Why do you give chocolates and roses on Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day on 14 February is known to be a famous romantic holiday around the world. Every year on this day people exchange gifts with their loved ones and spend this romantic day together, and the legend of the origin of Valentine's Day dates back to the third century AD.

According to legend, ancient Rome in the third century was at war both internally and externally and the monarch of the time, Claudius, explicitly required husbands to leave their wives and children and teenagers to leave their lovers in order to recruit soldiers. He even ordered all marriages in Rome to be annulled, not to mention that no weddings were allowed to take place. However, the tyrant's orders could not stop lovers from falling in love. Near the king's palace there was a temple with a monk called Valentine, who could not bear to see lovers unable to fall in love and, at the earnest request of the lovers, helped them to marry.

However, more and more couples learned of this and approached Valentine to ask for a witness. When word of this reached the tyrant, Valentine was arrested and imprisoned in a dungeon. Valentine eventually died in prison. He was buried in the church on the 14th of February. This day is known as Valentine's Day, in honour of the monk who saw many couples come together.

Why do we give chocolates on Valentine's Day?

Valentine's Day

Since its inception, chocolate has been inextricably linked to love. People who love each other express their love for their loved ones with sweet chocolates. Chocolates are no match for roses among Valentine's Day gifts, so how did the custom of giving chocolates on Valentine's Day come about?

The origin of chocolate

The first person to give chocolate as a love gift to a loved one was a Spanish princess. When the Spanish princess was engaged to Louis XIV of France, chocolate was given to her fiancé as an engagement gift.

It was at the time of Columbus' discovery of the New World that he brought back the cocoa beans, the raw material for chocolate, along with the exotic treasures. Chocolate's mysterious taste and addictive texture soon swept the European aristocracy through French celebrity circles. For more than a century afterwards, Spain monopolised the entire chain of chocolate production, from raw materials to production and processing.

Not only does chocolate taste melt in your mouth, it also contains an emotional hormone called phenylethylamine, which stimulates the body to secrete dopamine and brings a feeling of happiness, which is very similar to the feeling of being in love, so it is appropriate to use chocolate to represent love.

In 1840, Valentine's Day became a holiday dedicated to the celebration of love. People began to celebrate love and to prepare cards and gifts for their beloved ones. Taking advantage of this love boom, Cadbury, a British chocolate factory, began to promote their chocolates.

The tradition of giving chocolates on Valentine's Day was carried forward by a Japanese chocolate company. In the 1930s, Morozov, a Japanese confectionery company, advertised a Valentine's Day chocolate giveaway for foreigners in Japan. Two days before Valentine's Day, the Morozov confectionery company placed an advertisement in the English-language reader "The Japan Advertiser", "Give your loved one a beautiful box of Morozov's chocolates as a Valentine's Day gift".

At a time when foreigners in Japan were struggling to know what to give their loved ones for Valentine's Day, Morozov's chocolates filled the gap and the chocolates became a big seller, redefining the Valentine's Day gift.

Since then, other Japanese chocolate companies have spotted the business opportunity and have joined in. Thanks to the efforts of many Japanese chocolatiers, Valentine's Day was finally tied to chocolate.

In the 1990s, Japanese dramas entered China, and under the influence of Japanese dramas, China gradually got into the habit of giving chocolates on Valentine's Day as well. Since then, giving chocolates on Valentine's Day has been deeply embedded in our subconscious.