Jiaozi 饺子

Proposed Timeline of Jiaozi

A proposed timeline of jiaozi (adapted from Newman unless otherwise stated):

202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. – the Han Dynasty, during which the Silk Road was supported as a means for transporting goods – lots of food was imported and some exported; coins were widespread as a form of payment, so food purchasing increased
581 to 618 C.E. – the Grand Canal was constructed in China, this allowed for food to travel much more easily from north to south and vice versa
Jiaozi were first recorded 1,400 years ago (around 600 C.E.) by the North Zhou Confucian, Yan Zhitui (“He mentioned a popular crescent-shaped wheaten food called huntun, which according to historians had existed 600 years earlier”) (Yuan Haiwang in Davis, 227)
618 to 907 C.E. – Tang dynasty, expansion of commerce, foreign trade, and more contact with Japan and East Asia; evidence of exchange between Baghdad and China (goods and foods found in each place)
960 to 1279 C.E. – Song dynasty (from 960 to 1127: Northern Song dynasty; from 1127 to 1279: Southern Song dynasty) → China’s cuisine was further codified and Madam Wu’s Recipe Book (or Wu Shih Chung Khuei Lu in Chinese) was written (which included a recipe for dumplings)[1]
From 1275 to 1292, Marco Polo, the Italian explorer visited China and more Chinese people start to travel abroad and bring in foods

[1] According to Jacqueline Newman (2007), “The earliest written recipe for this type of food including those now known as pot stickers, may be the one found in the Wu Shih Chung Khuei Lu. That one had a mixing of flour and salt with water. It recommended kneading it a hundred times, then dividing the dough into small balls, flattening each with what was translated as a rolling pin, and using pea flour to prevent them from sticking. Yuan Mei, a celebrated Chinese author found a similar recipe and declared it delicious.”