the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

UK RED is an open-access database housed at The Open University containing over 30,000 easily searchable records documenting the history of reading in Britain from 1450 to 1945. Evidence of reading presented in UK RED is drawn from published and unpublished sources as diverse as diaries, commonplace books, memoirs, sociological surveys, and criminal court and prison records.

Our mission at marcosticks.org can be summarized by our attempts to answer two questions. The first is, “why can’t you use chopsticks with french fries?” And the second is, “why can’t you use unconventional chopstick grips?”

Today’s world is one where using chopsticks at a Western, fine dining restaurant invites unwanted murmur from other tables. In today’s chopstick-using countries, folks get bullied for using chopsticks “wrong”, generally by folks who are unaware that they, too, use chopsticks with unconventional grips.

Our mission is to raise awareness globally on the use of chopsticks. We want the world to be one where chopsticks can be used, whenever they are the right eating utensil for the type of food being served. This we call #UtensilEquality. We want the world to be one where different chopstick grips can be used without shame, when unconventional grips best work for certain people. This we call #GripEquality.

The Song dynasty (960-1279) features an amazingly rich tea culture. Tea during this period involves many aspects such as politics, economy, literature and social customs. With the prosperity of the tea industry, everyone – the nobles, scholars, and common people, all had access to tea.

"Every household has seven daily necessities: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea" Wu Zimu, Song Dynasty Poet

Tea Drinking in Chinese Song Dynasty (960-1279)

In the Tang dynasty,the production,management and sales of tea or the tea culture research, tea processing skills all had progressed greatly, thus tea was also popularized. However, comparatively speaking, the development of tea culture in the Song dynasty had more changes and innovation than the Tang dynasty. For example, the way of tea drinking, the varieties of tea, the literatures of tea and the supervising organizations had all undergone great breakthroughs in the Song era.