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Preface
Due to the different historical processes, different ethnic groups have gradually developed completely different table cultures.
For example, when you talk about China, you must think of the long-standing culture of using chopsticks.
On the other hand, Europe and the United States have a penchant for eating with knives and forks, while in India, another ancient civilization in Asia, "pilaf" has become a different specialty.
But have you ever wondered when Chinese chopsticks were invented? Before chopsticks, did the ancient people eat rice with their hands?
The history of the development of chopsticks
In everyone's impression, you may think that chopsticks originated in the late period of ancient society, but in fact, if you really want to trace the history of chopsticks in the mainland, it will have to go back to the pre-Qin period of more than 3,000 years.
China has a long history of using chopsticks, and its earliest records can be seen in mythological stories.
Legend has it that Jiang Ziya was not appreciated by the prince for a period of time, and he often returned empty-handed when he went out fishing, and even the basic life of the family was difficult to sustain.
His wife couldn't stand it, and felt that Jiang Ziya was not a thing, so she wanted to poison the food, so as to poison Jiang Ziya and remarry.
At that time, there were no chopsticks, and the meals were directly grasped by hand, but I didn't expect Jiang Ziya to go back to eat as usual that day, and a divine bird flew to him inexplicably and began to peck his hand, making it clear that he didn't want Jiang Ziya to continue eating.
At this time, the divine bird wanted to fly away, Jiang Ziya chased all the way, and found a pair of silk chopsticks on the ground in a place, thinking that it was the intention of the divine bird, so he went back to use the chopsticks to re-clip the meal, sure enough, the chopsticks began to emit green smoke, it turned out that there was a problem with the food.
Since then, the neighborhood around Jiang Ziya has heard the story and started using chopsticks for personal safety, and chopsticks have been circulating in China.
Although this is just a mythical story, we can still find that the culture of using chopsticks has long appeared in China.
According to the unearthed ancient book "Han Feizi", the earliest real visible chopsticks in China originated in the Shang Dynasty.
It is reported that Shang Wang has such a pair of ivory chopsticks, so that eating can not only avoid indecent situations in the process of eating, but also reduce hygiene problems, which is a good dining tool.
But think about it, this is only the time when chopsticks can be invented today, and if you want to say that you can use two wooden sticks as chopsticks, maybe the ancestors who are full of wisdom have already invented chopsticks earlier.
On the other hand, Western countries such as Europe and the United States, their knives and forks only slowly developed in the 16th century, which is really small compared to the history of chopsticks in China.
After the Han Dynasty, chopsticks were mainly called "chopsticks" and began to become an indispensable food tool for the ancient people, and the development history of chopsticks is not a historical coincidence, China's small-scale peasant economy determines the necessity of chopsticks.
On the one hand, we know that food needs to be heated with fire before eating, and the freshly heated ingredients are very hot, and it is very unrealistic to grasp them directly with your hands, and if you can pick them up with chopsticks, it will reduce the risk of burns.
On the other hand, the history of the development of the mainland's agricultural economy was early, and the early crops were mainly millet.
Millet is what we often say now, this kind of crop is very viscous after heating, if you get it directly by hand, it is very troublesome, and it will often attach bacteria, endangering the health of the human body, and the discovery of "chopstick" has greatly alleviated this drawback.
In addition, ancient China was an ancient civilization that emphasized etiquette, and eating directly with your hands was really insulting, and it was not in line with the cautious behavior of the literati.
Although ancient science and technology were not developed, whether it was dignitaries or ordinary people, they had long begun to Xi the use of chopsticks.
So how did human ancestors eat in the Neolithic Age, where chopsticks were not used farther and farther?
Early spoon culture
Earlier, before the Spring and Autumn Period, people ate directly with their hands, and the name of the "index finger" in the five fingers originated here.
Friends who are familiar with history know that there was a kind of "baptism" at that time, which refers to washing hands, which has been passed down in China to this day.
If that person comes to eat with a pair of dirty hands at this time, no one will have an appetite anymore, let alone continue to eat, so it is still necessary to wash hands before eating.
But soon, the clever ancients invented a nice tool - the spoon.
The history of spoons in China is much earlier than chopsticks.
Although the spoon is not as convenient as chopsticks to pick up food, if you really want to pick out the food, you can still do it with a little more patience.
Later, with the advent of chopsticks, the popularity of spoons gradually declined, but this does not mean that spoons have withdrawn from the stage of history.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Fan Chengda also wrote in his poems: "The mouth does not have two spoonfuls of resting grain", which truly expressed his recognition of the spoon as a tableware.
Spoons and chopsticks have their own uses, and the ancients understood that instead of dividing them, it is better to use them to the best of their own and further enrich Chinese table manners.
In fact, chopsticks are not only an important dining tool, they also contain a lot of wisdom from the ancients.
Chopsticks contain a very rich sense of yin and yang.
When we use chopsticks to pick up vegetables, we don't move both, but one is active and one is driven, one is on top and one is on the bottom.
This is actually the relationship between yin and yang in ancient China.
The interaction between yin and yang can be used, and the separation of yin and yang, Tai Chi does not exist, showing the philosophical concept of the unity of opposites.
The use of chopsticks also shows the breadth and profundity of Chinese etiquette and culture.
The use of chopsticks abandoned the initial Xi of eating directly by hand, and a more civilized meal distribution system and chopsticks culture began to emerge in China, which is not only a strict observance of the hierarchy, but also further promotes China's culture of attaching importance to dining etiquette.
epilogue
During the Tang Dynasty, due to close foreign exchanges, China's chopstick culture began to spread to other countries.
For example, Japan, South Korea, and other Asian countries at that time were subtly influenced by Chinese culture and began to further standardize dining etiquette.
Nowadays, some people regard Western knives and forks as elegant, and ignore the crystallized "chopsticks" of the wisdom of Chinese ancestors, which is really a manifestation of admiration for foreigners, which is really ridiculous.