Like fork, spoon and knife, chopsticks are everyday things we take for
granted. Two simple sticks, chopsticks have a long and rich history
loaded with symbolism and meaning in Chinese culture.
Around 30% of the world's population eat with fork and knife, 30% with
hands and the remaining 30% use chopsticks, mainly in China, Japan and
Korea.
Chopsticks were not the first dining cutlery / utensils the Chinese
used - fork, spoon and knives came first. Qijia civilisation 齐家文化
dating 2200 BC - 1600 BC had fork and knife made of bone (over 4,000 years ago).
The origin of chopsticks creation is unclear and in the realm of
legends.
One legend has it that a divine bird gave
姜子牙 Jiang Tai Gong (around 1000 BC) the idea. 姜子牙 was an intelligent but idle
man. He would spend his time fishing but often return home empty
handed. 姜子牙's frustrated wife couldn't stand him anymore and
decided to poison him.
Out of the house, the bird advised 姜子牙 to use two thin bamboo
sticks to pick up the food. On returning home, 姜子牙 did as the
bird advised. On touching the poisoned food, the bamboo sticks
hissed, turned black and gave off a stream of white smoke. Realising that her plot
had been exposed, 姜子牙's wife ran away.
After the incident, neighbours too started using bamboo sticks to
pick up their food. This practice continued to this day, leading to
today's Chinese chopstick culture.
Another legend has it that people started using wooden twigs to eat during the Great Floods of the Yellow River. The floods were eventually tamed by Da Yu the Great 大禹治水 (2123 BC - 2025 BC) by diverting the water into the sea. The monumental work of digging canals to channel the water was so urgent that there was no time to wait for hot food to cool before eating. So, Da Yu and his crew ate with a pair of wooden twigs instead. The use of twigs evolved into the chopsticks of today. (Image credit Wikipedia)
There are a few more other legends but the bottomline is we don't know how
chopsticks first came about. So, I'll spare you more details. (Image
credit:
Wikipedia)
As Chinese cuisine use more hot soups, chopsticks were more convenient to pick up the ingredients inside. When eating together, Chinese share their main dish which is reached by each person's own chopsticks. Due to its versatility, chopsticks gradually replaced fork and knife as the main dining utensil among Chinese. Chopstick culture became firmly established in China around 3000 years ago.
Chopsticks went through 3 name changes over the years. During the Qin
dynasty (from 900 BC) it was known as 梜, it was called 箸 during the Han
dynasty (from 200 BC) and became 筷 since the Ming dynasty (from 1638 AD)
till today.
No one knows how the English word "chopsticks" came about. The earliest known published use of the word "chopstick" is in the 1699 book Voyages and Descriptions by William Dampier: "they are called by the English seamen Chopsticks".
Perhaps, it was from the Chinese Pidgin English phrase "chop chop" which means "hurry up" or "quickly". Or, chopsticks might have come from the word "chow" which means food. So, it was from "chowsticks" to chopsticks - the truth is, the origin of the word "chopsticks" is still a mystery. (Image credit Wikipedia)
The chopsticks, seemingly just a simple pair of tapered wooden sticks, is
loaded with ancient symbolism.
The front end of the chopstick which picks up food is round while
the rear end is square. The round front represent the heavens and
the square end, land. It's a reminder that food is a blessing from heaven. The square back end represent paddy fields (land). The Chinese word for paddy field is 田. (Image credit Wikipedia)
Chopsticks are 7.6 inches long. Seven represent the 7 human emotions
of happiness, anger, love, desire, sadness, pain, and worry. Six
represent our 6 senses of nose, eyes, ear, tongue, body and feelings.
Chopsticks come in pairs representing balance / harmony of yin and
yang. When in use, one stick is stationary (yin) while the second stick moves (yang) in a pinching movement.
The five fingers of the hand represent the five elements that make up the world
- metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. (Image credit
Wikipedia.)
The three fingers that operate the chopsticks represent the harmony of
heaven, earth and humans.
Chopstick etiquette 🥢
🥢 When holding chopsticks, it is rude to point at others with your
forefinger
🥢 Chewing or sucking audibly on your chopsticks is rude
🥢 Do not tap your chopsticks on the rim of your bowl or on the
table top
🥢 Do not sweep and brush food aside in the shared dish to search
for the pieces of food you like
🥢 Do not put your chopsticks down in the shape of a cross
🥢 It is considered inauspicious to stab your chopsticks vertically
in a bowl of rice like joss sticks in an incense bowl or urn
🥢 It is not good form to stab food with your chopsticks
🥢 It is poor manners to use your chopsticks the wrong way around i.e. use
the square end to pick up food.
Japanese and Koreans also use chopsticks but their designs are a little different.
Many Japanese dishes like whole fish need to be broken and torn apart with sharp utensils, hence pointy chopsticks.
Written by Tony Boey on 12 Feb 2021
I believe Korean use metal chopsticks because in ancient times royals used silver chopsticks to detect poison and over time it became fashionable to use metal chopsticks instead of wooden ones...
ReplyDeleteThank you for this information. A history I did not know until today.
ReplyDeleteWhy would China or any Asian country base the length of a chopstick on imperial system length of inches?
ReplyDelete