A hand lifts a stalk of greens with chopsticks, a blue-and-white bowl of millet rice mixed with greens holds a brass spoon, and a blue-and-white porcelain spoon of clear soup and a wooden chopstick rest lie beside it.
Chopsticks and spoons
Introduction
How chopsticks and spoons are held and used, and the rules and taboos of using them.
Chopsticks and spoons covers the use of chopsticks and spoons and the etiquette around them. The Li ji calls chopsticks jia and says they are used for soup with vegetables in it and not for soup without; the Han Feizi also tells of the ivory zhu of the last Shang king. Forty-two bone chopsticks, five to six thousand years old, were found at the Longqiuzhuang site in Gaoyou, Jiangsu, and six bronze chopsticks at Yinxu in Anyang. According to an article by the Guanfu Museum, millet rice is to be eaten with the bi spoon and not with chopsticks. The objects themselves belong to the object records and only their use is described here; general rules for eating belong to Table Customs and Taboos.