This dining etiquette superstition directly connects to East Asian funeral practices. In Buddhist and Shinto ceremonies, incense sticks are burned while standing upright to guide the spirits of the dead to the afterlife. The same configuration—vertical sticks in a bowl—appears when chopsticks are inserted into rice, instantly evoking imagery of mourning rituals. In traditional Chinese culture, where rice represents abundance, life, and family continuity, this visual link to death is particularly jarring. Ancestor worship traditions across East Asia emphasize maintaining a clear boundary between the living and the dead, and violating this through food presentation is believed to bring spiritual imbalance or even attract restless spirits. Japanese etiquette guides as early as the 12th century explicitly cautioned against this practice, embedding the taboo into the fabric of formal dining.