[Explanation] In the De'an County Museum in Jiangxi Province, a pair of real zongzi from the Southern Song Dynasty more than 700 years ago are treasured. On the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, a reporter from China News Agency visited the site to learn about the past and present of this pair of ancient zongzi.
According to reports, the pair of water chestnut-shaped zongzi is 6 cm long and 3 cm wide. The outer skin is made of zongzi leaves, tied with natural reed leaf twine, and placed in a transparent rectangular box for tourists to visit.
[Concurrent] Li Jia, a docent of the Museum of De'an County, Jiangxi Province
The Southern Song Dynasty Zhou's Tomb is an ancient tomb discovered by our museum in 1988. Many national first-class cultural relics were unearthed in this tomb, including the earliest physical zongzi in China, the Southern Song zongzi.
When the coffin was opened, the owner of the tomb held a peach branch in his hand, and two solid dumplings were hung on the peach branch.
The inscription records that the owner of the tomb, Zhou Shi, was buried in 1274 AD.
Li Jia said that the two dumplings found in the tomb also confirmed the custom of eating dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival, which has been popular in China for thousands of years.
[Concurrent] Li Jia, a docent of the Museum of De'an County, Jiangxi Province
From the memory of a weaving technique and material of this zongzi, it is also very similar to the production method of our modern zongzi.
When she died, the Dragon Boat Festival had not yet arrived. His family wanted him to eat zongzi, so she took it to the coffin.
According to Wang Zerong, director of the De'an County Museum in Jiangxi Province, these two zongzi are the earliest real zongzi found in China.
Their discovery is of great value to the study of food and folk customs at that time.
[Concurrent] Wang Zerong, Director of the Museum of De'an County, Jiangxi Province
According to expert appraisal, these two zongzi are the earliest real zongzi discovered in my country, and also the oldest real zongzi discovered by archaeology in the world. Food and folk customs are of great value.
The reporter noticed that the De'an County Museum has carried out a three-dimensional digital presentation of the unearthed cultural relics, including the dumplings of the Southern Song Dynasty, to better display the archaeological results to tourists and promote traditional Chinese culture.
Reporter Jiang Tao, Liu Zhankun, Jiangxi De'an reported
Responsible editor: [Lu Yan]