It's no secret that Chinese culture is one of the oldest. In addition to unusual medicine and the amazing abilities of Tibetan monks, the Celestial Empire boasts unique food devices.
Chopsticks are a special attribute of Chinese life. The first mention of them is recorded in the book of the Western Zhou Dynasty even before our era. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the Chinese have been using chopsticks for eating for more than two thousand years. At the same time, they successfully migrated to other countries and became the property of Vietnam, Korea and other eastern peoples. Japanese cutlery also does not exclude Chinese attributes, but Westerners are truly surprised by the skill of the East. These people manage to pick up huge chunks of meat and rice in some amazing way, they do not feel discomfort when eating food from vegetables, sprinkled with plenty of oil.
The Chinese pay a lot of attention to the proper intake of food, so the manufacture of sticks has become mass production - and today it is already an art. They are made of wood, bamboo or eco-friendly plastic. But the most sophisticated analogs are made only of wood by hand. In some cases, chopsticks are made from animal bones, and their tips are decorated with silver, jade or gold.
The sticks are the same stilts for the legs: the fingers seem to lengthen, while they have huge advantages over the usual table devices. By virtue of their shape, Chinese chopsticks act as a kind of lever with which a larger volume of food is captured. In addition, they protect your fingers from dirt, they do not have sharp ends and cutting edges, so they are much safer than forks and knives. The sticks are not made from metal, which keeps the true taste of food.
Chinese cuisine by its nature excludes knives, since cooking any food involves thoroughly grinding the ingredients.
The eternal question of Europeans: how to use chopsticks for sushi? This dish is quite popular in the West, and in specialized restaurants most often it is supposed to eat with the help of Chinese chopsticks.
Visually it seems that they work on the principle of scissors, but this is a hoax. In fact, only the upper stick moves, the lower one maintains absolute peace. To use chopsticks, one must be placed two thirds of the length from the top between the thumb and forefinger. In this case, the middle finger serves as a support. The second stick is placed on top of the first, it is also located between the thumb and forefinger and rests on the ring. Thus, with the movement of the ring finger chopsticks should converge, diverge.
If the Chinese eat rice, then they try to position the bowl so that it is closer to the chin. Thus, the sticks put together allow (like a shovel) to throw food in the mouth.
Chopsticks are not the only exotic attribute of the table of the eastern peoples. There are also fragrant sticks or candles. They used to be used for incense in temples, but today they are used everywhere for flavoring rooms.