_CHOPSTICKS_
Although our chopsticks may have some resemblance to magic wands, the
purpose they fulfil is a much more prosaic one, and, at the same time, a
much more useful one. They are the auxiliaries which help us to convey
to our mouths the food which we need for our bodies, the coal required
by the human machine. It is generally thought in Europe that we use two
chopsticks—one in each hand—for taking up the morsels of food, and for
conveying these to our mouths. That is a mistake: our knife and fork
exercise is much less complicated. The chopsticks are held in the right
hand. Maintained by the thumb and the ring-finger, they are worked
by the index and the middle finger. One remains motionless, the other
manœuvres and catches up the fragments of meat, and even the smallest
particles of rice. When rice is eaten, the bowl containing it is brought
very close to the mouth. The chopsticks work with feverish activity, for
rice is our daily bread, and we can admit of no slip between the cup
that contains it and our lips. It may be thought that the use of the
chopsticks demands very great skill, but that is only the prejudice of
those accustomed to the use of the fork. A child can learn how to use
the chopsticks as easily as the utensils in use in Europe. It may be
mentioned that we also make use of forks for roast meats, and of spoons
for taking up liquids. The Book of Rites, which deals with all the
acts of life, mentions that chopsticks are to be used for all purposes
except for drinking soup. The use of the spoon was thus consecrated many
centuries ago. The chopsticks are not plain, shapeless pieces of wood.
They are made of bamboo, or of more precious woods, and also of ivory and
silver. The top part, which is from eight to ten inches long, by from
four to six broad, is square, the remaining part being round. On one
of the sides of the square top part, poems and pictures are engraved.
Under the reign of the Han family, the Emperor was dining one day at a
political banquet with his ministers, when one of them—Tcheng-Liang by
name—rose to his feet and said: “Your majesty’s cause is lost. I have
just consulted my chopsticks.” And as it turned out, the Emperor’s plan
of conquest failed. Even to-day the cleverness of this statesman, who
knew how to disguise his own opinion in the form of a revelation by his
chopsticks, and to pass off his own advice as the result of a Divine
inspiration, is much admired.
Some centuries later, the famous dictator, Tchao-Tsao, was dining with
a rival of his, who tried to hide his ambition under the most modest
appearance. Tchao-Tsao was anxious to publicly expose the designs of his
rival, whom he had seen through, and began to talk of the bravest men
of the day. Each mentioned certain names, and finally Tchao-Tsao said,
“We two alone are really courageous men.” Hearing himself thus directly
named, Liou-Pei, as the rival was called, dropped his chopsticks just as
a clap of thunder was heard rolling through the sky. He tried to hide
his emotion, and said, “Ah! how great is the power of heaven, I really
was frightened.” But he was unable to divert the suspicion to which his
terror had given rise.
Under the reign of the Thangs, Kai-Yang presented a pair of gold
chopsticks to his Minister of State, Soung-King, saying that he made
him this present, not on account of the intrinsic value of the gold,
but because the chopsticks were symbolical by their shape of the
straightforwardness of his character.
It is recorded of a gourmet, named Ho-Tseng, who used to spend a large
sum of money on his food, without ever being able to satisfy his tastes,
that he fed like a prince, and though he spent upwards of a thousand
crowns on his table, did not consider a single dish worthy of his
chopsticks.
The number of historical anecdotes told about chopsticks is far too large
to be given here. Let me, however, quote one of these anecdotes;
“A sea-shell which had the elongated form of a stick, and
which is known as the solen or razor, is greatly appreciated
in China. It bears a mark on its side. It is said that an
Emperor having taken a solen up in his chopsticks, cast it into
the lake. The mollusc multiplied, but each of its descendants
preserve the traces of the chopsticks of Emperor Han-Ou-Ti.”
Let me conclude with four lines of poetry about the chopsticks, which
were written by one of our philosophers:
“I often wish to consult my chopsticks,
Which always taste what is bitter and what is sweet before we do.
But they answer that all good savour comes from the dishes themselves,
And that all that they do is to come and to go.”
[Illustration]