中西方餐具文化对比研究以筷子和刀叉为例 (2)
On the basis of the existing studies, this article will make deep analysis of different stories about origins, the influences of perse cultural elements on the external designs and different using rules and taboos of both chopsticks and knives and forks. Besides, special attention will be paid to the study of the different cultural influences on the two kinds of tableware. Through systematically analyzing and summarizing the information, the fundamental cultural differences between China and West will be figured out in the article.
II. Different Cultures and Different Origins
2.1 The Origin of Chopsticks as the Representative of Eastern Tableware
There are many fork tales and stories concerning the origin of chopsticks whose truthfulness actually has not been proved. The two stories below are related to the origin of chopsticks.
It was said that Jiang Ziya, a well-known strategist and politician in the Shang Dynasty, used two bamboo sticks which was offered by a bird that can speak, to pick up the meat provided by his wife, and as a result, Jiang found that the meat was poisonous. To be practical, this story seemed to be a tale or a legend in most cases for the following reasons: firstly, it was unbelievable that the bird was able to speak; secondly, it sounded unreasonable that the bamboo sticks could be used to identify poison. Consequently, the story turns out to be unreal.
There is another story referring the origin of chopsticks. It was said that Yu the Great, who was the legendary founder of the Xia Dynasty, firstly used two small branches to pick up hot meat, and from then on the use of chopsticks was passed down (Long & Jiao 18). This story seems to much more conform to the law of social development than the former story of Jiang, for the reason that the original purpose for Yu to use chopsticks is relatively easier to be accepted by people nowadays. Nevertheless, Yu the Great lived about more than four thousand years ago, when there were no words to record the story in the written form. Therefore, the truthfulness of this story is also susceptible. Picking up the hot food partially contributes to the appearance of chopsticks, yet Yu the Great is not necessarily the inventor. This legend contains a sense of exaggeration and imagination.
It was generally believed that the embryonic form of chopsticks appeared in the ancient times, at least over four thousand years ago. According to the archaeological studies, people in ancient times had adopted branches, bamboo sticks and animals’ horns as tools for dinner (Long & Jiao 18). To this point, a lot of evidences can be found to support the idea. Firstly, to a large degree, the appearance of original chopsticks has much to do with fire. According to the archaeological studies, the marks of using fire, such as burned stones, bones, branches and so on, were founded in the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, at least over five hundred thousand years ago. Because of the emersion of fire, people were not able to pick hot food with their hands and they turned to the branches、sticks and horns for assistance. Consequently, original chopsticks should come into being at that time accordingly. In addition, the cylindrical shape of chopsticks much resembles that of branches and bamboo sticks, which indicates that branches and bamboo sticks are probably the embryonic form of chopsticks. Moreover, the original Chinese name of chopsticks, which is called “Zhu（箸）” in Chinese (Yang 78), embodies a Chinese written form of bamboo at the top, which more reflects that chopsticks are closely related to bamboo sticks. Since branches, bamboo sticks and animals’ horns were widely used in the ancient times as tools for dinner as well as for self-protection, the original chopsticks may have come into appearance at that time. To sum up, the emersion of chopsticks can probably be traced back to more than four thousand years ago. In other words, compared to the two stories above, this conclusion is most close to the reality.
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