The Differences of Chopstick Etiquette between China and Japan

陳新星

Abstract：ChopsticksareoriginatedfromChina. SinceintroducedfromChinatoJapan， Chopstickshavegainedpopularityanddevelopmentinlife， andhasspecialchopsticksculture. ForchopsticksaredispensabletablewareinChinaandJapan， andthedifferencesofchopsticketiquetteareunknownoreasytobeignored， soitisnecessaryforustolearnmoreabouttherelatedinformation.

keywords：Etiquette，Chopsticks，China，Japan， culture

1.TheIntroductionofChopstickEtiquette

Chopsticksarenormalasakindoftableware，andserviceforpeopleonthetable. "Nowadays， therearemorethan1.5billionpeopleintheworldusingchopsticks，amongwhichChinaandJapanaccountfor80percent" SowecanknowthatchopsticksareofnecessityinChinaandJapan. Whatischopsticksetiquette？chopsticketiquetteistherulesaboutchopsticksindicatingtheproperandpolitewaytousechopsticks. Iwilldetailthedefinitioninthefollowingpart.

2. MeaningoftheResearch

ChinaandJapanareallcountriesinAsia. WithmoreandmorefrequentcommunicationbetweenChinaandJapan， theculturaldifferencesaregraduallyexposedthoughtheybelongtotheculturalcircleofChinesecharactersandchopsticksculture. KnowingthedifferencesofchopsticketiquettebetweenChinaandJapanisnecessary. Fewscholarsfocusedontheresearch， andresearchmaterialsarescattered. Inthisessay， Iwillmakeacomprehensiveresearchonthedifferencestoenrichthepreviousstudiesandmakeupfortheirdeficiencies， andtodiscusshowtodealwiththesedifferences.

3.DifferencesandFunctionsonChopstickEtiquette

3.1TheDifferencesofChopstickEtiquettebetweenChinaandJapan

3.1.1DifferentLengthandShape

JapanesechopsticksdifferslightlyfromChinesechopsticks. ChinesechopsticksaretypicallylongerthanJapanesechopsticks.InChina， peopleintendtoenjoyavarietyoffoodanddishessittingaroundtabletogether. Sothelongerchopstickscanbemoreconvenientforpeopletopickupkindsoffood. What'smore， youcanserveotherswithyourchopstickstoshowyourenthusiasmandhospitality. WhereasinJapan，peopleputintopracticeIndividualDiningSystem. Theyeatbyhavingseparateportionsoffoodforeachindividual. Therefore， itisnotnecessaryforpeopletopickupfood.

3.1.2DifferentPlacing

InJapan， chopsticksonthetableareplacedhorizontallyinfrontofthedinningpeople. Thetipsofchopsticksaretotheleftandtheendstotheright. BecauseJapanesepeoplethinkitimpolitethepointedpartistowardpeople. Inaddition， Japanusuallyhaveachopstickrest， andtheymustplacechopsticksintherest. Ifhavingnotchopstickrest， foldingasimplechopstickframewithapaperwrapper， andthenputyourchopsticksonit. However， theyarenorthandsouthfacinginChina. Thetipsofchopsticksareallowedtoputontheedgeofplates.

3.2FunctionsofChopstickEtiquette

3.2.1.RelationshipBenefit

Astimegoesby，maybemanythingsareoutoffashion，butetiquettewillneveroutofstyle.Therefore，inrelationships，knowinghowtobehaveappropriatelyinagivensituationmakesothersmorecomfortable.Knowingchopsticketiquetteistherespecttoothers， itprotectsthefeelingsofothersandbreakdownbarrierstomakecommunicationclearer. WhenyoufirstmeetJapaneseorChinesepeopleatthetable， therightchopsticketiquettewillleaveagoodfirstimpression. Thefirstfivetosevensecondsafteryoumeetsomeonearecrucial.

3.2.2.CulturalValue

BothinChinaandJapan，chopsticksareconsiderednotonlyeatingutensilsbutalsoaculture. InChina， chopsticksarerepresentativeofculture. ChopsticketiquetteexistnotonlyonthetablebutalsoinChinesefolk. Chopstickshavethemeaningofgivingbirthtoanoblechildassoonaspossible， sotheyareusuallyusedinweddingtoconveythebestwishestothenewlymarriedcouple.

InJapan， chopstickshaveimportantpositioninJapanesepeople， andtheyareconsideredthesymboloflife. Untilnow， Japanesepeoplehavethecustomthatprayingforprotectiontochopsticks.

4. Conclusion

Fromtheabovenarration， wecanknowchopsticketiquettebetweenChinaandJapanhaseitherdifferencesorthesame. Concerningthosedifferences， onlywhenpeopleatfirstknowtheirdifferencesanditsimportant， cantheyavoidsomeembarrassedthingsandbridgethegapofdifferencesbetweenthetwocountries. What’smore， weshouldrespecteachcultureandanditisthosedifferencesthatconsistofthemulticulturalworld.

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