There are three most popular ways for humans to eat in the world: using fingers, using forks and using chopsticks. People who grasp food with their fingers live in Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia and many parts of the Indian subcontinent. People who use forks are mainly distributed in Europe, North and South America, and people who use chopsticks are mainly distributed in East Asia. China people are the main users of chopsticks and the creators of chopsticks.

Chopsticks originated in China. In ancient times, they were called chopsticks (chopsticks help you, which means tools to help you eat), also known as "Jian". Because "Zhu" and "Zhu" are homophonic, "Zhu" means to stop, which is unlucky, so it is called "chopsticks" on the contrary. This is the origin of the name of chopsticks.

when were chopsticks invented?

who invented chopsticks? We have no way to prove it. "Book of Rites" Zheng Xuan notes: "Tu Tu creatures with soil, and eat them with guns." It is said that the ancestors wrapped the millet with leaves, pasted it with mud and then baked it in the fire. A simpler way is to put the grain into the ashes and stir it with branches from time to time, so that the grain can be evenly heated before eating. Perhaps it was inspired in this process that one branch gradually became two, and the branches were replaced by bamboo and wood, and the most primitive chopsticks appeared.

At present, the earliest chopsticks found in China are copper chopsticks unearthed from Yin Ruins in Anyang City. Chopsticks were called chopsticks in ancient times, and Zhou Wang was the first king to use ivory chopsticks. Sima Qian also said in Shi Ji Zong Wei Zi Family: "If it is an elephant, ji zi sighs: If it is an elephant, it must be a jade cup; For the jade cup, it must be a strange thing in Philip Burkart Fang Zhen. The gradual progress of the horse palace has since begun, and it cannot be shaken. " Although this is a statement of the courtiers' fear caused by Zhou Wang's luxurious life, it provides us with the most valuable written historical materials to trace the birth and development of the ivory chopsticks from the court events caused by them. Zhou was the monarch of the late Shang Dynasty. Based on this calculation, refined ivory chopsticks appeared in China more than 3111 years ago.

China people first used knives and forks, not chopsticks

In fact, our ancestors in China used knives and forks, not chopsticks. Knife and fork were invented by us in China.

At present, the earliest bone cutlery knife found in the world is located in Hemudu site, Zhejiang, China, 7111 years ago. As you can imagine, people in the Neolithic age basically lived a life of eating animals and eating blood, and the best tool to deal with meat is of course a knife, so the clever ancient people in China first applied the knife to their diet.

However, at that time, people called the knives used on the dining table "Bi". The dagger used by modern people was actually used for eating when it was originally produced. Look at the bronze dagger unearthed below. It has two practical functions: one is equivalent to a spoon, and the other is equivalent to a knife.

In the pre-Qin period, this "Bi" actually evolved from a knife. Later, with the development of food culture, the two functions were separated, forming a knife and a spoon. "Bi" later only represented spoon, and this word was also extended to delicious food and delicacy in ancient times. We used to call the dead mother "Cong", and the word "Cong" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is "Bi", which stands for the mother who cooked.

The cutlery knife is the oldest cutlery in human history, followed by the fork of cutlery. Some bone forks have been found in Qijia cultural site in northwest China, at least 4111 years ago. They were together when they were unearthed, indicating that they were used in sets at that time. In the Shang dynasty, the fork became two teeth and was small. It was with the spoon and bone knife, indicating that the fork, spoon and knife were three sets at that time. Tableware has also been unearthed in some sites and tombs of Shang Dynasty in China, which shows that knives and forks were the main tableware used by people in Shang Dynasty.

Later, more than 51 pieces of copper knives and forks were unearthed in a tomb of the Warring States in Luoyang, indicating that the Warring States also used knives and forks. The bronze fork of the Eastern Han Dynasty was unearthed in Jiuquan, Gansu, the iron fork of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was unearthed in Guangdong, and the fork knife of the Yuan Dynasty was unearthed in Zhangxian, Gansu. At the same time, the knife and fork were unearthed in Jiaxiang, Shandong, and there were bamboo sheaths for placing knives and forks. This shows that the use of knives and forks continued until the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

Why do China people use chopsticks instead of knives and forks

The earliest chopsticks in China were six bronze chopsticks found in No.1115 Tomb of Yinxu, Anyang. This is for dinner. Therefore, the academic circles believe that chopsticks were used as tableware in the Shang Dynasty.

why use chopsticks instead of knives and forks? This is the result of the development of food culture in China.

In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, China's cooking techniques got rid of the primitive state and entered the civilized period of diet. Let's take a look at the standard diet of the royal family and nobles in the Western Zhou Dynasty. At this time, the most representative is the "Eight Treasures of the Zhou Dynasty".

This "Eight Treasures" is prepared by the chef in advance, and the process is very complicated. In advance, the ingredients are processed into pieces suitable for the entrance, and the dishes served have been cut and prepared. Therefore, of course, it is no longer necessary to divide them with a knife and fork when eating, just use chopsticks to hold them in the entrance. Because "Eight Treasures of the Zhou Dynasty" was the originator of local cuisines in China, chopsticks became the mainstream tableware in ancient China.

