A versatile character to suit any palate
吃
“Eat when you’re hungry, sleep when you’re drowsy; don’t tire yourself out (饥来吃饭困来睡，莫把身来累),” goes the life philosophy of Liu Xueji (刘学箕), a poet from the Southern Song dynasty (1127 – 1279) who devoted his entire life to travel, and never sought the conventional post of an official.
Today, this carefree doctrine might be echoed by many young Chinese, who, following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions across most of the country, are flocking to enjoy themselves in restaurants, tourist sites, and reopened street food stalls—that is, if they can afford these pleasures, amid the economic pressures that have also resumed with life in China.
The usage of the character 吃 (ch~) to indicate eating is a relatively recent concept, though the character first appeared in the Eastern Han dynasty (25 – 220), when the linguist Xu Shen (许慎) defined it as “a person who has difficulty with pronunciation” in his Analytical Dictionary of Chinese Characters《(说文解字》). At that time, 吃 was the verb form of 口吃 (k6uch~, stammer), formed by using a “mouth” (口k6u) radical on the left and a radical meaning “to beg” (乞 q@) on the right.
在汉语里，万物皆可入口
The action of eating was expressed by the character 食 (sh!) in ancient China. A farmer’s lament in the 3,000-year-old Book of Songs
《(诗 经》) goes, “Field mice, field mice, don’t eat the crops our labors yield (硕鼠硕鼠，无食我黍).” Later, 食 also became a noun meaning “food” or “grain,” as in the well-known proverb, “To the people, food is all-important (民以食为天).” Today, 食 still appears in nouns related to eating, such as “食堂 (sh!t1ng, canteen)” and “食物 (sh!w&, food),” while 吃 is more frequently used for actions, like “吃饭 (ch~f3n, to eat a meal)” and “吃药 (ch~y3o, to take medicine).”
Though it didn’t denote eating in ancient Chinese, 吃 did have the meaning of “to drink,” and is still sometimes used in this way by elderly people or speakers of some regional dialects. The heroes of the classic novel The Water Margin《(水浒传》), who are known for their forthright character, frequently declare, “Let’s drink (吃酒 ch~ji^)!” A quote by Mao Zedong goes, “When drinking water, never forget the people who dug the well (吃水不忘挖井人 ch~shu@ b% w3ng w`j@ngr9n).”
Food is at the heart of Chinese culture, which has thousands of years of farming tradition and memories of many famines in ancient and modern history. When Chinese people meet one another, a classic greeting is “Have you eaten yet (吃了吗 Ch~le ma)?” A host may open a banquet by telling the guests “Help yourself to more dishes (多吃菜 du4 ch~ c3i)” to show hospitality.
The character 吃 may also appear in metaphors for consumption. “吃白饭 (ch~ b1if3n),” meaning “to eat only rice (without taking vegetables and meat),” refers to when a lazy person puts in no effort but reaps benefits from others’ work. These types of leeches are common when a team “吃大锅饭 (ch~ d3gu4f3n, eats from the big pot),” meaning everyone gets rewarded equally no matter their individual contribution to a task. This expression comes from China’s communist 1950s, when workers and farmers took their meals in communal canteens and received equal rations of food.
In contemporary Chinese, 吃 can describe actions loosely associated with eating and devouring. For instance, in the expression
“吃了对方一个师 (ch~ le du#f`ng y! g- sh~, defeat an enemy’s division),” 吃 is military slang for “elimination.” Likewise, in Chinese chess, a colloquial expression for where one party removes a chess piece from the other is “吃了一个子儿 (ch~ le y! g- z@r).”
The character has other meanings, like “to bear,” “to experience,” or “to suffer.” Chinese traditionally believed that “吃苦耐劳 (ch~k^n3il1o, bearing hardships and enduring hard work)” can cultivate one’s character. However, workers pulling consecutive 12-hour days at the office may complain that they “吃不消(ch~buxi`o, can’t bear it).”
In the expression “靠山吃山，靠水吃
水 (k3osh`n ch~sh`n, k3oshu@ ch~shu@, eat the mountains when near mountains; eat water when near water),” 吃 has the meaning of “to depend on” or “to live off of.” The phrase means that the circumstances of one’s life determine how one lives. But if one only consumes and never produces, they are very likely to 坐吃山空 (zu7 ch~ sh`n k4ng, sit idle and eat up a mountain). This idiom is often used today to describe lazy fu’erdai, the children of millionaires and billionaires, who squander the fortune they inherit.
Often, metaphors involving eating have negative meanings. “吃醋 (ch~c&),” literally “eating vinegar,” means “to be jealous,” perhaps reflecting the sour pangs of envy. Likewise, when one scores zero on a test, it’s known as “吃鸭蛋 (ch~ y`d3n, eating duck egg),” as the numeral resembles a duck egg. Another term is “吃豆腐 (ch~ d7ufu, eating tofu),” which describes taking advantage of a woman, as tofu is soft in texture.
Nowadays, “吃货 (ch~hu7, foodie)” is an emerging slang term for describing people of all ages who cannot resist the enticement of delicious food. Delicacies, however, can be expensive. Next time you blow your salary on frivolous purchases, and must metaphorically
“吃土 (ch~t^, eat dirt)” until your next paycheck, remember that sometimes, “吃亏是福 (ch~ku~ sh# f%, a loss may be a blessing in disguise).” As the elders say, “吃一堑，长一智(ch~ y! qi3n, zh2ng y! zh#, experience a setback to gain wisdom)”—that is, you should learn from your mistakes.