Why do people in China use chopsticks?

Chopsticks were invented in China. At least in the late Shang Dynasty, there have been records of elephant chopsticks. Elephant chopsticks are chopsticks made of ivory.

Nomads mainly eat meat, and meat pieces can be taken directly by hand, sent to the mouth, or equipped with knives. In the15th century, Europeans invented a special fork as a tool for eating. Since then, they have changed their eating habits of grasping cooked food by hand and adapted to the way of eating food. Indians eat rice, steam it into rice, or eat it with their hands, and take pride in grasping food with their hands. China eats with chopsticks, which is very special.

People in China have been eating with chopsticks for a long time. It is impossible to prove when chopsticks appeared. In my humble opinion, chopsticks are likely to appear in the Neolithic Age when China's primitive agriculture began, which is closely related to the climate characteristics of China.

At least before the Qin and Han Dynasties, the staple food of people in northern China was millet. Millet is the rice ground by millet, which belongs to coarse grains and even miscellaneous grains. Everyone knows that the climate in northern China is suitable for growing wheat, and the flour ground from wheat is more delicious and nutritious than millet. Why didn't wheat serve as the staple food in northern China in ancient times?

Wheat is divided into winter wheat and spring wheat. Winter wheat is sown in the first autumn and harvested in the second summer. The flowering and filling period of winter wheat is from the end of April to the beginning of May, so it is necessary to ensure the supply of soil moisture, otherwise the yield will be reduced or even no harvest will be obtained. Spring wheat was sown in the spring of that year and harvested in late summer and early autumn. April and May are the jointing stage of spring wheat, and sufficient water supply is also needed, otherwise even the seeds will not be harvested. The climate of China is characterized by continuous autumn rain, especially in the north. Autumn rain is stored in the soil. After a dry and windy winter and early spring, the water in the soil is exhausted, and the remaining water is only enough for crops to germinate and grow for more than a month. By the end of spring and the beginning of summer in April and May, the rainwater stored in the soil in the first year has been exhausted, and it is required to soak for several times to ensure the growth of crops. Therefore, the rainfall from the end of April to the beginning of May is very important for food production, and it is at this time that the climate of China begins to enter the rainy season. The first soaking rain of the year came early and late, which was very unstable and led to spring drought. In ancient times, the irrigation facilities were simple and the agricultural production technology was low. Under the climatic conditions in China, the yield of wheat was inevitably unstable. In April and May, the rainfall is sufficient and the wheat yield is good, which can guarantee the food for the whole family. God doesn't give face. If the spring drought is serious, the wheat yield will be low and the whole family will die. Therefore, although wheat is delicious, in ancient times, people in northern China did not dare to pin their whole family's livelihood on wheat planting or take wheat as a staple food. The growth period of millet is short, ranging from 60 ~ 70 days to 100 days. After the disaster, it can still be harvested after re-sowing, and a certain yield can still be guaranteed. Therefore, the annual output of millet is relatively stable, and it has been used as a staple food for a long time. That's the reason. Therefore, "valley" has become the general term of five grains, namely "five grains".

There are frequent droughts and floods in northern China, not only in spring, but also in summer and autumn, which seriously threaten agricultural production. So that China people listed "a long drought meets rain" as one of the four happy events; In other words, a good man who is charitable and in urgent need of help is compared to "timely rain"; So that the needs of life are written as "rain" and "timely rain". Such frequent droughts and floods have also led to the main cultivation of food crops in northern China, forming a tradition of starving to death without eating seeds.

