Where East meets West

The fundamental difference between Eastern and Western cultures may most simply be expressed in the basic design of each culture's eating utensils. It is interesting to consider the very different methods the two cultures have developed to perform the same function. Arguably, eating is among our most primary behaviors and utensils used in eating are our most rudimentary tools.

The Chinese call their eating utensils "kuàizi." The Japanese call them "hashi," the Vietnamese call them "đũa" and the Koreans call them "jeotgarak." In English, they are known as "chopsticks". Chopsticks are a matched pair of fine, even-lengthed, tapered sticks, and they are the traditional eating utensils of China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea. Chopsticks originated in China and have been in use for over 4,000 years.

Chopsticks reflect the Asian ideal of harmony, which is a core value in Eastern philosophy. According to the Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy, philosophy is "the most fundamental and general concepts and principles involved in thought, action and reality." 

Chopsticks functionally express harmony between the materials and food, because of the fact that -most of the time- chopsticks are made of wood. When using chopsticks there is no "war" between the food and the consumer. Unlike Western utensils, chopsticks never cut or stab the food. Instead, chopsticks rest between the fingers and thumb, and are used to grasp the food and raise it to the mouth of the consumer, like an extension of the fingers. 

In Asian cultures, food is cut into bite-size pieces before being cooked and the knife stays in the kitchen. This is a completely different approach to eating as compared to the Western method of serving large pieces that are cut with individual knives at the dining table, then stabbed for transportation to the mouth of the consumer. 

On About.com, Rhonda Parkinson, Chinese cooking expert and author of Everything Stir-fry Cookbook (Adams Media, 2007) writes, "Confucius equated knives with acts of aggression, which went against his non-violent teachings. Some experts credit his influence with the widespread adoption of chopsticks throughout China; scholarship had triumphed over the warrior lifestyle." 

Rhonda Parkinson goes on to state, "In the United States, it wasn't until the eighteenth century that people felt the need for more than a knife and spoon." In fact, according to Henry Petroski in The Evolution of Useful things (1992), most common Europeans primarily used their hands for most of the second millennia, calling for a spoon only when necessary. Among the upper class, where manners were a consideration, the aristocracy used a knife in each hand, which served to cut food, stab it and carry it to the mouth. 

At the turn of the first millennia, the fork was used by the elite in the Middle East and Byzantium. It made repeated forays into Europe, where it was repeatedly rejected by religious figures as demonic, due to its similarity to the devil's pitchfork. It was also viewed as "excessively delicate." This perceived delicacy was regarded as an ungodly affectation and arrogant in its extravagance. 

It was not until the marriage of Catherine de Medici and King Henry II of France in 1533 that the fork became common in continental Europe. It was another century before King Charles I declared that, "it is decent to use a fork," marking the beginning of modern table manners in Great Britain. (Blogspot, Lite Strabo, Lite Stories from History) 

Thus, the history of Western table utensils is significantly a matter of social hierarchy, where the practices of the elite are desperately and progressively followed by the lower classes. In the West, use of utensils became rigorously involved, with a finely described pattern of table presentation and etiquette regarding use of each particular utensil. Again, access to and knowledge of "proper" use of table utensils was far more a mechanism for establishing social class than for utility in eating a meal. 

So, while the use of simple chopsticks may seem humble next to the onslaught of eating tools one may find at a well-appointed Western table, the grace of the chopstick is truly a reflection of the sophisticated Eastern philosophy of harmony. In contrast, a Western table seems predatory, both in the graphic use of cutting and stabbing and in it's complex association with social class. 

Citation:

“Definition of philosophy.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. (29 August 2007). 9 Oct. 2007.

Parkinson, Rhonda. “Chopsticks.” About.com, (2007). 9 Oct. 2007.

Petroski, Henry. The Evolution of Useful things. New York: Alfred A. Knopf (1992).

Strabo, Lite. “Lite Strabo, Lite Stories from History”. History of the Fork. (11 Feb. 2007). 9 Oct. 2007.

Images:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10695236@N04/3051062691/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenmorgan/238933687/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsilfen/944936655/

New trends in China?

Throughout most of Asia, the paler the skin, the better, which is why I was rather surprised to see that the Chinese cheerleaders for the Olympic beach volleyball team all have rather dark tans.

However, it's not necessarily true that the Chinese want white skin, as in European "white skin." The Chinese and most Asian people believe that beautiful women should have skin like that of a full moon.

Of course that's not to say that Asia is not influenced by western culture, it's a common sight in China's modern cities to see Asian girls with permed hair, often dyed a warmer shade of black or lighter brown or even with streaks of red, (as you can see on many of the cheerleaders as well.) The main difference being, Chinese seem to have a phobia of the sun. On the beaches of Hainan island, the Hawaii of China, during mid-day when the sun is at its most damaging, the beach is vacant of any Chinese tourists. Most Chinese women carry a parasol on sunny days, or wear a hat.

The first thing I thought of when I saw these Chinese cheerleaders was the Japanese fashion style "ganguro" which is basically a very western influenced style taken up by Japanese girls (and sometimes guys) that try to look like a weird mix of California girl/Barbie/just plain weird, with super dark tans, bleached blond hair and often white makeup.

Here is an example of "ganguro" fashion, however these kids have rather drab clothing compared to most ganguro. To my knowledge this style is not popular in China... yet.

Sort of the Yin and Yang of fashion, you always get both sides. Ganguro would definitely be the "Yang".

Whereas, on the other end of the spectrum or on the "Yin" side of Asian fashion, is the pale-skinned, dark-haired (often with brightly colored section of red, purple or blue, you name it), choppy seemingly random hair cuts and dark, punk/gothic fashion, based manly on the gothic punkish music called "visual kei." As you can probably guess from the name, this is very focused on appearance.

This style is slowly making its way into the high schools of the U.S.A by the name of "scene kid" which is just the Americanized version of the visual kei street fashion in Asia. The main difference being that the colors are brighter and less gothic.

Being a figure painter I know though painting from life that skin really does look more "alive" and has much more color when not overly tanned. A little sun is good for you but too much is definitely bad. Hopefully, Asia does not pick up more of western culture's unhealthy habits.

I just hope that all this does not signal a new Chinese trend of slowly baking and thus killing your skin (and hair) like we have popularized in the west.

Interested in more Chinese cheerleader photos? This is where I found mine: [click]