Chopsticks originated in China. In ancient times, it was called chopsticks (chopsticks help people, which means tools to help people eat), also called embarrassment. Because "Zhu" and "Zhu" are homophonic, "Zhu" means to stop, which is unlucky, so it is called "chopsticks" in turn. This is the origin of the name of chopsticks.
When were chopsticks invented?
Who invented chopsticks after all? We have no way to prove it. "Book of Rites" Zheng Xuan's note: "Tu Tu's creatures use soil, but they eat it with guns." It is said that the ancestors wrapped the millet with leaves, pasted it with mud, and then baked it in the fire. A simpler method is to put the grain into the ashes and stir it with branches from time to time, so that the grain can be heated evenly before eating. Perhaps inspired by this process, one branch gradually changed into two branches, branches changed into bamboo and wood, and the most primitive chopsticks appeared.
At present, the earliest chopsticks found in China are copper chopsticks unearthed from Yin Ruins in Anyang City, Henan Province. Chopsticks were called chopsticks in ancient times, and Zhou Wang was the first king to use ivory chopsticks. Sima Qian also said in Historical Records of Zong Wei's Own Family: "If it is an elephant, Ji Zi sighs: If it is an elephant, it must be a jade cup; For Yubei, it must be a strange thing in Siyuan Town. The gradual progress of the Horse Palace has been unshakable since then. " Although this is a statement of the courtiers' fear caused by Zhou Wang's luxurious life, it provides us with the most valuable written historical materials to trace the birth and development of ivory chopsticks from the court events caused by it. Zhou was the monarch in the late Shang Dynasty. Based on this calculation, refined ivory chopsticks appeared in China more than 3000 years ago.
People in China use knives and forks first, not chopsticks.
In fact, in the beginning, our ancestors used knives and forks instead of chopsticks in China. Knife and fork were invented by us in China.
At present, the earliest bone cutlery knife found in the world is located at Hemudu site in China, Zhejiang, 7000 years ago. It is conceivable that people in the Neolithic age basically lived a life of eating animals and blood, and the best tool to deal with meat was of course a knife, so the clever China ancients first applied the knife to their diet.
However, at that time, people called the knife used on the dining table "Bi". The daggers used by modern people were actually used for eating when they were first produced. Look at the bronze dagger unearthed below. It has two practical functions: one is equivalent to a spoon and the other is equivalent to a knife.
In the pre-Qin period, this kind of "dagger" actually evolved from a knife. Later, with the development of food culture, the two functions were separated, forming a knife and spoon. "Bi" later only stood for spoon, and this word was also extended to food and delicacy in ancient times. We used to call the dead mother "Cong", and the word "Cong" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is "Bi", which stands for the mother who cooked.
Tableware knife is the oldest tableware in human history, and then the fork of tableware. At least 4000 years ago, some bone forks were found in Qijia cultural site in northwest China. They were unearthed together, indicating that they were used in sets at that time. In Shang dynasty, the fork became two teeth, which were very small. Spoons and bone knives were used, indicating that there were three sets of forks, spoons and knives at that time. Tableware has also been unearthed in some sites and tombs of Shang Dynasty in China, which shows that knives and forks are the main tableware used by Shang people.
Later, more than 50 pieces of copper knives and forks were unearthed in a tomb of the Warring States in Luoyang, indicating that the Warring States also used knives and forks. The bronze fork of the Eastern Han Dynasty was unearthed in Jiuquan, Gansu, the iron fork of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was unearthed in Guangdong, and the fork knife of the Yuan Dynasty was unearthed in Zhang Xian, Gansu. At the same time, knives and forks were unearthed in Jiaxiang, Shandong Province, with bamboo sheaths for placing them. It can be seen that the use of knives and forks continued until the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
Why do people in China use chopsticks instead of knives and forks?
The earliest chopsticks in China are six bronze chopsticks found in the tomb of Anyang Yin Ruins 1005. This is dinner. Therefore, the academic circles believe that chopsticks were used as tableware in Shang Dynasty.
Why use chopsticks instead of knives and forks? This is the result of the development of food culture in China.
During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, China's cooking techniques got rid of the primitive state and entered the period of food civilization. Let's take a look at the standard diet of the royal family in the Western Zhou Dynasty. At this time, the most representative is the "Eight Treasures of the Zhou Dynasty".
This "eight treasures" is the chef's fine processing of food in advance, and the process is very complicated. Process the ingredients into pieces suitable for the entrance in advance, and the dishes served have been cut and prepared. So, of course, you don't have to use a knife and fork to divide it when you eat, just use chopsticks to clamp it at the entrance. Because "Eight Treasures of the Zhou Dynasty" is the originator of local cuisines in China, chopsticks became the mainstream tableware in ancient China.
"Eight treasures of the Zhou Dynasty" consists of two meals and six dishes: "Spring Jujube" (rice with meat sauce), "Chun Mu" (rice with meat sauce), "canned dolphin" (stewed suckling pig), "canned caviar" (stewed mutton and mutton) and "Daozhen" (roasted cattle, sheep and deer lining).
