What is the history of toothpicks?

Toothpicks have a long history of serving human beings. Tracing back to the source, its appearance may be counted together with the history of human beings being able to grow food and raise livestock in captivity. Of course, this is only speculation, because the cultural relics that have not been excavated in archaeology have not proved this. However, a toothpick made of gold was unearthed in a grave in China during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although this toothpick is really extravagant, it can at least show that China used it as a scavenger for his teeth stuffed with food at least two thousand years ago.

The toothpick found evidence in China, but it was not a patent invented by China people. Many scholars believe that toothpicks were invented by Indians. It is said that in the 6th century BC, when Sakyamuni, the ancestor of Buddhism, preached scriptures to his disciples, he often felt a smell coming from the nose. After confirming that the smell was caused by breathing in the mouth, the Buddhist Bodhisattva immediately gave them a health lesson. The content taught is "Wipe your teeth with branches, you can get rid of bad breath and increase your interest, and you can get Five Blessingg." This kind of record is not false. China, a high-ranking monk in Jin Dynasty, showed the western regions seeking dharma. In his book The Story of the Buddha, he said, "The East Buddha chews poplar branches here", which means picking his teeth. Now, the working people in India still like to brush their teeth with bodhi branches, which seems to have a long history.

China's first toothpick was settled in China in the early Eastern Han Dynasty with the introduction of Buddhism. At that time, it was translated into "Yang Zhi" and "Sui Shu? True wax legend says: "Every time you take a shower, brush your teeth with poplar branches and recite the mantra. Bathing is food, eating, brushing your teeth with poplar branches, and reciting the mantra. "It seems that the use of toothpicks is also very particular, not only after meals, but also after washing in the morning and before chanting. The procedure is very solemn. Shi Naian once wrote the word "eating poplars" in the preface to The Water Margin, in which "chewing poplars" refers to picking teeth with toothpicks, which is also evidence that China people are deeply influenced by the spread of Buddhism.

Regarding the exquisiteness of toothpicks, Mr. Liang Shiqiu, a famous writer, wrote in his book Essays on Elegant Rooms in his later years, recalling that he used a toothpick from Zhimeizhai in Beiping at that time. He once wrote: "The toothpick of Zhimeizhai is specially made. The first feature is that it is as long as a fountain pen, so it can be held in your hand and put on a brush posture. It is impossible to drill around with a big mouth; The second is toughness, which is really made by the best Yang Liuzhi. Beating around the bush can take care of the place, combining rigidity with softness, wonderful ... "

It is very late for Europeans to pick up this trivial thing and pick their teeth. At least in the16th century, if someone swaggered by with a toothpick in his mouth, people would regard him as a figure like Juan, providing a well-documented excuse for the official history of history. Shakespeare has such a sentence in his play Much ado about nothing: "I want to get you a toothpick from the farthest place in Asia." Overbury, a contemporary poet and essayist of Shakespeare, also wrote in his article entitled The Posing Traveler: "His main behavior is to use toothpicks." It can be seen that in the sixteenth century, only people who thought they were well-informed and put on airs would put a little meat in their teeth, and when they got a grain of rice, they knew it would be faster to remove it with a toothpick.

Since toothpicks are so powerful and the origin of toothpicks is hard to trace, many people of insight believe that this exquisite thing must have been introduced from Italy, where overseas trade is extremely developed, and spread to European countries. Think again, who can build a bridge between East and West? It must be Mr. Kyle Poirot who brought toothpicks, the treasure of cleaning human teeth, from China to Italy.

Japanese use toothpicks a little later than China. During the Tang Dynasty, it was very popular for Japanese to study in China. He not only brought back China's political and cultural thoughts, but also brought back a small toothpick. In this way, toothpicks crossed the ocean in the pockets of Japanese monks and foreign students, crossed the country of Fusang and came to the East. Up to now, the toothpick is no longer called "Yang Zhi" in Chinese, but the Japanese are very attentive to it and still use it today.

When toothpicks were first introduced to Japan, they were very popular among nobles and monks. It was not until the late edo period, that is, the early19th century, that ordinary people in edo began to use them to clean their teeth.

Although toothpicks have not been used for a long time compared with before, their love is second to none, reaching the consumption of about 70 billion toothpicks every year. In other words, if these small toothpicks are connected one by one, the length can reach 420 kilometers, which is equivalent to more than 0/00 laps around the earth/kloc-. Japanese toothpicks used to use willow, peach and mulberry. After World War II, birch from Hokkaido was used as raw material due to mechanized operation.

Although toothpicks are small, the manufacturing standards are very strict. First, put a wooden stick about 30 cm long on the cutting machine, then cut it neatly into a standard size of only 6 cm. Finally, sharpen one end with a processing machine and carve a pattern on the carbonyl group at the other end, and a small toothpick was born.

In recent years, due to the needs of market competition, toothpicks have also changed the rigid face in the past. They are painted with colorful "popular toothpicks", such as "fortune-telling toothpicks" drawn in front of immortals, and "fragrant toothpicks" with various flavors are added in front of the toothpicks. In addition, there are "triangular toothpicks" that can remove food residue from teeth and massage gums. It can be said that the types are endless and the performance is innovative. The small toothpick market seems to hide unlimited business opportunities and creativity.