lantern decorations and there, they were reunited with their daughter. The emperor then decreed that people should do the same thing every year. People then named the day Yuan Xiao Festival.
At one time, Tang Yuan used to be called Yuan Xiao. Then during Yuan Shikai's rule from 1912 to 1916, he disliked the name yuan xiao (元宵) because it sounded identical to "Remove Yuan" (袁消). So he gave orders to change the name to Tang Yuan. This new name literally means "round balls in soup".
For many Chinese families in mainland China as well as overseas, Tang Yuan is usually eaten together with the family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls where they are served has come to symbolize family togetherness.
So have you eaten your balls in hot soup yet this year?
