Why do Asians eat with chopsticks? why chinese people eat with chopsticks why eastern peoples eat with chopsticks

Why Eastern peoples eat with chopsticks?

Q: Why do Chinese people eat with chopsticks?
- They gnawed the spoons like that.

But seriously:
Since ancient times, it has been believed in China that the one who makes chopsticks, by definition, cannot be bad. Confucius taught this. His motto is: Instruments of murder have no place at the dinner table. Therefore, before the start of the meal, food had to be cut into small pieces, and knives were not allowed at the table. At the court of the emperor, preference was given to silver sticks. It was believed that they would turn black when in contact with poisoned food. Ordinary mortals, as a rule, ate with bamboo sticks. The more affluent used appliances made of expensive woods, such as mahogany. High-ranking officials were distinguished by ivory sticks.

At the same time, from time immemorial it was believed that every self-respecting Chinese should have his own personal chopsticks, which should always be with him, better throughout his life. The loss of sticks, like breakage, meant bad omen. If during a feast a person drops disposable chopsticks, then he continues the meal only after the waiter replaces them with a new pair. Tapping with chopsticks on the edge of the bowl is not customary, as this is associated with begging. Sticking sticks vertically into a bowl of rice is also forbidden, as it resembles incense sticks in a temple and symbolizes death. It is not recommended to move the sticks to the side. The expression "push the sticks" also signifies death. After eating, the chopsticks must be placed on a special stand, which is sometimes no less valuable work of art than custom-made personal chopsticks. In addition, you need to eat with your right hand, turning it with your palm up. If the palm is turned down, then this person does not value his wealth. The farther from the ends the girl holds the sticks, the farther from home she will find herself a husband. In general, it is customary for newlyweds to give these cutlery, since this gift is perceived as a wish to quickly give birth to a son.

All these traditions have not changed for almost 35 centuries, and maybe more. Who exactly and when invented the first Chinese sticks - "kuai tzu" (these two hieroglyphs in sound correspond to the hieroglyph "quickly", but there is another translation - "bamboo") - history is silent. There are several beautiful legends, explaining how the mechanism of the sticks was invented. Two are considered the most plausible. The first tells about the stern emperor Zhou-wang and his concubine Daji, who in reality lived about three thousand years ago. Knowing that it was difficult for the emperor to please at the table and that he was also afraid of poisoning, Daji was always the first to taste the food. Once she did not have time to cool a hot dish - Zhou-wang was already preparing to eat it. At that moment, the quick-witted girl pulled the jade hairpins out of her hair, picked up a piece with them, and began to blow hard. When the dish had cooled down a bit, Daji served it to the emperor. Zhou Wang liked the reception so much that he ordered Daji to always feed him only hairpins. Later, the concubine asked to make her a pair of longer jade hairpins - they are believed to have become the prototype of chopsticks.

In the northeast of China, a different version is common. According to it, Emperor Shun, revered by the Chinese as one of the main cultural heroes of the nation, ordered his dignitary Dayu (his name in translation sounds like Great Yu, and he is credited with creating the first irrigation systems on the Yellow River) to pacify the flood. For days on end, Yu struggled with the natural disaster. Finally, he decided to have a bite to eat, cooking meat and rice. But he could not immediately taste the food, because it was very hot. Not wanting to wait, Yu broke off a couple of thin twigs. With their help, he extracted a piece of meat from the vat, then blew on it and ate it.

Hello, dear readers seekers of knowledge and truth!

IN Lately Japanese cuisine has gained immense popularity in Russia. Probably, each of us at least once tried rolls, sushi, sashimi. At the same time, you probably thought: why do the Japanese eat with chopsticks, and not with forks or hands, for example?

The answer to this question is in today's article.

Together we will learn the names of chopsticks in the Country rising sun when and where they came from, why they are so loved and not abandoned in favor of traditional European cutlery. The article will also tell you what they are and how to choose them correctly from all the variety.

And at the end, we will hold a small master class, and learn how to hold the instruments in hand, like a real Japanese.

Sticks in the past and now

The history of chopsticks for a feast has more than three millennia. They were invented by the Chinese (you can read more about this), and later people liked the invention so much that it became popular not only in the Middle Kingdom. Today it is widely used in Asia, namely in its eastern part: in the Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean states.

In Thailand, chopsticks are used only when serving noodles and soup.

