Don’t stick chopsticks vertically on bowls and basins
When dining at home, if you stick chopsticks vertically on bowls or basins containing food, you will often be criticized by the elderly at home. Stop or scold, why? It turns out that there is this taboo in the etiquette of using chopsticks. China has had the custom of worshiping ancestors with food since ancient times. When worshiping ancestors, it is considered that the dead are different from the living. It is convenient for the living to eat with chopsticks, while the dead have been separated from their bodies and only their souls are wandering in the underworld. I can no longer use chopsticks freely, so chopsticks are placed vertically on the bowls and basins for sacrifices. In daily life, it is considered a taboo to stick chopsticks vertically on bowls or basins.
In terms of food, Puxian people also have many taboos about using chopsticks. It is forbidden to tap the heads and faces of babies and children with chopsticks to prevent accidental injuries. For example, placing chopsticks flat on the edge of a bowl is called "bowl chopsticks". Doing so when entertaining guests is equivalent to giving an order to exclude guests. Fishermen along the Puxian coast also avoid placing their chopsticks on the mouth of the bowl after eating. Instead, they wrap the chopsticks around the bowl a few times before putting them down. They say this is because they are afraid of the boat running aground. Wrapping the chopsticks a few times means that the fishing boat has passed by. After reaching the reefs and shoals, the anchorage will be safe and secure. Before eating, inserting a pair of chopsticks straight into the rice is commonly known as "dead man's chopsticks". This is only done when offering offerings to the deceased. The chopsticks used, one long and one short, are called "short-lived chopsticks." There is a folk belief that "if a pregnant woman uses long or short chopsticks, her baby will be lame." Avoid using chopsticks to knock bowls and boxes. This is called "begging chopsticks" because beggars often knock on bowls and pots while begging for food, accompanied by a sound of pleading. When picking up dishes, avoid dripping soup on the table. This situation looks like tears, so it is called "tears of chopsticks." . When eating at a funeral, the chopsticks used must be white. Using red chopsticks is disrespectful to the deceased. However, there are exceptions. If the deceased has a fifth-generation grandson, using red chopsticks to eat at the funeral banquet means that the old man is blessed. , commonly known as "eating blessings". When dining at someone's home or in a restaurant, you should not place your chopsticks on the edge of the bowl after eating, and there is no need to wash the dishes. Generally, the host or shop owner washes the dishes.
When placing chopsticks on the dining table, they should be placed on the right side of the bowl, with the chopsticks head facing the seat. When placing chopsticks during rituals, the chopsticks should be placed with the head facing the god, and avoid placing them upside down. There is another taboo among Puxian people, that is when can they use chopsticks. After entering the banquet, it is necessary to watch when the person sitting in the first seat moves his chopsticks before others can move their chopsticks. This is also a way of respecting the elderly and the virtuous. During the dinner, it is considered unlucky to drop chopsticks, so you can change a pair easily and don't bend down to pick them up. Especially if you accidentally knock down your chopsticks during a wedding banquet or a meal in the first month, you should say "happy" (the same pronunciation as "dropped chopsticks") or "happy happy" to get good omens.
The dietary taboos of Han Chinese are popular throughout the country.
Chinese people are accustomed to eating with chopsticks. Chopsticks are generally held with the right hand. It is generally believed that the position of holding chopsticks should be moderate, and it is taboo to hold chopsticks too high or too low. Because the position of holding the chopsticks can predict whether the child will find someone far or near home in the future. If the chopsticks are held too high, the person will be far away from home. If the chopsticks are held too low, the person will be close to home. Some parents are afraid that their children will be too far away from them, while other parents hope that their children can fly far away and not stick to their side without any future, so they have taboos on the position of their children holding chopsticks.
It is also taboo among the people to use chopsticks to knock an empty bowl before eating. Common people think this is "poor spirit", because in the old days, beggars would knock on the ground like this when asking for food. It is also not allowed to insert chopsticks into the served rice. It is said that this is a way of worshiping ghosts and gods during funerals. It makes people think of the dead and is unlucky. In Shandong, it is taboo to put chopsticks across the bowl, saying that this is a way to worship the dead. Legend has it that before the Ming Dynasty, there was a custom of putting chopsticks on the bowl. Later, Ming Taizu reprimanded it as a bad look, so it gradually became a taboo.
People in Dancheng, Henan Province have eight taboos about using chopsticks: one is taboo against licking chopsticks; two taboo is against being obsessed with chopsticks, making up one's mind, wandering around the table with chopsticks in hand; three taboo against moving chopsticks after eating. Eat one dish and then another, without stopping in between, without rice. The fourth taboo is to avoid sticking chopsticks with rice on them. Use chopsticks with rice stuck on them to pick up the food. The fifth taboo is to stick the chopsticks on the rice. The sixth taboo is to avoid crossing the dishes. When someone else is picking up a dish, step over and pick up another dish; the seventh taboo is to use chopsticks to fiddle with the food; the eighth taboo is to use chopsticks to pick your teeth. Most of these taboos are related to hygiene, humility and courtesy.
There are also some people who are particular about the placement of wine glasses, bowls and chopsticks, and they are not allowed to place them randomly. There is a saying that "a cup does not come out of the banquet, and chopsticks do not come out of a fate". The chopsticks should be placed on one side of the cup to prevent them from being separated quickly. The chopsticks should be evenly aligned to avoid being associated with the bad saying of "three long and short work".