These are just a portrayal of the historical period when there are written records and agricultural production technology has been quite developed. If we go back to ancient times and push forward to the primitive agricultural period, then the agricultural production technology is extremely simple. Even if the cereal crops with short growth period are planted, the grain yield is low and unstable under the climate conditions of frequent droughts and floods, and it is difficult to ensure that the whole family can eat their stomachs. On the other hand, according to the existing archaeological evidence, the ancient ancestors of China changed from a fishing and hunting lifestyle to a primitive agricultural civilization. The most important thing in fishing and hunting lifestyle is reserves. When there is enough food, we should reserve it, when there is not enough food, and save it when we get it. This concept of survival led the ancestors of China to consider saving food and cherishing every grain after entering the primitive agricultural civilization. Even if there was a bumper harvest in that year, we should be prepared for a poor harvest in the coming year, so as not to eat it all. This is the sense of hardship. In this sense, China people have developed the tradition of "if you can't eat, don't eat, and if you can eat, eat less". Only when new gains are made can we let go of the pain, eat up the inventory and empty the storage capacity so as to store new goods. Up to now, China people eat a lot on holidays, which is a reflection of this subconscious.

In the early days of primitive agriculture, food was the most precious thing, so it was natural to plan to eat. How can we save food to the maximum extent? I think the ancestors of northern China at that time must have often collected wild vegetable leaves in spring, summer and autumn when wild plants were abundant, mixed with proper amount of food and cooked together, and lived a half-eaten life, especially in bad years; Only when there are no wild vegetables and leaves to harvest in winter can we just eat food. Today, during the famine years in some places, "half a year's grain for chaff vegetables" is also a common occurrence. The leaves of wild vegetables are mixed with grain to cook, which is porridge.

Some experts have verified that the word "tea" originally meant porridge. In many dialects, the word "tea" still retains its original meaning. Such as Camellia oleifera in the northwest and Guangzhou morning tea in the south. Experts also believe that "tea" was originally porridge mixed with vegetable leaves. Later, with the development of agricultural productivity, food was basically guaranteed. People no longer regard wild leaves as their main food, but can eat pure cereal porridge. The concept of "tea" gradually differentiated from porridge and became the "tea" of tea. Gu Mi granules are small, and the processing is simple, so it can be mixed with wild vegetable leaves to cook porridge without mashing.

Archaeological findings show that the main cooking utensil in Neolithic age in China was a kind of pottery called estimation pottery. A round mouth and a round belly are three feet. Feet are hollow, long and milky white. This kind of foot can not only support the body stably, but also increase the fire area when placed on the fire, which is a quite reasonable design. The foot cavity is connected with the abdomen, which is most suitable for boiling water, porridge and other semi-liquid foods. These indicate that in the Neolithic Age, China ancestors lived on porridge.

There were no metal knives in Neolithic Age, only stone knives, so it was impossible to chop wild vegetables and leaves into pieces. I only made a few rough cuts and threw them into the porridge with Xiaomi. This kind of porridge is very troublesome to eat. When you drink porridge, the leaves of cauliflower will get stuck in your mouth, preventing you from drinking the rest of porridge. It is not easy to separate the rotten leaves and eat them one by one. If you start fishing for food, you won't get your hands wet when the porridge is hot, which is very unsanitary. What is particularly inconvenient is that the hand that fished for vegetable leaves was temporarily occupied because of the idea of dripping water and could not do other things. It may be a coincidence that in ancient times, some people tried to stir up the leaves in hot porridge with sticks and the like, which solved the big problem in one fell swoop, so people followed suit. After that, through the long-term experiments of the ancients and generations' exploration, we finally fixed the wooden sticks that provoked the leaves to eat into two, and summed up the fixed use method, which is chopsticks. Of course, these are all aimed at northern China. Northern China is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization, and its civilization process is rapid. With the integration of population and cultural exchange, chopsticks have spread all over China and become one of the cultural elements in China.

Comparing the whole world horizontally, we can draw the conclusion that chopsticks can only appear in China. Ancient Egypt, ancient India and ancient Babylon all entered the agricultural civilization earlier, and their civilizations all originated on both sides of the desert river. Without irrigation, there would be no agriculture. With irrigation, food is basically guaranteed, and you don't have to eat porridge with chopsticks. Europeans mainly move from nomadic life to civilization, and then choose the Mediterranean coast with a suitable climate to settle in agricultural civilization, and food is guaranteed, otherwise they will continue their nomadic life without eating porridge or using chopsticks.

