8 things to know about Chinese chopsticks 关于中国筷子的8件事

Chopsticks are a pair of sticks to be used when eating (筷子是一对用来吃饭的细长条棍, kuài zi shì yī duì yòng lái chī fàn de xì cháng tiáo gùn). They were first used in China (最初在中国使用, zuì chū zài zhōng guó shǐ yòng) and then introduced to other areas in the world (后传至世界其他地区, hòu chuán zhì shì jiè qí tā dì qū). Chopsticks is considered as the quintessence of Chinese culture (中国国粹, zhōng guó guó cuì) and has the reputation of "Oriental Civilization (东方文明, dōng fāng wén míng)". Below are 8 things to know about Chinese Chopsticks.

1. When chopsticks were invented? (筷子是什么时候发明的, kuài zi shì shén me shí hou fā míng de)

In fact, before the invention of chopsticks, Chinese ancestors actually used hands to eat, but how did they eat soup and porridge? They had to use sticks to eat them. Chinese started to use chopsticks about 3,000 years ago in Shang dynasty (从大约3000年前的商朝开始，中国人开始使用筷子 cóng dà yuē sān qiān nián qián de shāng cháo kāi shǐ , zhōng guó rén kāi shǐ shǐ yòng kuài zi). According to "Records of the Grand Historian (《史记》, shǐ jì)", King of Zhou, the last king of Shang dynasty already used ivory chopsticks (象牙筷子, )". On this basis, China has at least three thousand years of history. During Pre-Qin period (先秦时期, xiān qín shí qī) chopsticks was called "Jia", and in Qin and during Qin and Han dynasties it was called "Zhu" (筷子在先秦时代称为“梜”，汉代时已称“箸”，明代开始称“筷” kuài zi zài xiān qín shí dài chēng wéi "jiā", hàn dài shí yǐ chēng "zhù", míng dài kāi shǐ chēng "kuài"). Because "Zhu" shares the same sound with "stop" in Chinese, which is an unlucky word, so people began to call it "Kuai", meaning "fast" in Chinese. This is the origin of today's name of Chinese chopsticks.

2. Who invented chopsticks? (谁发明了筷子, shuí fā míng le kuài zi)

The records of using chopsticks has been found in many written books but lacks physical evidence. However there are many folklore about the invention of chopsticks. One says that Jiang Ziya (姜子牙, ), an ancient Chinese military strategist (中国古代军事家、韬略家, zhōng guó gǔ dài jūn shì jiā、tāo lüè jiā
) created chopsticks inspired by a mythical bird. Another one goes that, Daji (妲己, dá jǐ), the favorite consort of King of Zhou, invented chopsticks in order to please the king, there is another saying that. Yu the Great (大禹, dà yǔ), a legendary ruler in ancient China, used sticks to pick hot food in order to save time for controlling floods (为节约时间治水以树枝捞取热食, wèi jié yuē shí jiān zhì shuǐ yǐ shù zhī lāo qǔ rè shí). But there is no exact history record (史无记载, shǐ wú jì zǎi) about who invented chopsticks, we can only say that smart ancient Chinese invented chopsticks.

3. What are chopsticks made of? (筷子由什么材料制成, kuài zi yóu shén me cái liào zhì chéng)

Chopsticks are made from many different materials such as bamboo, wood, plastic, porcelain, silver, bronze, ivory, jade, bone and stone (竹子、木头、塑料、瓷器、银、青铜、象牙、玉石、骨头和石头 zhú zi、mù tou、sù liào、cí qì、yín、qīng tóng、xiàng yá、yù shí、gǔ tou hé shí tou). Bamboo chopsticks (竹筷, zhú kuài) are most frequently used in Chinese daily life.

4. How to use Chinese chopsticks. (如何使用中国筷子, rú hé shǐ yòng zhōng guó kuài zi)

Using two slim sticks to pick up food is actually not difficult. You can do it as long as you practice it for some time. Actually many foreigners in China have a masterly command of chopsticks like Chinese. The key of using chopsticks is keeping one chopstick in position while pivoting the other one to pick up food. It will be boring and difficult to understand how to use it in words. You can will know how to eat with chopsticks very soon, but be patient, that comes with practice.

