Dragon's Junket: Chopsticks

"The honourable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen. And he allows no knives on his table." (Confucius)

While I don't share the ancient philosopher's abhorrence at the mere thought of a man in the kitchen, his dislike of knives is more understandable.

Confucius equated knives with acts of aggression, which went against his non-violent teachings. Some experts credit his influence with the widespread adoption of chopsticks throughout China; scholarship had triumphed over the warrior lifestyle.

Well, it just wouldn't be right if I lived here and didn't talk about chopsticks, would it?

While the precise origins of chopsticks are unknown (the first chopsticks may have been twigs used to spear a roast cooked over an open fire) they were definitely in use by the Shang dynasty (1766 BC - 1122 BC).

Their enduring popularity since that time may actually be linked to Chinese cooking methods - before stir-frying, the food is cut into tiny pieces, making them easy to manipulate with a chopstick.

In the west, where fork eaters are in the majority, it is sometimes easy to forget that the fork has only recently become an essential item at the dinner table. True, the Byzantines used forks in the 10th century, and Catherine de Medici introduced the pointed tines to the French court in the early 1500s. But in the United States, it wasn't until the eighteenth century that people felt the need for more than a knife and spoon.

By contrast, Chopsticks originated in ancient China as early as the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BCE), replacing the fork. The earliest evidence of six chopsticks, made of bronze, were excavated from the Ruins of Yin near Anyang, Henan, dated roughly 1200 BCE.

The first chopsticks were probably used for cooking, stirring the fire, serving or seizing bits of food, and not as eating utensils. Chopsticks began to be used as eating utensils during the Han Dynasty. Chopsticks were considered more lacquerware friendly than other sharp eating utensils.

During the Middle Ages, aristocrats often favoured silver chopsticks since it was thought that silver would turn colour if it came into contact with poison. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that chopsticks came into normal use for both serving and eating. They then acquired the name kuaizi and the present shape.

The English word "chopstick" may have derived from Chinese Pidgin English, a pidgin in which "chop chop" meant "quickly". The Chinese term for chopsticks kuaizi (Chinese: 筷子; Pinyin: kuàizi) is a semantic-phonetic compound with a phonetic part meaning "quick" (快), and a semantic part meaning "bamboo" (竹).

Given its prominence in Asian culture, it is not surprising that chopsticks have transcended the boundaries of food. Poems have been written about them, and researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University put the basic concept behind chopsticks to good use when designing the Mars Rock Corer.

Do's and dont's:

Chopsticks should not be left vertically stuck into a bowl of rice because it resembles the ritual of incense burning that symbolizes "feeding" the dead and death in general.

It is poor etiquette to tap chopsticks on the edge of one's bowl; beggars make this sort of noise to attract attention;

One should not 'dig' or 'search' through one's food for something in particular. This is sometimes known as "digging one's grave" or "grave-digging" and is extremely poor form.

Resting chopsticks at the top of the bowl means "I've finished". Resting chopsticks on the side of one's bowl or on a chopstick stand signifies one is merely taking a break from eating.

It is considered poor etiquette to point rested chopsticks towards others seated at the table.Chopsticks are not used to make noise, to draw attention, or to gesticulate. Playing with chopsticks is considered bad mannered and vulgar.

Do not lick or touch your lip with the chopsticks while eating, because most of the time you will be eating a "family style" meal. This means that everyone will be eating from the same bowl.

In China, an estimated 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks are produced annually. This adds up to 1.66 million cubic metres of timber or 25 million fully grown trees every year. In April 2006, the People's Republic of China imposed a 5% tax on disposable chopsticks to reduce waste of natural resources by over-consumption. This measure had the most effect in Japan as many of its disposable chopsticks are imported from China, which account for over 90% of the Japanese market.

The Difference Between Chinese and Japanese Chopsticks:

Chinese chopsticks are normally made of unfinished wood or bamboo.
Japanese chopsticks are normally made of lacquered wood or bamboo.
Chinese chopsticks made for adults are normally about 10 ½ inches (shorter chopsticks for young children are available)
Japanese chopsticks are normally about 9 inches
Chinese chopsticks taper to a blunt end.
Japanese chopsticks taper to pointed ends.

How to use chopsticks... ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbR3Wkkqi44

Before arriving here I had mastered the art of eating with chopsticks thanks to my parents ensuring that as we grew up we always experienced food from many cultures and ate it accordingly. However, once I had arrived in China I quickly discovered that I was using them incorrectly. This in itself came as no surprise and neither did the revelation that there is a world of etiquette associated with chopstick usage, so I set about re-learning how to use them. To my dismay I have discovered that un-learning something in order to re-learn it differently is much more difficult than simply learning from scratch. However I shall persevere and one day I'll be able to give Mr Miyage a run for his money.

Since arriving here I have been regularly astonished at the dexterity that people have whilst using chopsticks; I have seen chicken thighs demolished, pancakes cooked, filled, wrapped and presented, I have seen lobsters de-shelled, I have seen bikes being fixed, hair kept in place, soup eaten, rice grains separated and tunes played, all with nothing more than two bits of bamboo. Ingenious tools, in the right hands.