Figure: The invention and use of chopsticks is not only to facilitate eating, but also an important symbol of the progress of human civilization.
When our ancestors began to use chopsticks is impossible to verify. But these two gadgets, once skillfully manipulated, are extremely dexterous to use (líng qiǎo), and it is no wonder that some scholars praise chopsticks as representatives of ancient Oriental civilization.
Chopsticks were called "梜" and "箸" in ancient times
Chopsticks were called "梜" in the pre-Qin period, which is next to the wooden character, not "grab". Etiquette. Qu LiShang mentions that "those who have vegetables in the soup use 梜", and Zheng Xuan's annotation is "梜, Ju Zhen Ye". Sima Qian's History. The Song Weizi Family says that "the beginning is the elephant basket, and the jizi sighs: 'He is the elephant basket, and it will be the jade pole'. The title "chēng hū" (箸) began in the Shang Dynasty.
The origin of the legend is related to the boat people
"箸" became today's "chopsticks", and there is a saying that it is related to the boat people along the coast of Jiangnan (yán hǎi), because "箸" is homophonous with "live", which has an unlucky meaning for boat people, so it is called "箸" as "Kuai'er". And because most of the "fast children" are made of bamboo, the word "fast" is added to the word "fast" to become "chopsticks".
Although some people in the Ming Dynasty already called "箸" "fast" or "chopsticks", and the Qing Kangxi Dictionary only included "箸" and not "chopsticks", the imperial court also had difficulty resisting the folk trend (cháo liú). "Chopsticks" are called "chopsticks", in the third time in the "Water Margin" to write Lu Zhishen made a big fuss about Wutai Mountain, mentioning that Jin Lao and his daughter feasted on Lu Zhishen for a paragraph, saying that "three cups are put down on the spring platform, three doubles"; in addition, the fortieth time in "Dream of the Red Chamber" writes Shi Taijun's two feasts in the Grand View Garden, although Cao Xueqin uses "箸", the most used is "chopsticks".
The Book of Rites has the so-called "rice from the rice", in the pre-Qin period, people ate and grabbed food with their hands, and the rice was only used for sandwiching vegetables. From the evolution of diet (jìn huà), it is natural for primitive societies to grasp food by hand, and the subsequent eating utensils developed into "daggers", crank shallow buckets, much like today's spoons (gēng chí). The Talk. The dagger is said to be "dagger, so use the ratio to take rice". Today's "spoon" is believed to be developed from the "dagger", but it is not as convenient as using the spoon.
Theoretically, the opportunity (qì jī) that contributed to the birth of "箸" should be a cooked hot hand. The ancestors invented the zuān mù qǔ huǒ (zuān mù qǔ huǒ), after cooking food, and it is reasonable to speculate that it is reasonable to fish with branches, because primitive humans lived in forests and caves, and the most convenient material was the branches. Judging from the shape of the chopsticks now, it also bears the characteristics of the original bamboo stick (tè zhēng).
Little cutlery Civilization logo
In 1973, in The No. 1 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Hunan Province, there was a "Painted Cloud Dragon Pattern Lacquer Case", which is interesting to note that the lacquer case also placed five small plates with "Junfeng Food", two wine spoons (jiǔ zhī), an ear cup, and a pair of bamboo chopsticks on the cup, which is enough to prove that bamboo chopsticks were already used in the Han Dynasty.
In ancient times, the use of chopsticks can also refer to portrait tiles. In the Han Dynasty, thick burials (hòu zàng) were prevalent, and exquisite portrait tiles were used in the burial chamber to reflect the life scenes of the tomb owner before his death, thus leaving a wealth of image information for posterity. Among them, the Eastern Han Dynasty portrait brick "Feast and Drink Map" unearthed in Sichuan, there are seven people in the picture, three people on the front, two people on the left and two on the right, the seats are orderly, the bottles in front of the table are juxtaposed, the dishes and bowls are horizontal, in addition to chopsticks in front of the case, there are also chopsticks inserted in the bowls.
There are many scenes of chopsticks used on the Han Dynasty portrait stone, and chopsticks are placed on the dining table, plates and bowls of the Han Dynasty, including a "Filial Piety Picture", which sees a son holding chopsticks and putting a piece of food in his father's mouth to show his filial piety. In addition, on a mural in Dunhuang, men and women also sit around and eat together, each in front of a small spoon, there is a pair of chopsticks.
Chopsticks are nothing more than small tableware, but they are full of charm and have become a sign of the progress of civilization (biāo zhì). Some scholars have pointed out that when eating with chopsticks, it is necessary to pull (qiān dòng) more than 30 joints (guān jié) and more than 50 muscles of the human body, which helps to stimulate the activity of the nervous system.
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【Source: Ta Kung Pao】
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