筷子是怎样成为亚洲主要餐具的

Stephanie Vermillion 颜丹

While they may seem like a tool that distinguish sushi regulars from novices3， chopsticks entered the world well before California rolls and bento boxes. The utensils earned their place at the Chinese dinner table around 400 C.E.， but appeared in China well before that—around 1，200 B.C.E.

虽然筷子看起来像是区分寿司常客和新手的工具，但在加州卷和便当盒出现之前，筷子早就在这个世界出现了。这种餐具在公元400年左右的中国餐桌上就赢得了一席之地，但它在很久之前——大約在公元前1200年左右，就已经在中国出现了。

Fast forward 3，000 years， and more than 20 percent of the worlds population relies on chopsticks for eating. China alone goes through 45 billion disposable4 pairs per year. So how did two sticks start a massive5 mealtime revolution6？

快进三千年后，世界上有超过20%的人口用筷子吃饭。仅中国每年就用掉450亿双一次性筷子。那么，两根棍子是如何开始一场大规模的用餐革命的呢？

Chopsticks Started out as Cooking Tools

China was the first to experiment with chopsticks nearly 3，000 years ago. But at that time， they werent used as eating utensils. The Chinese used them for cooking since they could safely dip them into boiling pots of water.

筷子起初是烹饪工具

中国是第一个从近3000年前就开始使用筷子的国家。但在当时，它们并没有被用作餐具。人们用筷子来烹饪，因为他们可以安全地把它们浸在煮水的容器中。

Not All Chopsticks Are the Same

Chopsticks are different throughout Asian cultures. Chinese chopsticks， for instance， are long and thick to facilitate7 dining around the table.

In Japan， where bamboo chopsticks were adopted in 500 C.E. for religious ceremonies， chopsticks have evolved8 over time. Theyre now particularly fine-tuned9 for one of Japans main foods： fish.

Japanese chopsticks are short and sharp， mainly because the Japanese are good at eating fish， and it is easy to remove fish bones with sharp chopsticks. The Japanese usually eat individual portions rather than shared dishes. Thats why their chopsticks dont need to be so long.

While ubiquitous10 now， disposable wooden chopsticks were first invented by the Japanese in 1878. In ancient times， the upper class in China and Japan used ivory11， jade12， coral and silver chopsticks. They believed the latter would turn black if it came into contact with poisoned food. Now， China uses bamboo for chopsticks since its so easy and inexpensive to obtain.

Head over to South Korea and chopsticks look a bit different. There， chopsticks are flat and typically made of metal. Thats because South Koreans love barbecue. The metal chopsticks wont burn when diners are grilling13 their meat tableside.

不是所有的筷子都是一样的

筷子在整个亚洲文化中是不同的。例如，中国的筷子又长又厚，方便人们围着餐桌用餐。

在日本，公元500年的时候，人们在宗教仪式上使用竹筷。随着时间的推移，竹筷在逐渐改进。它们现在特别适合用来吃日本的主要食物之一：鱼。

日本筷子又短又尖，主要是因为日本人擅长吃鱼，用尖头的筷子很容易把鱼骨去掉。日本人通常单独吃一份食物，而不是共享菜肴。这就是为什么他们的筷子不那么长的原因。

一次性木筷是日本人在1878年发明的，现在它已经无处不在。在古代，中国和日本的上层阶级使用象牙、玉石、珊瑚和银制的筷子。他们认为银筷子如果接触到有毒食品就会变黑。现在，中国用竹子做筷子，因为竹子很容易获得，而且价格低廉。

去韩国看看，他们的筷子看起来有点不一样。在那里，筷子是扁的，通常由金属制成。这是因为韩国人喜欢烧烤。当食客在现场烤肉时，金属筷子不会烧着。

How You Hold Your Chopsticks Matters

Chopsticks holding styles are more about personal preference than geography， but certain regions hold beliefs about what chopstick-holding preferences mean.“In my hometown， people say if you hold chopsticks toward the bottom （closer to your food） you will marry someone nearby，” someone says. “If you hold them at the top， far away from the food， you will marry someone far away.”

Another belief is “the further apart you hold your chopsticks， the further from home you will go”. Thats why those in rural China often hold their chopsticks parallel14 or in an “X” shape， while foreigners or those in more urban parts of China hold chopsticks apart in a V-formation.

While holding styles may be subjective15， chopsticks etiquette16 is not. There are rules to follow：

●Dont eat straight from serving dishes （eat from your plate）.

●Dont use chopsticks to pierce food if you cant grab it.

●Only use serving chopsticks to access food in main dishes.

●Dont dig through food in the main serving dish.

●Dont place chopsticks straight on the table （place them on your own dish or a rest）.

●Never point chopsticks at fellow diners.

And speaking of resting chopsticks， you should never stick your chopsticks into your food and let them rest there; you should always place them on top of the bowl or plate， parallel to the table. This is because sticking them in your food is similar to putting incense17 in a pot or bowl， which is what we do for ancestors who have passed away. So if you do this， we think it means youve called some homeless street ghosts.

你拿筷子的方式很重要

拿筷子的方式更多的是个人偏好，而不是地理位置，但某些地区相信拿筷子的偏好的意义。“在我的家乡，人们说如果你握筷靠近筷子下部（离食物更近的地方），你就会和附近的人结婚。”有人说，“如果你握筷靠近筷子头，远离食物，你就会和远方的人结婚。”

另一个观念是“你握的筷子分的越开，你就会离家越远”。这就是为什么中国农村的人经常把筷子并在一起拿或拿成“X”形，而外国人或中国城市地区的人拿筷子打开是“V”形的。

虽然拿筷子的方式可能是主观的，但使用筷子的礼仪却不是。以下是使用筷子的规矩：

●不要直接从上菜的盘子里夹东西吃（在自己盘子里吃）。

●如果夹不到食物，不要用筷子戳穿食物。

●只能用公筷夹取主菜中的食物。

●不要翻动主菜。

●不要把筷子直接放在桌子上（把它们放在自己的盘子上或筷架上）。

●永遠不要用筷子指着其他用餐者。

说到放筷子，你不能把筷子插进食物，就放在那里;你应该把筷子放在碗或盘子的上面，与桌子平行。这是因为把筷子插在食物里，就好像把香插在盆里或碗里，这是供奉祖先时所做的。所以，如果你这样做，我们认为这意味着你召唤了一些无家可归的孤魂野鬼。

Why to Use Chopsticks

For the untrained， chopsticks may seem rule-heavy， high risk and—given spills and slip-ups—hardly worth the reward. But these small bamboo utensils do have surprising benefits. According to Dr. David Samadi， chopsticks can actually help diners maintain a healthy weight because they force you to eat slowly， thus helping control your portion size and reduce your risk of heartburn18.

为什么使用筷子

对于未经训练的人来说，筷子似乎是笨拙而高风险的，容易夹掉或者夹漏，很难得到对应的回报。但这些小竹器确实有惊人的好处。据大卫·萨马迪博士说，筷子实际上可以帮助食客保持健康的体重，因为它们迫使你吃得慢，从而帮你控制份量，降低胃灼热的风险。

（英语原文选自：recipes.howstuffworks.com）