Chopsticks

I think chopsticks are absolutely fabulous.  Elegant, sleek, and simple.  By the way, please no hate mail from the Cutco people – I’ll be the first to admit, it’s tough to eat a porterhouse with two bamboo shoots.  Unfortunately, either way the Chinese market for steak knives is rather limited at this point.  Chinese people in general find the use of chopsticks more civilized than forks and knives, which to them are weapons and remind them of times of war.  Sorry, Cutco.

As with Western flatware, there is an etiquette surrounding the Eastern eating tools. As you might imagine, it is rude to make noise by tapping chopsticks on the edges of bowls or plates, just as in the West it would be improper to make noise with cutlery. Beggars do this to attract attention from passersby, and it is seen as lowly.  Also, chopsticks should not be used to move bowls or plates or to eat out of the communal bowls if serving chopsticks are provided (although, if they are not, it is not uncommon to use ones own chopsticks to skillfully pick up individual pieces from the serving dish, avoiding contact with other food in the dish).

You might have suspected that impaling food is considered unrefined but might not have realized that it is perfectly fine to lift the bowl to one’s face and shovel directly into the mouth any food that is difficult to grab.  And two things you probably didn’t know are that it is rude to point chopsticks directly at another person sitting at the table and that the biggest transgression of all is to leave chopsticks sticking up in a bowl or rice or other food, as this resembles the incense burning rituals conducted in reverence to deceased ancestors.

As interesting as it was to learn all that, I was still left wondering when the practice of using chopsticks actually started.  It turns out that no one seems to know for sure.  But rest assured, there are plenty of fantastical theories, as with most everything else here.  Below is one of my favorites, which I’ve translated into English for your convenience and reading pleasure:

It is said that a man named Jiang Ziya knew nothing but how to fish (and even that he did poorly), and such he lived without nary a sou.  His wife could not bear these hard times and thus wanted to kill him off and marry anew. (And you thought you were the only one!)

One day when Ziya again returned from fishing empty handed, his wife said to him, “You must be hungry.  I’ve cooked you up some meat.  Eat up!”  Ziya was indeed hungry and so reached out his hand to grab a piece of meat.  Just then, a bird flew in through the window and pecked at Ziya’s hand.  “Aya!” he yelped in pain, dropping the piece of meat and forgetting it in unsuccessful pursuit of the bird.

On the second day, when Ziya went to pick up a piece of meat, the bird again flew in and pecked the back of his hand.  Ziya suspected that the bird might be trying telling him something.  “Should I not eat this meat?” he wondered -- and put it aside.  To test his theory, Ziya waited for the bird on the third day.  Sure enough, when he reached for the meat, the bird came again to peck at his hand.  Ziya was now sure that this was a divine bird and chased it out of the house, following it to a remote hillside.  The bird was perched upon a bamboo branch and sung out to Ziya, “Jiang Ziya! Oh, Jiang Ziya!  To eat meat, use not your hands, but pinch it with what is just beneath my feet.”

Hearing this and taking heed, Ziya snapped off two bamboo shoots from the plant upon which the bird was perched and returned home.  When he arrived, his wife again urged him to eat some meat.  This time, however, he took his two bamboo shoots and stuck them into the bowl.  Suddenly, the shoots began to sizzle and smoke!  Feigning ignorance, Ziya said, “Why should there be such smoke?!  Could there be poison in this meat?!”  As he said this, he offered the piece of meat to his wife.  Her faced went white with fear, and she ran out the door.

Jiang Ziya understood that these bamboo shoots were sent from the divine bird, and he could use them to test for poison.  Thereafter, he used them every time he ate, although his wife would not dare try this trick again. 

And there you have it.