History and Culture of Chopsticks

China has been using cutlery for a very long time, the history of using spoons is about 8,000 years, the history of using forks is about 4,000 years, the upper limit of using chopsticks is uncertain, but at least 3,000 years of history, the dinner fork was still used until the Warring States period, and the Warring States tomb in Luoyang, Henan Province unearthed 51 dinner forks in a bundle. After the Warring States period, the fork was probably obsolete, with fewer records and objects appearing. The division of labor between spoons and chopsticks in the pre-Qin period was clear: spoons were used for eating, and chopsticks were used for eating the food in the spoon.? [1-2]?

Chopsticks were called "chopsticks" in the pre-Qin Dynasty, "chopsticks" in the Han Dynasty, and "chopsticks" in the Ming Dynasty. In the Book of Rituals, Chopsticks are used when there is a dish in the soup, and in the Book of First Aid, Chopsticks are used when there is a chopstick and when there is a food dish in the chopsticks, and in the Book of Rituals, Zheng Xuan wrote Chopsticks are used when there is a chopsticks. In Yunxian Miscellany, it is written: "Xiangfan had a lacquered flower plate, chopsticks, and a fish-tailed spoon."

The Twenty-Second History of Confucianism, "The one who went to the hall took a pair of chopsticks, two small dishes, and a dish of preserved pork." Shen Congwen (沈从文), "从文自传-我讀一本小书同时又讀一本大书"", "边街又有小饭店门前有一个大竹筒插满用竹子削成的筷子."

There are many folk legends about chopsticks, one says that Jiang Ziya was inspired by the bird to invent silk and bamboo chopsticks, one says that Daji invented chopsticks with jade hairpins to please King Zhou, and there is also a legend that Yu invented chopsticks when he was ruling over the water in order to save time and fetch hot food from tree branches. The length of ordinary chopsticks is about 22-24 centimeters. There are many artifacts of chopsticks that incorporate more traditional craftsmanship in their design, thus making them a collector's choice as well, and they are also popular with expatriates.? [1]?

Chopsticks

Ming Lu Rong "Beans Garden Miscellany" cloud: Wu customary boat people said, "live" and "chopsticks" resonance, so change "chopsticks for the fastest child". Because Wuzhong boat people and fishermen are especially taboo "chopsticks", they are most afraid of the boat "live", the boat stops, the boat people will have no business, they are even more afraid of the boat "moth", the wooden boat "moth", "moth", "moth", "moth", "moth", "moth", "moth", "moth", "moth". "How to catch fish if the wooden boat is leaking. In this superstition under the guidance of the idea of harmony, so see the "chopsticks" in the opposite way called "fast son", for good luck. Ming Li Yu Heng in the "Push the Peng awake language" said more clearly: "the world has a taboo evil word and call for the word of the United States, such as standing chopsticks taboo stagnation, call for the fast son. Today, because of the circulation has been a long time, to the scholars also called the chopsticks for the fast son of the people, forget its beginning." Although the Ming Dynasty has been called "chopsticks" for "fast", but the Qing Kangxi did not recognize the folk will be fast with the bamboo character "chopsticks". This can be evidenced by the fact that the Kangxi Dictionary only includes "箸" and not "chopsticks". However, the emperor could not resist the trend of the people's fear of taboos, like mouth color. In the 40 episodes of Dream of the Red Chamber, Cao Xueqin called it "chopsticks" in three places, "but" in two, and "chopsticks" four times in a paragraph in which Jia Mu invited Liu Lou Lou Liu to a banquet.

Today, the term "chopsticks" has become commonplace, but experts and scholars still refer to chopsticks as "chopsticks" or "buts" in calligraphy, poetry, and essays, and have not "forgotten their beginnings," as the book Puipeng yuyi yuyi puts it.