"Eight Treasures of the Zhou Dynasty" consists of 2 meals and 6 dishes: "Chun Zao" (rice with meat soy sauce), "Chun Mu" (millet rice with meat soy sauce), "Cannibal" (stewed suckling pig), "Cannibal" (stewed ewe lamb) and "Dao Zhen" (roasted cattle and sheep).

Different dietary patterns lead to different eating patterns. In western Asia and continental Europe, where meat is the staple food, the knife has always been an important eating tool for them, and later they invented the fork. The diet structure with agricultural products as the mainstay and meat and vegetables as the supplement has laid the foundation for China's diet culture. Meat is scarce, so the "soup" cooked with a small amount of meat and vegetables has become the main dish. The bamboo slips unearthed from the No.1 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province recorded the dishes buried with the funeral. Among them, the staple food meat is twenty-four pots of soup except one barnyard grass fish. Soup can better release the flavor of meat. In the case of limited meat, cut it into pieces and put it into soup, and then supplement it with vegetables. To grasp vegetables and meat flexibly, the function of spoon can not be fully realized, but "holding" can conveniently grasp dishes.

In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was aristocrats who used chopsticks. Eating with chopsticks was a symbol of social status at that time. Only then did it gradually spread to the people, replacing knives and forks.

At that time, the Central Plains civilization, which was dominated by Chinese culture, paid attention to the "distinction between Chinese and foreigners". To distinguish its advanced civilization from the surrounding nomadic peoples, the nomadic people's dietary characteristics were mainly carnivorous and inseparable from knives and forks. Therefore, chopsticks have become the representative of advanced culture.

Later, influenced by Chinese civilization, ethnic minorities around the Central Plains began to improve their status and began to use chopsticks. However, what should I do if I have to cut and eat meat? As a result, the "knife and chopsticks combination" appeared. The knife and chopsticks are used together, and they are easy to carry.

The invention of chopsticks is related to noodles

Some experts believe that the invention of chopsticks is related to noodles. In 2115, the oldest noodle in the world-4,111-year-old noodles-was discovered at Lajia site in Qinghai, which may make the appearance of chopsticks logical.

These ancient noodles discovered by archaeologists are well-preserved, long, thin and yellow, and are held in an upside-down sealed bowl. Scientists have determined that this noodle is made of millet and sorghum. Millet is a native grain in China, which was widely planted 7111 years ago. Modern noodles in North America and Europe are usually made of wheat flour.

This discovery put the invention right of noodles in the hands of China people. From the production level, noodles were a popular food at that time. However, it is obviously impractical to eat noodles with a spoon and a dagger. Perhaps it was from this time that the ancestors who had given up the habit of grasping by hand began to eat noodles with bone chopsticks. The appearance of noodles is perhaps the biggest reason for the appearance of chopsticks.

It is worth noting that, although the ancients used both Bi and Gui for meals for a long time, the status of Gui gradually replaced Bi, but it began in the Han Dynasty. Noodles with soup cakes as their predecessor also became popular in the Han Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty, noodles had developed different varieties such as fried chicken noodles, bamboo shoots and spicy noodles, and rolled fish noodles. Perhaps it is noodles that have entered the homes of ordinary people that make chopsticks the main eating tools for people.

When did chopsticks spread abroad

Chopsticks once spread to countries around China, such as Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries, forming the tradition of eating with chopsticks in East Asia. The habit of using chopsticks in these countries continues to this day.

After the 6th century, there were frequent exchanges between China and China, and Japanese envoys went to the Tang Dynasty many times to study Japanese culture. In 618, China's diplomatic corps headed by Pei Shiqing was invited to visit Japan. At the welcome banquet, Shoto Kutaishi used chopsticks to entertain the guests in China's way.

after the 8th century, chopsticks gradually became popular in Japan. At that time, chopsticks were called "Tang chopsticks" in Japan, which means from the Tang Dynasty. In 1971s, when Japanese Prime Minister tanaka kakuei visited China, he once said to Zhou Enlai, "Your Excellency, the chopsticks custom in Japan was introduced from China, and chopsticks chopsticks in China brought us an ideal tableware which is both civilized and convenient. I want to propose a toast to you and thank you for importing a good food culture into our country." Japan also improved chopsticks and invented "Chopsticks", which is the disposable chopsticks we use today.

However, the first impression of foreigners outside East Asia when they see chopsticks is mostly novel and surprising. Italian missionary Matteo Ricci came to China in the Ming Dynasty. In his Notes on Matteo Ricci China, he recorded the custom of China people eating with chopsticks: "They eat with very smooth chopsticks, which are about one and a half palms long, and they can easily put any kind of food into their mouths without using their fingers. The food has been cut into small pieces when it is sent to the table, and those are easy to clip open with chopsticks. "

In today's globalization, eating with chopsticks is no longer the patent of China people or East Asians. The United States imports tens of millions of pairs of bamboo chopsticks from China every year, and the French even set up the "Golden Chopsticks Award" to commend outstanding operators of Chinese food and Asian-style restaurants. Nowadays, chopsticks with a history of 3,111 years convey the unique food culture of the East and are playing its role in dining tables all over the world.