The Chinese spoon or Chinese soup spoon is a type of

spoon A spoon (, ) is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a table setting, place setting, it ...

with a short, thick handle extending directly from a deep, flat bowl. It is a regular utensil in

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine comprises cuisines originating from Greater China, China, as well as from Overseas Chinese, Chinese people from other parts of the world. Because of the Chinese diaspora and the historical power of the country, Chinese cuisine ...

used for liquids, especially

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot – though it is sometimes served chilled – made by cooking or otherwise combining meat or vegetables with Stock (food), stock, milk, or water. According to ''The Oxford Compan ...

s, or loose solid food. Most are made from

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s. Although normally used as an eating utensil, larger versions of the Chinese spoon are also used as

serving spoon Serving may refer to: * "Serving" (song), by Miriana Conte, Malta's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 * Serving size * Providing a non-material good, as in the work of a servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a resid ...

s or ladles. The shape allows spoons of the same size and design to be stacked on top of one another for storage. Spoons were used as early as the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...

of the 2nd millennium B.C., both as a cooking tool and in eating, and were more common than

chopsticks Chopsticks are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks that have been used as kitchen and eating utensils in most of East Asia for over three millennia. They are held in the dominant hand, secured by fingers, and wielded as extensions of the han ...

until perhaps the 10th century A.D. Chinese spoons typically have higher sides and can hold more than the western

soup spoon A soup spoon is a type of spoon with a large or rounded bowl, used for consuming soup. The term can either refer to the British soup spoon or the Chinese spoon. Round bowled soup spoons were a Victorian invention. Sets of silverware made prior ...

. These spoons are used throughout Asia.

History

The spoon (匕, bǐ) was known as early as the

. The earliest found were made of bone, but bronze specimens are also found that have sharp points, suggesting they were used for cutting. These could be more than a foot long. During the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

a rounder form appeared, and lacquer spoons are also found, becoming popular in the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

. In ancient China the spoon was more common than

chopstick Chopsticks are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks that have been used as kitchen and eating utensils in most of East Asia for over three millennia. They are held in the dominant hand, secured by fingers, and wielded as extensions of the ha ...

s, which were used in cooking. The spoon was more useful for eating because the most common food grain in North China was

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

, which was made into a

congee Congee ( , derived from Tamil language, Tamil ), is a form of savoury rice porridge made by boiling rice in a large amount of water until the rice softens. Depending on rice–water ratio, the thickness of congee varies from a Western oatmeal ...

, or gruel. The spoon was better fitted for eating its soupy texture in an elegant way. The spoon was gradually undermined as the most common eating utensil starting in the Han, roughly the 1st century A.D., when

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

began to be more widely grown. Milling technology became sophisticated enough to produce flour for noodles and dumplings. Since these were more easily lifted with chopsticks, the spoon lost its prominence by about the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

, or 10th century. Early-ripening rice, which was introduced from

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

at this time, was even easier to eat with chopsticks, since it cooked into clumps. The first

compasses A compass, also commonly known as a pair of compasses, is a technical drawing instrument that can be used for inscribing circles or arcs. As dividers, it can also be used as a tool to mark out distances, in particular, on maps. Compasses ca ...

were created in China in the Han or soon after the Han by using a spoon shaped

lodestone Lodestones are naturally magnetization, magnetized pieces of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, which can attract iron. The property of magnetism was first discovered in Ancient history, antiquity through lodeston ...

which rotated on a bronze plate (see image below).Needham, Joseph (1986) ''Science and civilisation in China'', Vol. 4: "Physics and physical technology", Pt. 1: "Physics" (Cambridge University Press (1962), p
563
/ref> In the system of classification used in the

Kangxi Dictionary The ''Kangxi Dictionary'' () is a Chinese dictionary published in 1716 during the High Qing, considered from the time of its publishing until the early 20th century to be the most authoritative reference for written Chinese characters. Wanting ...

, compiled in the 18th century, Radical 21 (classifier #21) is "spoon."

Spoons in history

File:Model Si Nan of Han Dynasty.jpg, Han dynasty spoon compass File:Song Dynasty silver chopsticks, cup, and spoon.JPG, Song dynasty silver chopsticks, cup, and spoon

Modern spoons

File:Metal Chinese spoon - 01.jpg,

Stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

spoons File:Chinese spoons.jpg,

Porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

spoons File:Soup Spoon on Rest Hakubai Japanese Restaurant.jpg, Spoon on a spoon rest

References

{{reflist Chinese cuisine Chinese food preparation utensils Chinese inventions Shang dynasty Spoons

History

Spoons in history

Modern spoons

See also

References