Chopsticks and Spoons · FFET10429
The Chinese soup spoon (bi, chi, shao)
The deep, flat-bottomed porcelain soup spoon scoops soup and shares the table with chopsticks.
How chopsticks and spoons are held and used, and the rules and taboos of using them.
The Chinese soup spoon has a flat bottom and a deep bowl and is traditionally made of porcelain; related names include chi, tiaogeng, chigeng and shaozi. An account from Ningguta in northeastern China describes people drinking yellow-pickle soup with spoons. Another account of a reformed banquet lists chopsticks and spoons among the items set at the table.
What
A spoon is a table utensil for scooping food. The Chinese soup spoon has a flat bottom and a deep bowl and is traditionally made of porcelain; related names include chi, tiaogeng, chigeng and shaozi. The ancient bi was also a scooping utensil, but the historical relationship among these names remains unclear.1,2
When
An indirect account lists three Western Zhou bronze bi excavated in Shaanxi, but this does not establish when spoons first appeared. A description of Northern Song eating shops says that they formerly used only spoons and now used chopsticks. This concerns a change in eating-shop utensils and does not establish that every table had abandoned spoons.1,3
Where
Spoons are used across China. Western Zhou bronze bi are reported from Baoji, Yongshou and Fufeng in Shaanxi, while an account of Qing life in Ningguta in the northeast describes drinking yellow-pickle soup with spoons.1,2,4
How
Spoons are used for soup, and a Qing-period account from Ningguta in the northeast describes drinking yellow-pickle soup with a spoon. One dining convention advises against holding a spoon and chopsticks together in the same hand.2,4
Why
The Chinese soup spoon has a flat bottom and a deep bowl, is traditionally made of porcelain, and is used to scoop soup. Banquet accounts also show spoons and chopsticks used together at the same meal.2,4
Impact and influence
An account of a reformed banquet lists the cups, chopsticks, dishes and spoons set at the table, documenting both utensils in use at the same meal.4