China, the birthplace of chopsticks, has a history of 3,000 years and is the home country of eating chopsticks in the world. Chopsticks look like 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 author collected three legends about the origin of chopsticks.
The origin of chopsticks
Jiang Ziya and chopsticks.
This legend is circulated in Sichuan and other places, saying that Jiang Ziya is very poor, because he can only fish with a straight hook and know 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 it is true that bamboo was used as chopsticks in the south of Shang Dynasty.
2. da ji and chopsticks
This legend is circulated in Jiangsu area. 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.
3. Dayu and chopsticks
This legend has spread in the northeast. It's about the Yao-Shun era, when floods flooded 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 so hungry that he set up an earthenware pot to come to cook the meat. After the meat is boiled in water, it can't be eaten by hand because it is hot. Dayu didn't want to waste time waiting for the meat pot to cool down. He wanted to save water before the flood peak came, so he cut off two branches and took the meat out of the hot soup to eat. Since then, in order to save time, Dayu always used branches and thin bamboo poles to get food from the boiling hot pot. This will save time to subdue the flood. Over time, Dayu skillfully learned the skill of holding food with a thin stick. When his people saw that he ate like this, he was neither spicy nor greasy, so they followed suit and gradually formed the prototype of chopsticks.
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.
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Twelve Taboos of Chopsticks in China
In China, eating with chopsticks has been handed down from ancient times. Also called "chopsticks" in ancient times, the use of chopsticks in daily life is very particular. Generally, when we use chopsticks, the correct way to use chopsticks is to hold chopsticks with the right hand, hold the upper end of chopsticks with the thumb and forefinger, and hold chopsticks with the other three fingers naturally bent, and the two ends of chopsticks must be aligned. In the use process, chopsticks must be placed neatly on the right side of the rice bowl before eating, and must be placed neatly in the middle of the rice bowl after eating. But it is absolutely forbidden to use the following twelve kinds of chopsticks.
1 What happened:
This means putting chopsticks on tables of different lengths before or during meals. This is unlucky. Usually we call it "three long and two short". It means "death". Because people in China used to think that people should be put into coffins after death, and people put them into coffins before they cover coffins. Coffins are made up of two short boards, with three long boards at the bottom of both sides. The coffins made of five boards together just happened to have any accident, so it is extremely unlucky.
Two wizard wizards:
This practice is also extremely unacceptable. This method of holding chopsticks is to hold chopsticks with thumb and middle finger, ring finger and little finger, and the index finger is extended. This is called "cursing the street" in the eyes of Beijingers. Because when you eat, your index finger sticks out and always points at others. When Beijingers generally extend their index fingers to each other, most of them have the meaning of accusation. Therefore, pointing at people while eating with chopsticks is tantamount to accusing others, just like swearing, which is not allowed. There is another situation that means the same thing, that is, talking to others and pointing at people with chopsticks while eating.
3 Pin's voice:
This practice is not good either. The practice is to put one end of chopsticks in your mouth, carry it 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, and it is even more annoying when accompanied by sound. Therefore, this practice is generally considered to be the lack of family education and is not allowed.
4 hit the lamp and knock the cup:
This kind of behavior is considered as a beggar begging, and its practice is to knock on vegetables with chopsticks while eating. Because in the past, only beggars hit the begging bowl with chopsticks, and the sound was accompanied by crying in their mouths, which would attract the attention of pedestrians and give alms. This practice is considered extremely despicable and despised by others.
5. Visit the city:
This practice is holding chopsticks in hand, doing nothing, using chopsticks to patrol the dishes on the table and see where to get chopsticks. This kind of behavior is a typical lack of self-cultivation, and arrogance is extremely disgusting.
6 fans dig graves:
This refers to the chopsticks kept pulling in the dish, looking for prey, just like a grave digger. This practice is similar to "visiting the city", which is both uneducated and boring.
7 tears and beads:
In fact, this is when you pick up the dishes on your plate with chopsticks, your hands are clumsy, and the soup spills into other dishes or on the table. This practice is considered to be a serious faux pas, and it is also undesirable.
8 hanging upside down, Gan Kun:
That is to say, it is very despised to use chopsticks upside down when eating. Never knock chopsticks down because you are so hungry that you don't care about your face.
9 Dinghai Shenzhen:
It is not acceptable to hold the dishes on the plate with chopsticks when eating, which is considered as a humiliation to the dining staff at the same table. Making such a move while eating is tantamount to putting up the middle finger in public in Europe, which means the same thing, and this is unacceptable.
10 public incense:
Often out of kindness, when helping others to fill their meals, it is convenient to put a pair of chopsticks in their meals and hand them to each other. It is regarded as disrespectful by people, because the tradition in Beijing is to do this when offering incense to the dead. If you insert a pair of chopsticks into your rice, it will be regarded as the same as offering incense to the dead. Therefore, it is absolutely unacceptable to put chopsticks in a bowl.
1 1 cross:
This is often overlooked, and chopsticks are casually crossed on the table when eating. This is not right, because Beijingers think that crossing at the dinner table is a total denial of others at the same table, just like the nature of students' wrong homework being crossed by teachers in this book is unacceptable to others. In addition, this practice is also disrespectful to myself, because in the past, I only used a fork to confess when I was in court, which is undoubtedly denying myself, and this is also not acceptable.
12 landing:
The so-called "landing" means accidentally dropping chopsticks on the ground, which is a serious rude performance. Because Beijingers think that all ancestors are buried underground and should not be disturbed, it is a great unfilial act to disturb the ancestors underground when chopsticks fall on the ground, so this kind of behavior is not allowed. But there is a way to break it. Once the chopsticks fall on the ground, you should quickly draw a cross on the ground with the chopsticks that have fallen on the ground according to the direction in which you sit. Its direction is east and west first, then north and south. It means that I am not a thing, I should not disturb my ancestors, and then I will pick up chopsticks and say that I should die at the same time.
What is the best material for chopsticks?
Buy natural chopsticks.
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?
Wang reminded that buying chopsticks pays attention to practicality, not appearance. The more natural the better, the more natural the better. He believes that if the surface of chopsticks can be smooth, there is no need to apply another layer of paint on them, and it cannot be completely ruled out that the paint used is harmless to the human body.
According to industry insiders, the quality of the purchase can be directly judged from the appearance. Usually, the color is uniform and the craftsmanship is exquisite, and the quality will be better. It is best to choose a pair of chopsticks with independent packaging, which are much more exquisite in technology and quality than large packaging.
Chopsticks are best made of bamboo.
2005- 1 1-29
Nowadays, people pay more and more attention to their diet. Not only do they pursue the color, fragrance and taste of food, but even chopsticks are varied. Chopsticks made of various materials have appeared in the market, including bamboo, wood, painted, plastic, bone, silver, stainless steel and so on. So, what kind of chopsticks are more practical and healthier?
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.
In addition to the choice of chopsticks materials, the correct use and maintenance of chopsticks is also very important in daily life:
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.
References:
www.baike.baidu.com