Chopsticks Chopsticks, quick and practical, ordinary and simple, as simple as two sticks. There is no such simple tool in the world. It is so simple that people have to practice hard and be skilled before they become tools. The history of chopsticks is the formation history of China people's outlook on life, that is, "Don't complain about others in the face of difficulties, but strive for self-improvement". Chopsticks can't be used well, but when you see that others can use chopsticks well, it means that you can also use chopsticks well. Chopsticks tell people that you can do what others can do. There is no river that can't be crossed. If others can pass, so can you. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that chopsticks are a great invention of Chinese ancestors in hardships. Nowadays, disposable chopsticks are popular, euphemistically called "sanitary chopsticks". If you use it once and throw it away, will you throw away something more important?

How to use chopsticks

China's use of chopsticks for dining has been handed down from ancient times, and it was also called' chopsticks' in ancient times.

The use of chopsticks in daily life is very particular. Usually, when we use chopsticks,

The correct way to use chopsticks is to hold chopsticks with your right hand and hold the upper end of chopsticks with your thumb and forefinger.

The other three fingers naturally bend to hold the chopsticks, and both ends of the chopsticks must be aligned.

During use, chopsticks must be neatly packed on the right side of the rice bowl before eating.

Be sure to put it neatly in the middle of the rice bowl after eating.

But it is absolutely forbidden to use the following twelve kinds of chopsticks.

1. Anything happens:

This means that before or during a meal,

It is unlucky to put chopsticks on the table in different lengths.

Usually we call it' three long and two short'. It means "death".

Because people in China used to think that people should be put in coffins after death,

After people put it in the coffin, before they put the lid on it,

The coffin consists of two short boards.

Add three long boards at the bottom of both sides.

The coffin made of five boards is exactly three long and two short.

So this is extremely unlucky.

2. Fairy Guide:

This practice is also extremely unacceptable. This method of holding chopsticks,

Hold chopsticks with your thumb, middle finger, ring finger and little finger, and extend your index finger.

This is called "cursing the street" in the eyes of Beijingers. Because your index finger sticks out when you eat,

Always pointing at others, when Beijingers usually point at each other with their forefinger,

Most of them have the meaning of accusation. Therefore, when eating with chopsticks, point at people.

It is tantamount to accusing others, and like swearing, it cannot be allowed.

There is another situation that means the same thing, that is, talking to others and pointing at people with chopsticks while eating.

3.Pinpin voice:

This practice is not good either. Is to put one end of chopsticks in your mouth.

Go back with your mouth and hiss from time to time.

This kind of behavior is considered despicable.

Because it is impolite to eat chopsticks with your mouth,

Plus the sound, it is even more annoying.

Therefore, this practice is generally considered to be the lack of family education and cannot be allowed.

4. Knock on the cup:

This behavior is regarded as begging by beggars.

Its practice is to tap the dishes with chopsticks when eating.

Because in the past, only beggars would knock on begging bowls with chopsticks.

Its voice is accompanied by shouts in the mouth, which makes pedestrians pay attention and give alms.

This practice is considered extremely despicable and despised by others.

5. Visit the city:

This practice is holding chopsticks in your hand and doing nothing.

Shuttling back and forth in the dishes on the table with chopsticks,

I don't know where to put chopsticks. This behavior is a typical lack of self-cultivation.

And arrogance is extremely disgusting.

6. Dig a grave:

This refers to holding chopsticks in hand and constantly pulling vegetables.

In search of prey, like a grave digger.

This kind of practice is similar to' visiting the city', which is neither educated nor interesting.

7. Tears and beads:

In fact, this is when you put food on your plate with chopsticks.

My hands are unclear, and the soup is spilled in other dishes or on the table.

This practice is regarded as a serious faux pas and equally undesirable.

8. Reverse dry Kun:

That is to say, it is very despised to use chopsticks upside down when eating.

As the saying goes, you are too hungry to care about your face. It is absolutely impossible to knock off your chopsticks.

9. Shenzhen Dinghai:

It's no good holding the dishes on the plate with chopsticks when eating.

