Stephanie Vermillion 顏丹

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.

雖然筷子看起來像是區(qū)分壽司?？秃托率值墓ぞ?，但在加州卷和便當(dāng)盒出現(xiàn)之前，筷子早就在這個世界出現(xiàn)了。這種餐具在公元400年左右的中國餐桌上就贏得了一席之地，但它在很久之前——大約在公元前1200年左右，就已經(jīng)在中國出現(xiàn)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？

快進(jìn)三千年后，世界上有超過20%的人口用筷子吃飯。僅中國每年就用掉450億雙一次性筷子。那么，兩根棍子是如何開始一場大規(guī)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.

筷子起初是烹飪工具

中國是第一個從近3000年前就開始使用筷子的國家。但在當(dāng)時，它們并沒有被用作餐具。人們用筷子來烹飪，因?yàn)樗麄兛梢园踩匕阉鼈兘谥笏娜萜髦小?/p>

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樣的

筷子在整個亞洲文化中是不同的。例如，中國的筷子又長又厚，方便人們圍著餐桌用餐。

在日本，公元500年的時候，人們在宗教儀式上使用竹筷。隨著時間的推移，竹筷在逐漸改進(jìn)。它們現(xiàn)在特別適合用來吃日本的主要食物之一：魚。

日本筷子又短又尖，主要是因?yàn)槿毡救松瞄L吃魚，用尖頭的筷子很容易把魚骨去掉。日本人通常單獨(dú)吃一份食物，而不是共享菜肴。這就是為什么他們的筷子不那么長的原因。

一次性木筷是日本人在1878年發(fā)明的，現(xiàn)在它已經(jīng)無處不在。在古代，中國和日本的上層階級使用象牙、玉石、珊瑚和銀制的筷子。他們認(rèn)為銀筷子如果接觸到有毒食品就會變黑?，F(xiàn)在，中國用竹子做筷子，因?yàn)橹褡雍苋菀撰@得，而且價格低廉。

去韓國看看，他們的筷子看起來有點(diǎn)不一樣。在那里，筷子是扁的，通常由金屬制成。這是因?yàn)轫n國人喜歡燒烤。當(dāng)食客在現(xiàn)場烤肉時，金屬筷子不會燒著。

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個人偏好，而不是地理位置，但某些地區(qū)相信拿筷子的偏好的意義?！霸谖业募亦l(xiāng)，人們說如果你握筷靠近筷子下部（離食物更近的地方），你就會和附近的人結(jié)婚?！庇腥苏f，“如果你握筷靠近筷子頭，遠(yuǎn)離食物，你就會和遠(yuǎn)方的人結(jié)婚?！?/p>

另一個觀念是“你握的筷子分的越開，你就會離家越遠(yuǎn)”。這就是為什么中國農(nóng)村的人經(jīng)常把筷子并在一起拿或拿成“X”形，而外國人或中國城市地區(qū)的人拿筷子打開是“V”形的。

雖然拿筷子的方式可能是主觀的，但使用筷子的禮儀卻不是。以下是使用筷子的規(guī)矩：

●不要直接從上菜的盤子里夾東西吃（在自己盤子里吃）。

●如果夾不到食物，不要用筷子戳穿食物。

●只能用公筷夾取主菜中的食物。

●不要翻動主菜。

●不要把筷子直接放在桌子上（把它們放在自己的盤子上或筷架上）。

●永遠(yuǎn)不要用筷子指著其他用餐者。

說到放筷子，你不能把筷子插進(jìn)食物，就放在那里;你應(yīng)該把筷子放在碗或盤子的上面，與桌子平行。這是因?yàn)榘芽曜硬逶谑澄锢铮秃孟癜严悴逶谂枥锘蛲肜?，這是供奉祖先時所做的。所以，如果你這樣做，我們認(rèn)為這意味著你召喚了一些無家可歸的孤魂野鬼。

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.

為什么使用筷子

對于未經(jīng)訓(xùn)練的人來說，筷子似乎是笨拙而高風(fēng)險的，容易夾掉或者夾漏，很難得到對應(yīng)的回報(bào)。但這些小竹器確實(shí)有驚人的好處。據(jù)大衛(wèi)·薩馬迪博士說，筷子實(shí)際上可以幫助食客保持健康的體重，因?yàn)樗鼈兤仁鼓愠缘寐?，從而幫你控制份量，降低胃灼熱的風(fēng)險。

（英語原文選自：recipes.howstuffworks.com）