Initially, they looked like tongs, which were very useful for cooks and housewives when cooking. The technique for making such tongs was extremely simple: a bamboo stalk was divided in two, and one part was bent in half. With a simple device they stirred food, took out pieces for testing, put them in portions for serving to the table.

Their length was strictly 38-39 centimeters. For food, a shortened, 25-centimeter version was used.

Sticks came from the Celestial Empire to Japan during the Yayoi period, at the junction of the past and our era. Here they got their own name - hashi. Hasi of the usual kind for us - thin, double - appeared in the 7th century and could only be used by the upper class. They spread to the entire population only a century later, during the Nara period.

It is interesting that chopsticks were also used in the skill of combat: in the hands of a real fighter who knows how to properly throw a weapon, they are able to destroy solid objects.

The Japanese cuisine of our time is unique, and the products in the dishes are usually chopped finely, because here everyone eats with the help of hashi: rice, noodles, sashimi, numerous snacks. Even soup is eaten in a special way here: the broth is drunk from bowls, and the rest of the ingredients are taken out with chopsticks.

Every year, the Japanese use more than 25 billion pairs of hashi. Approximate estimates show that this is almost two hundred devices per capita. It is curious that wood is mainly purchased in China and Russia, and 9 out of 10 sets of sticks are made in China.

Reasons for loving chopsticks

Three thousand years have passed, progress has stepped far forward, and the Japanese still eat with chopsticks. They themselves claim: it is impossible not to love hashi, because this is the path to health, harmony, intelligence, sleight of hand. Indeed, the Japanese have quite a few reasons to use this particular cutlery:

1. tribute to the past

The use of hashi, especially bamboo, transports the conservative people of Japan centuries back to their ancestors. So they can follow the traditions of their ancestors even in the culture of eating, which, by the way, has also changed little over the years.

1. Convenience

Chopsticks take up much less space than conventional cutlery. Their production is cheaper, and the materials used are natural. The Japanese say that wooden sticks do not change the taste properties of food, as metal does, but on the contrary, it gives it even more taste.

1. Benefit

When a person eats with chopsticks, he cannot take in more than he can swallow. He eats more slowly, in small bites, chews thoroughly and, as a result, gets full faster. Perhaps this is the secret of Japanese harmony.

1. Health

Asian doctors, after conducting a series of studies, came to an amazing conclusion: while eating, hashi massage their hands, thereby affecting four dozen of the most important points of the human body.

Other observations have shown that babies who early years learned to eat hashi, not with a spoon, develop faster and show better mental abilities than their peers.

1. Great gift

Khashi are loved so much that they are very happy to accept them as a gift. Eat special types for tea ceremonies, New Year, weddings, birthdays. In each case, the presentation of hashi is very symbolic - it promises success and longevity.

Newlyweds are given a beautiful set of hashi so that they do not separate like a pair of sticks. On the 100th day after birth, the baby is given a ceremony for the first taste of rice and is presented with symbolic hashi.

In addition, the market is full of special sets for the whole family. So if you do not know what to give to a lover of the East, this will be a great present.

Types of hashi

Today, chopstick makers in Japan use all their imagination when designing a product: they are painted, patterned, small carved, varnished, sprayed. The sticks in the section can be round or square, and their tips can be in the form of a cone or pyramid, sharp and not very sharp.

The quality of hashi depends on what they are made of. So, they are made from different materials:

• bamboo;
• cypress;
• maple;
• sandalwood;
• plums;
• bones;
• metal;
• plastic.

Japanese-born tea guru Sen No Rikyu made his own kind of hashi. There is a small legend associated with it. One day, at dawn, the master went to the forest for firewood. He wanted to enjoy the unique woody smell, and began to clean pieces of wood - this is how his sticks appeared.

Holding sticks correctly

Before traveling to the Land of the Rising Sun, it will not be superfluous to learn how to hold hashi in your hand and practice, because in some places the use of a spoon, fork and knife can hurt the feelings of others, and especially the cook.

Rules for using chopsticks:

• The ring and little fingers are pressed together, the index and middle fingers lie ahead.
• The lower hashi is placed in the recess formed by the hand and thumb.
• Another hashi is taken from above: on the tip of the middle finger, the base of the index finger, it is held with the thumb - similar to the movement when you need to pick up a pencil.
• The bottom stick doesn't move main secret lies in the correct management of the top.