This is considered a disgrace to the dining staff at the same table.

Do this at dinner,

In Europe, sticking out the middle finger in front of people means the same thing, which is unacceptable.

10. incense in class:

Helping others eat is often out of kindness.

In order to save trouble, put a pair of chopsticks in the rice and hand them to each other.

Be regarded as disrespectful,

Because the tradition in Beijing is to do this when offering incense to the dead,

If you insert a pair of chopsticks into rice,

It is tantamount to being regarded as offering incense to the dead.

Therefore, it is absolutely unacceptable to put chopsticks in a bowl.

1 1. Cross:

This point is often overlooked. Chopsticks cross on the table casually when eating.

This is wrong, because Beijingers think there should be a fork at the dinner table.

It is a total denial of others at the same table, just like a student writing a wrong homework.

Being hit by a teacher with a fork is the same in nature and cannot be accepted by others.

In addition, this practice is also disrespectful to yourself.

Because I used to cross my statement only when I was in a lawsuit.

This is undoubtedly denying yourself, which is also unacceptable.

12. landing shock:

The so-called "landing shock" means accidentally dropping chopsticks on the ground.

This is a serious rudeness, because Beijingers think that,

Ancestors are buried underground and should not be disturbed.

Chopsticks fall to the ground, which is tantamount to sounding the alarm for the ancestors underground. This is a big unfilial act.

So this kind of behavior is also not allowed. But it's illegal.

As soon as the chopsticks land, you should use them quickly according to your sitting direction.

Draw a cross on the ground. Its direction is east-west, then north-south. That means I'm nothing.

You should not disturb your ancestors, then pick up chopsticks and talk about yourself at the same time.

Making material

Many families buy a pair of chopsticks, and they will not think of going to the supermarket to buy a new pair until they are not worn out. Chopsticks on supermarket containers are varied, including pure bamboo, painted, ivory and silver; There is a pair, a pair ... which one should I choose?

First of all, don't use chopsticks coated with colored paint, because the heavy metal lead and organic solvent benzene in the paint are carcinogenic, and once the paint on chopsticks falls off, it will enter the human body with food, which will seriously endanger people's health. In particular, some families like to use colorful painted chopsticks for their children. Children have low tolerance to lead and benzene, so they must be avoided. Secondly, plastic chopsticks are fragile in texture and easy to deform and melt after being heated, resulting in substances harmful to human body; Bone chopsticks have a good texture, but they are easy to change color and expensive. Metal chopsticks such as silver and stainless steel are too heavy, feel bad and have strong thermal conductivity. Eating overheated food can easily burn your mouth.

I suggest you choose chopsticks made of natural materials. Bamboo chopsticks are the first choice. They are non-toxic and harmless, and are very environmentally friendly. You can also choose natural wooden chopsticks. However, bamboo chopsticks and wooden chopsticks are not easy to clean due to material reasons, and will be contaminated by pathogenic microorganisms. Attention should be paid to frequent disinfection and cleanliness.

Use and maintenance

First of all, the family should try not to mix chopsticks. Because if mixed, it is easy to cause cross-infection of some diseases. Studies have shown that nearly half of people have Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach diseases, and most of these bacteria are spread through families, and chopsticks are one of the important media. Therefore, it is best to have someone to use chopsticks at home.

Secondly, wash chopsticks thoroughly. Many families in China are generous in washing chopsticks. The whole chopsticks are rubbed under the faucet and then inserted into the chopsticks tube for washing. As we all know, chopsticks are easy to breed bacteria and enter the human body with food, which is harmful to people's health. The correct washing method should be: wash chopsticks carefully with detergent, drain the water, and then put them into the chopsticks tube. Moreover, the chopsticks tube should be hollowed out, and there is no water at the bottom, so it should be cleaned and disinfected frequently.

Finally, chopsticks should be changed frequently. In many families, it is common to use a pair of chopsticks for two or three years. But once chopsticks are used for a long time, the surface is no longer smooth, and it is easy to make chopsticks rough, with many tiny grooves, which are very easy to leave bacteria. So it's best to change chopsticks once every six months.