Different dietary patterns lead to different dietary patterns. In western Asia and continental Europe, where meat is the staple food, knives have always been an important eating tool for them, and later they invented forks. The diet structure, with agricultural products as the mainstay, supplemented by vegetarian food, laid the foundation of China's diet culture. There is little meat, so "soup" cooked with a small amount of meat and vegetables has become the main course. Bamboo slips unearthed from No.1 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province recorded the dishes buried with the burial. Among them, the main meat eater is twenty-four pots of soup except one barnyard grass fish. Soup can better release the taste of meat. In the case of limited meat, cut into pieces and put them into the soup, supplemented by vegetables. To flexibly clip vegetables and meat, the function of spoon can not be fully exerted, but "holding" can conveniently clip vegetables.
During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was aristocrats who used chopsticks, and eating with chopsticks was a symbol of social status at that time. It gradually spread to the people and replaced knives and forks.
At that time, the Central Plains civilization, which was dominated by Chinese culture, paid attention to "the distinction between Chinese and foreigners" and distinguished its advanced civilization from the surrounding nomadic peoples. The diet of nomadic people is mainly meat, and it is inseparable from knives and forks. Therefore, chopsticks have become the representative of advanced culture.
Later, influenced by Chinese civilization, ethnic minorities around the Central Plains began to improve their status and began to use chopsticks. But what if you want to cut meat to eat? As a result, the "knife and chopsticks combination" appeared. Knife and chopsticks are used together, which is convenient to carry.
The invention of chopsticks is related to noodles.
Some experts believe that the invention of chopsticks is related to noodles. In 2005, the oldest noodles in the world-noodles with a history of 4,000 years-were found in Lajia site in Qinghai, which may make the appearance of chopsticks logical.
These ancient noodles discovered by archaeologists are well preserved, long, thin and yellow, and are placed in an upside-down sealed bowl. Scientists have determined that this noodle is made of millet and sorghum. Millet is a native food in China, which was widely planted 7000 years ago. Modern noodles in North America and Europe are usually made of wheat flour.
This discovery made the invention right of noodles in the hands of China people. From the production level, noodles were a popular food at that time. However, it is obviously impractical to eat noodles with spoons and daggers. Perhaps it was from this time that ancestors who gave up the habit of grasping with their hands began to eat noodles with bone chopsticks. The appearance of noodles is perhaps the biggest reason for the appearance of chopsticks.
It is worth noting that although for a long time, the ancients used Bi and Gui to eat together, but the status of Gui gradually replaced Bi, but it began in the Han Dynasty. Noodles with soup cakes as their predecessor also became popular in the Han Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, different varieties of noodles were developed, such as fried chicken noodles, bamboo shoots and spicy noodles, and rolled fish noodles. Perhaps it is the arrival of noodles in the homes of ordinary people that makes chopsticks the main dining tool for people.
When did chopsticks spread abroad?
Chopsticks once spread to China's neighboring countries, such as Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries, forming the tradition of eating with chopsticks in East Asia. The habit of using chopsticks in these countries continues to this day.
After the 6th century, there were frequent exchanges between China and Japan, and Japanese envoys went to the Tang Dynasty many times to study Japanese culture. In 608, China's diplomatic mission headed by Pei was invited to visit Japan. At the welcome banquet, Shoto Kutaishi used chopsticks to entertain the guests in the way of China.
After the 8th century, Zhu gradually became popular in Japan. At that time, Zhu was called "Tang Zhu" in Japan, which meant that it came from the Tang Dynasty. In the 1970s, when Japanese Prime Minister tanaka kakuei visited China, he said to Zhou Enlai, "Sir, the Japanese chopsticks custom was introduced from China, and the chopsticks in China brought us an ideal tableware that is both civilized and convenient. I want to propose a toast to you and thank you for importing good food culture into our country. " Japan also improved chopsticks and invented "chopsticks", which is the disposable chopsticks we use today.
But the first impression of foreigners outside East Asia when they see chopsticks is mostly novelty and surprise. Italian missionary Matteo Ricci came to China in the Ming Dynasty. In his notes about Matteo Ricci China, he recorded the custom of eating with chopsticks in China: "They eat with very smooth chopsticks, about one and a half palms long, and they can easily put any kind of food into their mouths without fingers. The dishes have been cut into small pieces when they are served on the table, and those are easy to be clamped with chopsticks. "
In today's globalization, eating with chopsticks is no longer the patent of China people or East Asians. The United States imports tens of millions of pairs of bamboo chopsticks from China every year, and the French even set up the "Golden Chopsticks Award" to commend outstanding operators of Chinese food and Asian-style restaurants. Nowadays, chopsticks with a history of 3,000 years convey the unique food culture of the East and are playing its role in dining tables all over the world.