If you live in Europe or the Americas, you likely pick up a fork every day and give no thought to it. Using it probably seems as natural as breathing. Yet compared with the knife and the spoon, which appeared very early, the fork is a latecomer to the table.
Researches show that the fork was first used in Ancient Egypt, China and Greece. Since the 4th century BC, the fork managed to become common on the tables of upper society in Eastern Europe and by the 9th century, it travelled to the Middle East and started being used by the upper class under the name "barjyn". This enabled the fork to slowly become popular in these areas.
In the 11th century, the fork came to Italy in the dowry of a princess (王妃的嫁妆) from the Middle East who married an Italian official. After seeing the princess use the fork, the church strongly criticized her, saying that the fork disrespected the practice of using the fingers. Then the fork disappeared from the table for nearly 300 years. It began to get acceptance in Italy by the late 16th century, because the upper-class Italians expressed renewed interest in cleanliness. However, most European countries accepted the fork only by the 18th century and United States didn't welcome it until the early 19th century.
During its life, the fork has changed in terms of appearance. In its early use, the fork had only two tines (齿) . As the centuries went on, its design slowly started taking on a modern look. The fork that we know today, which has four tines, was introduced in the 18th century in Germany. By the early 20th century, the invention of stainless steel (不锈钢) enabled the fork to be made more easily. Since then, the fork hasn't changed much in design.