The origin of chopsticks

Chopsticks are eating tools invented by the Chinese nation. Archaeological data show that in ancient times, ancestors knew how to use branches and bamboo branches to get food. There is a story about the origin of chopsticks in the northeast of China:

In order to control the flood, Dayu once searched the house for three times and refused to enter. Even eating and sleeping, he was reluctant to miss a minute. Once, Dayu was eating meat from a picnic. The meat in the casserole was so hot that he couldn't catch it at once. He didn't want to waste time, so he cut off two branches and took out the meat to eat. Over time, Dayu learned to be picky about food with branches. When his subordinates saw him eating like this, they would neither burn their hands nor get their hands dirty, so they followed suit and created the custom of eating with chopsticks.

Chopsticks were called chopsticks in ancient times, and the ancient book Han Feizi Yu Lao said, "The past is like chopsticks, but Ji Zi is terrible." Zhou Wang was the monarch at the end of Shang Dynasty, which shows that chopsticks made of ivory appeared in China as early as 1 1 century BC. In other words, the recorded history of using chopsticks in China has exceeded 3,000 years. In addition, there is a folklore about chopsticks. In order to save time, Dayu took hot food from branches and invented chopsticks.

"Dayu fished out hot food in the pot with branches and thin bamboo poles" is a legend of chopsticks circulating in Northeast China.

In the Yao-Shun era, floods caused disasters, and Shun ordered Yu to control water. After Dayu was ordered, he vowed to clear the flood for the people, so he searched his house three times and didn't go in. He struggled with fierce water waves day and night, not to mention resting, and even eating and sleeping, he could not bear to delay a minute.

Once, Dayu came to an island by boat. He was hungry, so he set up a clay pot cook the meat. After the meat is cooked, he can't grasp the food with his hands because it is too hot. Dayu didn't want to wait for the meat pot to get cold and waste time, so he cut off two branches and took the meat out of the soup to eat. From then on, in order to save time, Dayu always fished food from the boiling pot with branches and thin bamboo poles to make time for emergency affairs. Over time, Dayu skillfully learned the skill of holding food with a thin stick. People under his command saw him eat vegetables like this, neither spicy nor greasy, and followed suit, thus gradually forming the prototype of chopsticks.

Although legends mainly express people's understanding, views and feelings about historical events through some historical materials, they do not strictly reproduce the historical events themselves. But people today believe that it is true after hearing the initial process of Dayu's misuse of chopsticks in water control. Compared with the legend of making chopsticks in Jiang Ziya and da ji, it is more simple and true, and it also conforms to the law of the development of things.

The most important opportunity to promote the birth of chopsticks is that cooked food is hot. In ancient times, because there were no metal utensils, and because animal bones were too short and brittle to be processed easily, our ancestors picked bamboo and branches to catch cooked food. In the wilderness, human beings live in dense forests and grass holes, and the most convenient materials are trees and bamboo poles. Because of this, the ancestors fiddled with sticks and thin bamboo when baking, scooped them up when eating hot food, and stirred them when cooking corn and millet, only then did the embryonic form of chopsticks gradually appear. This is an inevitable development law under the special environment of human beings. From the research on the shape of chopsticks now, it still has the characteristics of primitive bamboo sticks, and even after three years of development, its primitiveness cannot be changed.

So when did China start eating with chopsticks at the same time? There is no clear literature on this question now, so we can only find the answer from circumstantial evidence. To eat with chopsticks, you must have a lighter and smaller bowl, but in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the utensils were huge and it was difficult to hold them in one hand and the other. Even the relatively small "beans" are mainly meat, with a cover and high feet, which can't be carried in the hand. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, a small round bowl with round feet appeared. Judging from the bowls and plates of Western Han tombs in Luoyang, Danyang and Tunxi, many of them are glazed pottery with light weight and bright color. Obviously, this kind of bowl can be used with chopsticks to eat, and from the full set of lacquer ear cups and bamboo chopsticks unearthed from Mawangdui tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province in the early Western Han Dynasty, it can be affirmed that chopsticks and chopsticks were the only way to unify the whole country at that time.

