探究当今人类的吃法,大抵有三种,中国、日本、越南用筷子;欧洲和北美用刀、叉、匙;非洲、中东、印尼、印度次大陆用手指抓。吃法能否作为一种文明标准呢?我感觉到还可以这样排列:用金属刀叉进食者第一凶猛,用竹木筷子进食者第二凶猛,徒手进食者第三凶猛。对此,周作人用文明的三个状态来表达,他说:“中国人说吃饭, Inquire into the ways of human consumption today. There are roughly three types of chopsticks in China, Japan and Vietnam; knives, forks and spoons in Europe and North America; and fingers in Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia and the Indian subcontinent. Can we eat it as a standard of civilization? I feel it is possible to arrange it like this: the first fierce eater with a metal knife and fork, the second fierce eater with bamboo chopsticks, the third fierce freehand eater. In response, Zhou Zuoren civilized the three states to express, he said: ”Chinese people say that eating,