10 taboos of using Chinese chopsticks

The Chinese have been using chopsticks to eat since ancient times. In ancient times, they were also called "chopsticks". The use of chopsticks in daily life is very particular. Generally, when we use chopsticks, the correct way to use them is to hold the chopsticks with the right hand, pinch the upper end of the chopsticks with the thumb and index finger, and hold the chopsticks with the other three fingers naturally bent, and the two ends of the chopsticks must be aligned. When using, the chopsticks must be neatly placed on the right side of the rice bowl before eating, and neatly placed vertically in the center of the rice bowl after eating. But the following twelve ways of using chopsticks are absolutely taboo.

Digging graves with chopsticks

This refers to using chopsticks to dig around in the dish in search of prey, like a grave robber. This practice is similar to "wandering around the city with a chopstick in hand", both of which are uncultured and annoying.

Pearls of Tears

In fact, this happens when you use chopsticks to pick up food and put it on your plate, but your hands are not steady and the soup flows into other dishes or onto the table. This practice is considered extremely disrespectful and is also unacceptable.

Turning the world upside down

This means using chopsticks upside down when eating. This practice is very looked down upon. As the saying goes, when you are hungry, you will eat anything, even without caring about your face. Using chopsticks upside down is absolutely not allowed.

Dinghaishenzhen

It is also not allowed to use one chopstick to poke the food on the plate while eating, as it is considered an humiliation to the people dining at the same table. Doing this while eating is equivalent to giving someone the middle finger in public in Europe, which is also not acceptable.

Burning incense in public

Often when people are helping others with rice out of kindness, they will stick a pair of chopsticks into the rice and hand it to the other person for convenience and ease. This is considered disrespectful by people in Beijing, because the Beijing tradition is to do this when burning incense for the dead. If you stick a pair of chopsticks into the rice, it is tantamount to burning incense for the dead. Therefore, sticking chopsticks in the bowl is absolutely unacceptable.

Landing in shock

The so-called "dropping chopsticks on the ground and startling the gods" means accidentally dropping chopsticks on the ground, which is a serious act of impoliteness. Because Beijingers believe that their ancestors are all sleeping underground and should not be disturbed. Dropping chopsticks on the ground is equivalent to disturbing the ancestors underground, which is a great disrespect to filial piety, so this behavior is not allowed. But there is a way to solve this problem. Once the chopsticks fall to the ground, you should quickly use the fallen chopsticks to draw a cross on the ground according to the direction you are sitting. Its direction is east-west first and then north-south. What he meant was that he was a worthless person and shouldn’t have disturbed the ancestors. Then he picked up the chopsticks and said to himself that he deserved to die.

Cross

This point is often not noticed by people, and they just cross their chopsticks on the table when eating. This is wrong. Beijingers believe that putting a cross on someone's head at the dinner table is a complete denial of everyone else at the table, just like a student who has done his homework incorrectly and the teacher puts a cross on his book. It cannot be accepted by others. Apart from this, this practice is also disrespectful to oneself, because in the past, people would cross themselves out when making confessions during lawsuits. This is undoubtedly denying oneself, which is also unacceptable.

Walking around the city

This method is to hold chopsticks in your hand, act as if no one is around, and use chopsticks to search back and forth in the dish on the table to know where to start. This behavior is a typical manifestation of lack of cultivation, and is extremely offensive due to its arrogance.

Knock the cup

This behavior is considered begging for food, and is done by knocking on plates and bowls with chopsticks while eating. Because in the past only beggars would use chopsticks to hit the begging bowl. The sound combined with the pleading in their mouths would attract the attention of passers-by and lead them to give alms. This practice is considered extremely despicable and is despised by others.

Taste the chopsticks

This method is also not acceptable. The other method is to hold one end of the chopsticks in your mouth and suck on it back and forth, making a hissing sound from time to time. This behavior is considered a despicable practice. Because sucking chopsticks with your mouth while eating is an impolite behavior in itself, and it is even more annoying when accompanied by noise. Therefore, this kind of behavior is generally considered to be a lack of parental education and is not allowed.

The ten taboos of chopsticks mentioned above are what we should pay attention to in our daily life. As a country of etiquette and an ancient city, people can see its profound cultural heritage through the use of a pair of small chopsticks.