The first kings to use ivory chopsticks

Chopsticks (18)

China is the birthplace of chopsticks, and there is a long history of using chopsticks for eating. The ancient book Han Fei Zi - Yu Lao (韓非子-喻老) reads, "In the past, Zhou made chopsticks for the Elephant and Min Zi was horrified." Sima Qian in the "Records of the Grand Historian - Zong Wei Zi Shi Jia" also cloud "Zhou for the elephant chopsticks, Min Zi sighed and said: he for the elephant chopsticks, will be for the jade cup; for the jade cup, it will be thinking of faraway treasures and monstrous things and the Royal Palace. The gradual increase of the carriage and the palace started from this point onwards, and could not be revitalized." Although this is a statement of the fear of the courtiers caused by the extravagant life of King Zhou, it provides us with the most valuable written historical materials for tracing the birth and development of chopsticks from the court events caused by the ivory chopsticks. Zhou was the monarch of the last dynasty of the Shang Dynasty, and by this reckoning, around 1144 B.C., that is to say, refined ivory chopsticks appeared in China more than 3,100 years ago.

Some people are skeptical of the ancient record of "Zhou as elephant chopsticks", they think that there are no elephants in Henan, Hebei and other places, so how can there be tusk chopsticks? According to archaeologists, in the unearthed Shang dynasty oracle bone inscriptions have the word "elephant", and "Fu Xiang" and "to the elephant" records. Lv's Spring and Autumn Annals - Ancient Music" in the "businessman serving elephant" sentence. According to the "flavor of the chapter" contained: "jingxiang's about", that is to say, the elephant trunk is also a kind of food. From this, we can see that there were many wild elephants in the Central Plains during the Yin-Shang period. It is precisely because of the Shang Dynasty elephant herds were rounded up, there is the possibility of "Zhou for the elephant chopsticks".

Chopsticks in China's use of records have always been written records, and the lack of physical evidence, in the Chinese Kitchen Culture Museum collection of an ancient Han stove found chopsticks relief, to make up for the blank chopsticks physical evidence, is known to the only physical evidence, the degree of sophistication can be comparable to modern chopsticks, can be regarded as a contemporary national treasures, with a very high historical value of the study, through this The relief of chopsticks not only proves that people were already using chopsticks during the Han Dynasty, but also reflects the rich living conditions and diversified lifestyles of the people at that time.

Legend

Jiang Ziya

Chopsticks in the Han stove in the physical discovery

This legend is circulating in Jiaozuo City, Mengzhou and other places, the "Huaiqing Prefecture Zhi," Volume 23, "Characters - flow of fables," cited in the "Records of the Grand Historian," which reads, "Lvwang (Note: Jiang Ziya is also known as Jiang Taigong, the name of the original name of the ginger, from the feudal family name of the name is also known as Lvsang, No. for the Taigongwang, so the historical records also known as the Jiang Ziya. The name Lu Wang (Note: Jiang Ziya was also known as Jiang Taigong (姜太公), and from his feudal name he was also known as Lu Shang (吕尚), and his name was Taigongwang (太公望). The former Mengjin is now Meng County." From this, it can be seen that before Jiang Ziya left the mountain, he mainly lived in seclusion in the area from Qi County to Meng County.

Legend has it that Jiang Ziya only knew how to fish with a straight hook and did nothing else, so he was very poor. His wife couldn't live with him, so she tried to get him killed and married someone else.

The day Jiang Ziya came home empty-handed from fishing, his wife said, "You're hungry, aren't you? I've cooked meat for you, eat it!" Jiang Ziya was indeed hungry, so he reached out to grab the meat. A bird suddenly flew out of the window and pecked him. He let out a cry of pain, but he didn't eat the meat, so he went to chase the bird away. When he went to get the meat for the second time, the bird pecked the back of his hand again. Why did the bird peck me twice? Am I not allowed to eat the meat? In order to test the bird, he went to grab the meat for the third time, and this time the bird pecked him again. Jiang Ziya knew that this is a god bird, so pretending to chase the bird has been chased out the door, and chased to a deserted hillside. The bird perched on a branch of silk bamboo, and murmured chirping: "Jiang Ziya ah Jiang Ziya, eat meat can not be grabbed with the hands, clip the meat at my feet ......" Jiang Ziya listened to the bird's instructions, and busily picked two thin silk bamboo back home. At this time, his wife urged him to eat meat, Jiang Ziya will be two silk bamboo into the bowl of meat, suddenly saw the silk bamboo sizzling out a stream of smoke. Jiang Ziya pretended not to know about the poison and said to his wife, "How can the meat smoke, is it poisonous?" With that, Jiang Ziya picked up the meat and sent it to his wife's mouth. The wife's face turned white with fear, and she fled out of the door.

