wine cake

The origin of eating "Niang-saving cakes"(wine-brewed cakes) on the Cold Food Festival is that Suzhou people eat wine-brewed cakes. Legend has it that it began in the late Yuan Dynasty. At that time, there was a man named Zhang Shicheng (1321 - 1367) in Suzhou. Due to accidental injury, he took his mother and fled for his life. It was the Cold Food Festival and there was nowhere to beg. He had not eaten for several days. His old mother fainted from hunger, and Zhang Shicheng burst into tears when he saw that he was about to starve to death. An old man saw that Zhang Shicheng was very filial to his mother and son, so he made cakes with the only few distillers 'grains in the family. Zhang Shicheng's mother was finally saved.

A few years later, Zhang Shicheng rebelled and became king in the Soviet Union. He thought of the savior at that time. In order not to forget this matter, Zhang Shicheng ordered the eating of distiller's grains cakes, called "Sauniang cakes", on the Cold Food Festival. Later, Zhang Shicheng was captured alive by Zhu Yuanzhang and committed suicide on the way to Yingtianfu. At that time, no one dared to call the cake "Niang-saving cake" anymore, but Suzhou people still had a lot of affection for Zhang Shicheng and quietly changed the "Niang-saving cake" to "Jiujiu Cake". Today, Suzhou people still have the custom of eating "wine-brewed cakes" in spring.