Some folklorists analyze it from the perspective of archaeology. In the tombs of the late Warring States period, there were few ritual vessels that turned around. People in the pre-Qin dynasty washed their hands with plates and boxes before eating. With the evolution of the times, the ancestors knew that washing hands was no longer a necessary etiquette for eating after using chopsticks instead of grabbing food, so the use of plates and rotation during burial was also decreasing. The disappearance of washbasin with funerary objects can also be used as circumstantial evidence, which shows that washbasin has become the main tableware for China people to eat at the end of the Warring States Period or after Qin Shihuang unified China.

Let's infer from the law of development of things. When people hold food in their left hand and food in their right hand, they should do this for three meals a day. Will anyone find it inconvenient to eat like this? When you wash your hands before meals and your hands are sticky after meals, will someone suddenly find that pods not only have the function of carrying vegetables, but also have the function of receiving meals when you are bored? Nothing can be fixed, and the etiquette system will be broken by brave people. When people discover the disadvantages of grasping food with their hands and the advantages and multifunction of chopsticks, they reform the old custom of eating in a rut, which is completely the inevitable law of human progress. From grabbing food by hand to eating with chopsticks, there will be obstacles and even attacks from conservative etiquette. Coupled with the habit of using chopsticks instead of grabbing rice, the progress of this reform is very slow, and it will never happen overnight. But the superiority and universality of chopsticks exist objectively. When our ancestors gradually discovered that chopsticks can not only be clamped, but also be plucked, picked, roasted, pinched, peeled, poked and torn, except for scouring soup, everyone happily played a leading role at the dinner table. With the development of history and the continuous enrichment of cooking skills, because of the main role of chopsticks, cold dishes, noodles, Shanxi fish, mutton hot pot, shredded apples and other foods suitable for chopsticks have also emerged. The change from grasping rice with hands to eating with chopsticks can be said to be the earliest chopsticks and chopsticks revolution in China's food culture.

China, the birthplace of chopsticks, has a history of 3,000 years and is the home country of eating chopsticks in the world. Chopsticks seem to be just two very simple thin sticks, but they have the functions of picking, poking, clamping, mixing and scraping, and they are convenient to use and cheap. Chopsticks are also a unique tableware in the world today. Anyone who has used chopsticks, whether China or foreigners, admires the inventor of chopsticks. But who invented it? When was creation born? No one can answer this question now. In ancient China, we can't find any written materials to record this great contribution to human civilization. Maybe our ancestors lacked words at that time, or the books that recorded chopsticks were lost? In short, the only answer to this unsolved case is "no record in history". Of course, the study of chopsticks culture is not without any circumstantial evidence. . The legend of Jiang Ziya and chopsticks spread in Sichuan and other places, saying that Jiang Ziya was poor because he could only fish with a straight hook and knew nothing else. His wife really couldn't stand living with him, so she wanted to kill him and marry someone else.

On this day, Jiang Ziya returned empty-handed after fishing. His wife said, "Are you hungry? I've cooked the meat for you, eat it quickly! " Jiang Ziya was really hungry, so he reached for the meat. Suddenly a bird flew out of the window and pecked him. He groaned in pain, didn't eat meat, and hurried to catch birds. When he went to get the meat for the second time, the bird pecked the back of his hand again. Jiang Ziya became suspicious. Why did this bird peck me twice? Can't I eat this meat? In order to try the bird, he caught the meat for the third time, and then the bird pecked him again. Jiang Ziya knew it was a divine bird, so he pretended to drive it away and chased it outside until it reached an uninhabited hillside. The bird perched on a silk bamboo and sang in a low voice: "Jiang Ziya Jiang Ziya, don't eat meat with your hands, the meat is at my feet …" Jiang Ziya listened to the bird's advice and picked two thin bamboos and went home. At this time, his wife urged him to eat meat again, so Jiang Ziya put two bamboo and silk in the bowl and put the meat in. Suddenly, he saw smoke coming from the silk and bamboo. Jiang Ziya pretended not to know about the poisoning and said to his wife, "How can meat smoke?"? Is it poisonous? " Jiang Ziya said, and picked up the meat to his wife's mouth. My wife turned pale with fear and hurried out the door.