• The hand should be as relaxed as possible, its position should be natural.
• You need to put the sticks on special stands - hasioki. If they are not there - on the edge of the plate or on the table parallel to the edge.
• Hasi is an intimate thing, so you should not use other people's devices, because you can always ask for disposable ones.
• You should not take risks and clamp the hashi in your fist - this is a sign of aggression, a threat.
• The special skills of a table virtuoso will help not only eat with the help of hashi, but also stir food, divide it into pieces.

Conclusion

It's amazing how many secrets such a seemingly trifle like chopsticks carries, isn't it? But for the Japanese, they are not just a little thing, they are a whole ritual and special rules.

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Chopsticks are an obligatory table attribute in the East when eating. eat it with chopsticks great art and has its ancient history and its strict rules

Chopsticks are an obligatory table attribute in the East when eating. Eating with chopsticks is a great art and has its own ancient history and its own strict rules.Chopsticks are a traditional way of eating food in East Asia. This cutlerymainly usein Japan, China, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Forin order to, make sticks usetraditional materials: wood, ivory, metal, or plastic. authenticallyit is known that at the imperial court in ancient Chinasilver chopsticks were used while eating to determine the presence of poison in food, specifically arsenic. The tradition of eating with chopsticksin China about 3 thousand years ago. There is a legend that this method was invented by a very educatedan emperor named Yu the Greatthus he managed to get the meat out of the boiling cauldron. were widespread in China different materials, poor people ate ordinarywooden sticks of low quality, whichcould easily be with a splinter.
That is why the tradition arose when separating sticks from one another.rub them against each other. From China sticks have crossed to Japan, where they began to make them from bamboo, and these were not twotraditional separate sticks, and in some way tongs. Only representatives of the aristocracy knew how to eat with chopsticks. Residents of the East believe that eating with chopsticks is not only very convenient, but also very beneficial for the body.
Because it works the musclespalms that are connected by nerve endings to the digestive organs. And also, chopstick eating techniques develop fine motor skills, sothis has been taught since childhood. The Japanese are sure that children who eatusing this device as much as possibleWith early age, are ahead of their peers who usetraditional European appliances, in the mental andwhat is the most important physical development. In the East, there is a beautiful tradition of giving a pair of bamboosticks for the newlyweds. This gift symbolizes their inseparability., wish for long years together and spiritual intimacy.

Strange information for a European: it turns out that there are no less people who use chopsticks for eating than those who prefer forks. Chopsticks are a traditional "cutlery" in the East, but, in addition to traditions, they also have significant practical benefits. One of the important advantages of chopsticks over a fork is that they capture exactly as much food as you can chew. Thorough chewing and leisurely eating, traditional for oriental cultures, relieve digestive problems and promote faster satiety. Thus, a person using chopsticks is almost certainly protected from the risk of overeating, in contrast to the always in a hurry Europeans, who are accustomed, in every sense, to "fast food".

The benefits of chopsticks are not limited to proper food intake. Chinese doctors claim that using sticks, a person massages more than forty points important for health. And children who have learned to use chopsticks develop much faster than their peers who prefer spoons and forks. This is understandable, because the development fine motor skills hands entails intellectual improvement.

Sticks are part of the culture and history of Eastern civilizations. They were first used in China before our era: at first, for cooking, they turned over pieces of meat, fish and vegetables. Later, they began to take cooked food out of the dishes with long chopsticks, then they began to be used when eating. The first sticks were made of bamboo: the trunk split into 2 parts from below, remaining undivided from above, and resembled tongs. In the 12th century, the tradition of using chopsticks spread beyond China and spread among the peoples of Korea, Vietnam and Japan. At the same time, the traditions associated with the use of chopsticks sometimes differ greatly from each other. For example, in Japan it is forbidden to pass food with chopsticks to another person, while in China and Korea such a gesture is quite appropriate. Significantly different and appearance sticks: they can be made of wood or bone, plastic or metal; are cheap disposable or real works of art, decorated with carvings and inlays.

How to eat with chopsticks

Relax the hand and stretch the index and middle fingers forward, and slightly bend the ring and little fingers. Place the thick end of one of the sticks at about a third of its length in the hollow between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, so that the second point of the stick (about the middle) rests on the ring finger. Fix the "tool" by pressing on it with the base of your thumb. Place the second stick on the first phalanx at the base of the index finger, and hold it closer to the middle with the tips of the middle and thumb. Squeeze and unclench the ends of the sticks, manipulating them like tongs. The lower stick remains motionless when eating, all manipulations are performed with the help of the upper one: when the middle and index fingers, sticks move apart. Accordingly, bending the middle and index fingers, bring the sticks together, grabbing pieces of food.