5. Chopsticks Etiquette (筷子礼仪, kuài zi lǐ yí)

Chopsticks are usually held in the right hand, left-handed chopstick use is considered as improper etiquette in China. Playing with chopsticks is thought to be a bad manner. It is considered to be polite and thoughtful to pick up food for the elderly and children. When eating with the elders, Chinese usually let the elders take up chopsticks before anyone else (和长辈一起吃饭时，中国人通常会等长辈先动筷子, hé zhǎng bèi yī qǐ chī fàn shí , zhōng guó rén tōng cháng huì děng zhǎng bèi xiān dòng kuài zi). Often, the caring host will transfer a piece of food ((e.g. a chicken leg) from the plate to a visitor's plate. It is impolite to tap chopsticks on the edge of one's bowl, because in ancient China beggars often used it to attract attention (吃饭的时候用筷子敲碗是不礼貌的，因为用筷子敲碗是过去乞丐在乞讨的时候引起人注意时所用的方法 chī fàn de shí hou yòng kuài zi qiāo wǎn shì bù lǐ mào de , yīn wèi yòng kuài zi qiāo wǎn shì guò qù qǐ gài zài qǐ tǎo de shí hou yǐn qǐ rén zhù yì shí suǒ yòng de fāng fǎ).

6. The Philosophy of Chinese Chopsticks (中国筷子哲学, zhōng guó kuài zi zhé xué)

Chinese philosopher Confucius (中国古代思想家孔子, zhōng guó gǔ dài sī xiǎng jiā kǒng zǐ) (551-479BC) advised people to use chopsticks instead of knives (刀, dāo) because the metal knives remind people of cold weapons (冷兵器, lěng bīng qì), which mean killing and violence (杀戮和暴力, shā lù hé bào lì). So he suggested to ban knives on the dinning table and use wooden chopsticks.

7. When Chopsticks were introduced to other countries? (筷子何时传到其他国家, kuài zi hé shí chuán dào qí tā guó jiā)

Chopsticks was introduced to many other neighbor countries due to its lightness and convenience. Chopsticks was introduced into Korean peninsula from China in the Han Dynasty (筷子在汉朝从中国传入朝鲜半岛, kuài zi zài hàn cháo cóng zhōng guó chuán rù cháo xiǎn bàn dǎo), it expanded to the entire peninsula at about 600 AD. Japanese chopsticks was brought in by Buddhist monk named Konghai from China's Tang dynasty (筷子由日本佛教僧侣空海和尚在唐朝时期带回日本, kuài zi yóu rì běn fó jiào sēng lǚ kōng hǎi hé shàng zài táng cháo shí qī dài huí rì běn). Konghai once said during his missionary work "Those using chopsticks will be saved", just use chopsticks, the people can be saved after death, so chopsticks spread in Japan soon this way. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, chopsticks were gradually brought to Malaysia, Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries (明清以后，筷子逐渐传入马来西亚、新加坡等东南亚国家, míng qīng yǐ hòu , kuài zi zhú jiàn chuán rù mǎ lái xī yà、xīn jiā pō děng dōng nán yà guó jiā).

8. A chopsticks-themed museum can be found in Shanghai (上海筷子主题博物馆, shàng hǎi kuài zi zhǔ tí bó wù guǎn)

If you are truly interested in chopsticks, you can pay a visit to the Shanghai Chopsticks Museum (上海民间民俗筷箸馆, shàng hǎi mín jiān mín sú kuài zhù guǎn). The museum gathered more than 1,200 pairs of chopsticks from China, Korea, Japan and Thailand. The oldest one was from the Tang Dynasty.

Address: No 191 Duolun Road, Hongkou Distric, Shanghai
Entrance fee: Free
Opening Hours: open daily 9am-6pm
Tel: 021-56717528
Transport: Take subway line 3 and line 8 to Hongkou football stadium station; bus No 21, 597, 939, 854, 962 , 47.

来源：ChinaWhisper
编辑：万月英