The characters combine literally to mean “divide-meal-system,” a straightforward and descriptive name for the practice of serving meals in individual portions.
The concept of 分餐制 is deeply significant because it challenges one of the cornerstones of Chinese social life: communal dining (合餐制, hécānzhì). Traditionally, sharing food from common plates is a powerful expression of community, trust, and intimacy. A loud, lively meal (热闹, rènao) where everyone's chopsticks dip into the same dishes signifies closeness and togetherness. It reinforces the collectivist value of the group being more important than the individual. To refuse to share food could be seen as a sign of distrust or wanting to create distance. The Western dining style is, by default, a form of 分餐制. An American diner ordering a personal entree is not making a statement about hygiene; it's simply the cultural norm. In China, however, choosing 分餐制 is a conscious act. The promotion of 分餐制 in modern China, particularly after public health crises like SARS (2003) and COVID-19 (2020), represents a major cultural shift. It marks a move where modern values of public health, hygiene (卫生, wèishēng), and scientific rationalism are interacting with, and sometimes superseding, deep-seated traditions of collectivism. This has led to a popular compromise: the use of serving chopsticks (公筷, gōngkuài) and spoons (公勺, gōngsháo), which allows for the communal atmosphere while preventing the sharing of saliva.
While still not the standard in most homes, 分餐制 is increasingly common in specific situations:
The connotation is overwhelmingly positive, associated with being modern, healthy, and considerate. However, for some older individuals or in very informal family settings, it might feel a bit distant or “lacking human touch” (缺少人情味, quēshǎo rénqíngwèi).