The origin of yuanxiao can be traced back to the custom of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, which took shape in the Han Dynasty.

Yuanxiao is the traditional seasonal food of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. It is made from glutinous rice flour, usually with sweet fillings such as black sesame, red bean paste, peanuts or hawthorn wrapped in the middle, rolled into round balls, boiled in water and eaten together with the broth. Because of its round shape and because it happens to coincide with the first full moon night of the new year, people use it to express the wish for family reunion and a happy life.

As for the origin of yuanxiao, several folk theories circulate. It is generally believed that the customs of the Lantern Festival had already taken shape as early as the Han Dynasty, when people lit lanterns on this day to pray for blessings and celebrate the harvest; this type of round dumpling food, however, only gradually became popular in the Song Dynasty, when it was mostly called fu yuanzi or yuanzi, and later, because it was often eaten during the Lantern Festival, it gradually came to be called yuanxiao.

There is a clear difference in how yuanxiao is made in the north and the south. In the north, the filling is cut into small pieces, dipped in water and then repeatedly rolled in glutinous rice flour, so that the outer layer builds up layer by layer; in the south, tangyuan is made by wrapping filling in wet glutinous rice flour, giving it a softer, more glutinous and finer texture. Besides sweet fillings, the south also has savory versions with fresh meat, vegetables and so on, each with its own distinctive flavor.

There are also some points to keep in mind when eating yuanxiao. Yuanxiao is very sticky and hard to digest, so when cooking it you should wait until it floats and then simmer it a little longer; the elderly and children should chew carefully and eat it in moderation. Today yuanxiao is no longer just a festival food; admiring flower lanterns, guessing lantern riddles and eating yuanxiao together make up the lively scene of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and have also passed down the meaning of reunion from generation to generation.