Why can't you knock on the bowl with chopsticks?

China has had the custom of offering food to its ancestors since ancient times. When offering sacrifices to ancestors, considering the difference between the dead and the living, it is convenient for the living to eat with chopsticks, while the dead are out of the body, only the soul wanders in the underworld, and can no longer use chopsticks freely. Therefore, chopsticks are inserted vertically in sacrificial bowls and pots, but in daily life, if chopsticks are inserted vertically in bowls or pots, it is a big taboo.

In terms of diet, there are also many taboos for immortals to use chopsticks. It is forbidden to hit the head and face of babies and children with chopsticks to prevent accidental injury. If you put chopsticks flat on the bowl, it is called "bowl chopsticks". Doing so while entertaining guests is equivalent to ordering them to leave. Fishermen along the coast of Puxian also avoid putting chopsticks in bowls after meals. Instead, put chopsticks around the bowl several times, and then put them down, saying that they were afraid that the ship would run aground. Chopsticks circled several times, indicating that the fishing boat bypassed the reef shoal and then docked safely and reliably. Before eating, put a pair of chopsticks directly into the rice, commonly known as "chopsticks for the dead", which is only used when offering sacrifices to the dead. The chopsticks used are called "short-lived chopsticks", and the folk custom holds that "if a pregnant woman uses long and short chopsticks, her son will be lame." Avoid beating bowls and boxes with chopsticks. This is called "begging chopsticks", because beggars often knock on bowls, accompanied by begging. When serving dishes, avoid soup dripping on the table. This feeling is like tears, so it is called "tears chopsticks"; Hold the dish and put it down, called "halfway chopsticks"; Pick the right ingredients and rummage through the dishes, commonly known as "disorderly chopsticks." When holding a funeral, chopsticks must be white. If you use red chopsticks, it is disrespectful to the dead, but there are exceptions. If the deceased has five generations of grandchildren, eating a funeral banquet with red chopsticks means that the elderly are blessed, commonly known as "eating happiness." When dining in a guest's home or restaurant, don't put chopsticks on the bowl and don't wash them after dinner. Generally, it should be washed by the owner or the store owner.

Chopsticks on the dining table should be placed on the right side of the bowl, with their heads facing the seat. When placing chopsticks at the ceremony, you should put them with your head facing the gods to avoid putting them upside down. Another taboo of Puxian people is when they can move chopsticks. After entering the banquet, it depends on when the person sitting in the chief seat can move chopsticks and when others can move chopsticks. This is also a way to respect the elderly and the virtuous. When eating, it is considered unlucky to drop chopsticks, but it is easy to change a pair. Don't bend down to pick it up. Especially when you accidentally drop your chopsticks at a wedding banquet or in the first month of eating, you have to say "happy" or "happy" to get a good sign back.

Dietary taboos of Han nationality in China are popular all over the country.

People in China are used to eating with chopsticks, usually with their right hands. It is generally believed that the position of holding chopsticks should be moderate, and should not be too high or too low. Because from the position of holding chopsticks, you can predict whether the child will be far from home or close to home in the future. If chopsticks are held too high, the object must be far away from home; if chopsticks are held too low, the object must be close to home. Some parents are afraid that their children are too far away from them, and some parents hope that their children can fly away and not stick to them in vain, so they are afraid of where their children will put chopsticks.

People also taboo to knock empty bowls with chopsticks before eating. People think this is "poverty" because beggars used to knock on the door when they asked for food. It is also not allowed to put chopsticks on cooked rice. It is said that this is a way to worship ghosts and gods at the funeral, which makes people think of the dead easily and is unlucky. Putting chopsticks on bowls is also taboo in Shandong area, saying that it is a way to worship the dead. Legend has it that before the Ming Dynasty, there was a custom of using chopsticks with bowls at the end. Later, Ming Taizu denounced it as an evil appearance, and it gradually became a taboo.

There are eight taboos for eating chopsticks in Dancheng, Henan Province: First, licking chopsticks; Second, avoid being obsessed with chopsticks, make up your mind and walk around the table with chopsticks in your hand; Third, avoid moving chopsticks, just eat one dish and then another, without stopping in the middle. Fourth, avoid sticking chopsticks, and use chopsticks that have been stuck to rice to hold dishes; Five avoid inserting chopsticks and put them on rice; Six bogey cross-dishes, when others clip vegetables, cross over and clip another dish; Seven don't dig, use chopsticks to pick and eat in the middle of the dish; Don't pick chopsticks, pick your teeth with chopsticks. Most of these taboos are related to hygiene, modesty and politeness.