Before chopsticks appeared, people in ancient China grabbed food with their hands. Chopsticks were recorded in literature as early as before the Warring States period, and were called "zhe" at that time. When it comes to the origin of chopsticks, we can't help but say the allusion "shaped like chopsticks". Chronology of Twelve Governors in Historical Records: "Like an elephant, Ji Zi is in a dilemma." This means that Zhou Wang used chopsticks made of ivory, and Kiko lamented. "Historical Records of Song Weizi Family" also said, "If it is an elephant, Ji Zi sighs:' If it is an elephant, it must be a jade cup; For the sake of the Jade Cup, you must resist Philip Burkart Fang Zhen's strange things. "Everything is done by Yu Zi Lao" said more clearly: "The former was decorated as an elephant. I think, the elephant will not add soil, it will be a rhinoceros jade cup; The elephant's jade cup must not be a scorpion, but it must be an elephant and a leopard. " Jia Yi also commented on this, saying that "it will damage the world and start from scratch". Wang Chong, in general; Feeling empty also said: "It is said that' Ji Zi is crying because of elephant chopsticks', and the people who cry are extremely painful. If a husband has chopsticks, he must have a jade cup; A jade cup full is like a dragon's liver and a leopard's fetus. "Therefore, the use of chopsticks must be earlier than this. Later, eating with chopsticks also had certain rules. Book of rites? Qu Lishang said: "People with vegetables in the soup use it, but people without vegetables don't need it." Zheng Note: "It still looks good. People today may call it sizzling. "
Second, the names of chopsticks are real.
Chopsticks were commonly called "chopsticks" in ancient times. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" said: Bang, "Those who follow the sound of bamboo." The words "Ba" and "Zhu" were commonly used in the pre-Qin period, and the words "Zhu", "Jia" and "Zhu" were commonly used in the Han Dynasty, such as Historical Records. "Stay at Hou's House" reads: "Hanwang said,' What's the matter?' Sean said to him, "I borrowed your old chopsticks and lifted them for your majesty.". "Historical records; Zhang Yan was quoted as saying: "I hope to borrow what I have eaten and draw with my fingers, or what happened in the past to prepare for the present." "Historical records? The zhou bo family after Jiang also recorded the historical facts related to Zhu. Jingdi was free from illness when he was in Zhou Yafu. "Well, the scene emperor lived in the Forbidden City, called hou, give food. Lonely, no meat, no ambiguity. Wen Hou was unhappy. Gu said that this was just a cave, and he used the words "embarrassing" and "chopsticks" at the same time. There is a poem in Li Bai's "Difficult to Walk", "Abstinence is thrown at you, you can't eat it, I pull out my dagger, and I peep at the four roads in vain"; In Du Fu's two poems "For Tao", there is a poem that says "the exquisite phoenix carving knife is rarely used".
Looking through the Kangxi dictionary, there is only the word "chopsticks", but there is no word "chopsticks". So when did the word "chopsticks" appear? According to Li Yuheng's "Pushing Yu Yu" in the Ming Dynasty, "Those who are praised for typos in the world, such as the stagnation of chopsticks, are called fast players. Today, because it has been circulating for a long time, even among scholars, it is also called chopsticks, forgetting its beginning. " Lu Rong's Miscellaneous Notes on the Garden in Qing Dynasty also said: "Folk customs are taboo everywhere, but Wuzhong is especially taboo, such as boating taboo, turning over, taking chopsticks as a quick buck and cloth as cloth." "Yan family training?" Cao Feng said, "Anyone who avoids taboos must be replaced by the same training. "However, the specific situation is different, and it is not necessarily replaced by the same training. For example, this "fast" just takes the opposite meaning to replace it. " "Fast" is the transfer of "Zhu", that is, replacing bad words with excellent words. Because "Kuai" is a frequently used word, with the prefix "bamboo", people can know at a glance that it refers to chopsticks. This shows that the word "chopsticks" appeared at the latest in the Ming Dynasty.
On the dining table of the Grand View Garden in A Dream of Red Mansions, there are both ivory chopsticks inlaid with gold and ebony chopsticks inlaid with silver, indicating that chopsticks and chopsticks were universal at that time. "Chopsticks" were gradually popularized after the Republic of China. Today, whether ivory chopsticks, silver chopsticks, bamboo chopsticks, wooden chopsticks or plastic chopsticks, Minnan people still call them "XX chopsticks". In many places in southwest China, chopsticks are called chopsticks.
Third, the change of chopsticks and chopsticks.
With the development of society, the tools of production and life are constantly changing, and the texture of chopsticks is different in different ages. Before the Warring States period, it was mostly tooth chopsticks and jade chopsticks; Qin and Han dynasties were bronze chopsticks and iron chopsticks. There is a record of "feeding on iron" in Wang Mang's biography of Han Dynasty. Chopsticks in Han dynasty were not only quite popular, but also developed into many varieties. "Yunxian Miscellaneous Notes" contains: "Xiangfan is waiting for you, lacquer flower tray, wooden chopsticks, fishtail spoon."
During the Six Dynasties, wooden chopsticks inlaid with gold prevailed; During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were lacquer chopsticks, gold chopsticks, silver chopsticks and rhinoceros chopsticks. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chopsticks and chopsticks have developed from simple tableware into exquisite handicrafts, which are both practical and ornamental, and there are more kinds than the previous generation.
Among the unearthed cultural relics, chopsticks on bamboo and wood are rarely found, probably because they are small, perishable and difficult to preserve when buried underground. At present chopsticks are mostly made of copper or silver. The earliest known bamboo chopsticks were unearthed in Yunmeng Tomb No.1, which was 29 cm long and had a garden above it, belonging to the early Western Han Dynasty.