Jiang Ziya understood that this silk bamboo was a sacred bamboo sent by a god bird, and any poison could be detected, and from then on, he used two silk bamboos for every meal. After this incident spread, his wife not only dared not poison again, but also the four neighbors have learned to eat with bamboo branches. Later, more and more people followed suit, and the custom of eating with chopsticks was passed down from generation to generation.

This legend is obviously a product of the worship of Jiang Ziya, and is not consistent with historical records.

Ivory chopsticks already existed in the time of King Zhou of Yin, and Jiang Ziya and King Zhou of Yin were contemporaries. Since King Zhou had already used ivory chopsticks, Jiang Ziya's silk bamboo chopsticks could not be said to be an invention. But one thing is true, that is, the Shang Dynasty folk use bamboo as chopsticks.

Daji

The legend spreads in the city's Wenxian, Boai and its Shanyang District of the village area. Daji was the daughter of Jizhou Hou Su Gu, a native of Wen County, whose inner capital is in present-day Boai County. Su Gu sent Daji to Chaoge, passing through En Village (Note: Anciently known as Enzhou Stage) to stay. Until 2020, many stories related to it were still circulating in En Village. Today, the village of one street southeast of the west side of the urn stream river, there was a large mound, called "Daji mound" or "Fox Fairy Mound", locally known as "Tsukudui".

Legend has it that King Zhou of Shang Dynasty was temperamental, and when he ate, he either said that the fish was not fresh, or that the chicken soup was too hot, and sometimes said that the dishes were cold and could not be imported. As a result, many cooks became ghosts under his knife. Favored Daji also know that he is difficult to serve, so every time you set up a banquet, she has to taste beforehand, lest King Zhou salty and unappetizing and angry.

On one occasion, Daji tasted a few bowls of food that were too hot, but it was too late to change them because King Zhou had already come to the table. Daji in order to please King Yue's heart, in a hurry, busy removing the head of the long jade hairpin will be the dishes up, blowing and blowing, and so on the dishes cooled down some of the mouth of King Yue again. King Zhou was a shameless man, he thought it was a pleasure to be fed by Daji, so he asked Daji to do so every day. Daji asked the craftsmen to make two long jade hairpins for her to hold the food, which was the prototype of jade chopsticks. Later, this way of holding food was spread to the people, and chopsticks were created.

This legend, unlike the first one, which is full of mythological colors, is closer to life and has some practical significance, but it is still rich in legend and inconsistent with historical facts. Archaeologists in Anyang Houjiazhuang 1005 in the Yin Shang tomb excavated steel chopsticks (chopsticks), has been proved to be earlier than the end of the King Zhou of the Yin Zhou era, it is clear that the chopsticks are not invented by King Zhou, nor Daji creation, should be an earlier product.

Dayu

Chopsticks

China has a folk legend, according to legend, Dayu in the management of flooding three times and do not enter, are in the field to eat, sometimes time is short, and so the beast just boiling pot of meat on the eagerness to eat, and then pull out to catch the road. However, when the soup boiled over and they could not eat it, they would take a branch and eat the meat or common millet (rice), which is how chopsticks were first developed. Although the legend is not a true one, the fact that chopsticks came into being as a result of the burning of cooked food is consistent with the development of human life.

The Zheng Note to the Book of Rituals says, "Coat living creatures with soil and eat them from a cannon. This is the grain to the leaves wrapped, paste mud in the fire roasted. Some experts believe that this roasted food method also promotes the formation of chopsticks. When the pioneers to wrap the mud coated grains in the ashes of the fire when baked, in order to make it cooked evenly, and constantly with a branch toggle, our clever ancestors is also in the process of dialing the primitive popcorn to get inspired, over time, chopsticks and chopsticks in the hands of the pioneers of the prototype also gradually appeared.

This is, of course, speculation, because there was no writing at the end of the Neolithic period and into the Xia Yu era, when the invention of chopsticks could not be documented, but these speculations by dietary experts are not without scientific merit.