Since ancient times, China has been a country that attaches great importance to etiquette, and is known as the "State of Etiquette". In the Confucian classic "Li Ji • Li Yun" there is a record of "the beginning of the fu li, the beginning of the diet", that the ceremony originated from the diet, and at the same time strictly restricted the eating activities, so the diet etiquette came into being, and even at that time there was a series of officials in charge of the diet and etiquette.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, a talented man named Tang Su was called by Zhu Yuanzhang to "serve food", but after eating, Tang Su made the action of "gong gong gong", which means to show respect and gratitude to Zhu Yuanzhang in the form of an arch. But after the action was done, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What does this mean?" "Tang Su said that this is the folk etiquette I learned when I was a child. But I didn't expect that Zhu Yuanzhang was angry after hearing it, and said a sentence: "The heavenly son of the heavenly son who can be given a customary gift?" Therefore, he gave Tang Su a great crime of disrespect and demoted him to guard Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, Haozhou.
Incidents of being deposed because of the disrespect of a meal occurred from time to time in ancient China, which also shows the importance attached to food etiquette in ancient China. So what did the ancient people pay attention to when eating?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > dishes are not "singular"</h1>
Chinese like to be paired up, even the dishes on the table.
They believe that the perfection of the even number gives it an auspicious meaning. And "three" is an odd number, not neat, irregular, always unpleasant, so "three" has always been regarded as a very unlucky number.
In ancient times, when entertaining guests, the number of dishes on the table, can not be three dishes, as the saying goes, "three plates to the king eight, eight plates to wait for turtles", the dinner table only put three dishes, let people feel too shabby, there is a sense of neglecting guests, at the same time, the harmonic sound of "three" is "scatter", meaning dispersion, dissolution, if the family sits together to eat, its meaning is inevitably some inconsistencies.
In the eyes of the older generation in the countryside, "three dishes" is a way to worship ghosts and gods and ancestors. For the living, it is certain that "three dishes" cannot be used to entertain guests.
Later, people's material conditions gradually became better, but also used to the double number of dishes on the banquet, if it is found that the dishes on the table can not be made into an even number, they will choose to use pickles and other simple and fast foods to increase the number of dishes, thereby breaking the embarrassing situation of singular dishes.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > chopsticks cannot be "three long and two short"</h1>
In addition to the requirements of the number of dishes, in the dietary rules handed down by the ancients, there is also the saying that "chopsticks do not become five", which is not a literal sense that five pairs of chopsticks cannot be placed on the table: if the diners are five people, is there not one person who cannot use chopsticks?
"Chopsticks are not five" means that when the owner divides the chopsticks, he should pay attention to the consistency of the length of each person's chopsticks. "Five pairs of chopsticks" will inevitably have a long and short, if three pairs of chopsticks are long, two pairs are short, it will be reminiscent of "three long and two short".
In the old society, people were more superstitious, believing that "three long and two short" heralded the arrival of disaster, in order to avoid this "disaster of innocence", so they established a table rule of "chopsticks do not become five".
In addition to the requirements on the length of chopsticks, eating with chopsticks also needs to pay attention to many details: for example, you can't use chopsticks to point at people when eating, which is a very impolite behavior; putting chopsticks in your mouth and making a sound is also regarded as the performance of no tutor, knocking on the bowl with chopsticks, holding chopsticks to flip back and forth on the dish, etc., is also not allowed.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > seats are not six</h1>
"The seat is not six" is the ancient person's requirement for the seat of the meal.
In ancient times, the banquet table was generally a table of eight people, and there were two people on one side, called the Eight Immortals Table, which had the meaning of "eight immortals crossing the sea", but if there were two less people, it became a "turtle table". The so-called "turtle seat" refers to a table where one person sits up and down, two people sit on both sides, one head and one tail plus two hands and feet, overlooking the shape like a turtle, also known as "Wang Ba seat".
In China's traditional folk culture, turtle and wang ba are used to curse people. If a table of "turtle seats" is put together, diners inadvertently feel that they are turtles and wang eight, resulting in embarrassment, and even sensitive guests will feel humiliated.
Therefore, when entertaining guests, it is necessary to avoid the appearance of "turtle seats", so there is a saying that "the seats are not six".
From ancient times to the present, people's rules for the number of seats at the table are extremely strict, and in the order of seats, it is usually "Shangzuo Zundong" and "those facing the gate are respected".
In Chinese, the principle of table seat order is first friends, second relatives, and then clans, of which the eldest and youngest are in order. The ritual of eating and drinking in the "order of the tooth seat" has become the most basic criterion in the order of Chinese life.
The ancients established table manners as ethical guidelines, family disciplines and even laws to abide by, and ancient table manners have been passed down for thousands of years and gradually evolved into more scientific dietary etiquette, but the spirit of respecting the elderly and being courteous and courteous in Chinese culture will always remain in the blood of Chinese.