Jiang Ziya knew that this bamboo was a gift from God Bird, and any poison could be detected. Since then, he has eaten with two bamboo sticks every meal. After the news came out, not only did his wife dare not poison again, but the neighbors also 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 the product of worshipping Jiang Ziya, and it is also inconsistent with historical records. Ivory chopsticks appeared in the Yin Dynasty, and Jiang Ziya and Yin were contemporaries. Now Zhou Wang has used ivory chopsticks, while Jiang Ziya's silk and bamboo chopsticks are far from being invented. But one thing is true, that is, bamboo was used as chopsticks in the south of Shang Dynasty. The legend of da ji and chopsticks has spread in Jiangsu. It is said that Shang and Zhou dynasties are moody. When eating, the fish is not fresh, the chicken soup is too hot, and sometimes it is said that the food is too cold to eat. As a result, many chefs became ghosts under his sword. Da ji, the favorite princess, already knows that he is difficult to serve, so every time she gives a banquet, she should taste it in advance to avoid getting angry when Zhou Wang is salty and tasteless. On one occasion, da ji tasted it and thought some bowls were too hot, but it was too late to change them, because Zhou Wang had already served. In order to win the favor of Zhou Wang, da ji used his quick wits. He quickly took off his long hair clip and picked it up. He blew it over and over again, and then when the food cooled, he sent it to Zhou Wang's mouth. Zhou Wang is a dissolute and shameless person. He thinks it is a pleasure to feed da ji, so he does it every day. Da ji asked a craftsman to make two plates specially for her, which is the prototype of jade chopsticks. Later, this way of picking vegetables spread to the people, and chopsticks were produced.

This legend is not as full of myth as the first one, it is closer to life and has certain practical significance, but it is still full of legend and does not conform to historical facts. Archaeologists unearthed steel chopsticks in the Shang Dynasty tomb at Houjiazhuang 1005 in Anyang, which was earlier than the Zhou Wang era at the end of Yin Dynasty. Obviously, chopsticks were not invented by Zhou Wang or da ji, but should have been an earlier product.

Although "legend" mainly expresses people's understanding, views and feelings about historical events through some historical materials, rather than strictly reappearing the historical events themselves, Dayu accidentally produced the process of using chopsticks at first in water conservancy, which convinced people today that this was the real situation. Compared with the legend of making chopsticks in Jiang Ziya and da ji, it is more simple and true, and it also conforms to the development law of things.

The most important opportunity to promote the birth of chopsticks should be that cooked food is hot. In ancient times, because there were no metal utensils, and because the bones of animals were very short, extremely brittle and difficult to process, ancestors picked bamboo and branches to catch cooked food. In the wilderness environment, human beings live in dense forests and grass holes, and the most convenient materials are trees and bamboo branches. Because of this, sticks and thin bamboo were fiddled with by ancestors when baking, and they longed for clips when scalding food. When cooking millet, the rudiment of chopsticks gradually appeared. This is the inevitable development law of human beings in special environment. Judging from the shape of chopsticks now, they also have the characteristics of primitive bamboo sticks. Even after more than 4000 years of development, its originality cannot be changed.

Of course, any legend has to be processed by people of all ages, such as taking advantage of the situation, tailoring, fiction, exaggeration, rendering and even fantasy, and Dayu created chopsticks. It is the process of making chopsticks that people have gradually explored for thousands of years, with the focus on Dayu, a typical figure. In fact, the birth of chopsticks should be the collective wisdom of ancestors, not the credit of one person. However, chopsticks may have originated in Yu Wang's time. After hundreds or even years of hard work and popularization, it became a tableware used with Bi * * * in Shang Dynasty.