Chopsticks: history, design, and cultural significance

History Of Chopsticks

Chopsticks, eating and cooking utensils developed perhaps as many as 5,000 years ago, represent Oriental culture to many people. Chopsticks are used in multiple Asian cultures. In Chinese their name is "kuai-zi," or "quick little fellows." They are usually square in shape, may be up to 10 inches long, and are not pointed (CAS, p. 1). In Japan, however, chopsticks were about 8" long for men but only about 7" for women, and Japanese chopsticks typically are round and come to a point (CAS, p. 1). Viewing chopsticks as a regional icon is appropriate because of their long history and their symbolic importance in some Asian cultures.

Anthropologists believe that chopsticks began as twigs used to help cook, and that gradually people also used these twigs to pull food from their cooking pots. As Chinese population grew, the people learned to cut their food into small pieces because they would cook faster, using less fuel. Coincidentally, food prepared in this way was easy to pick up and eat with the sticks used for cooking.

Gradually these useful utensils spread throughout Asia, where they developed cultural significance among some groups. For instance, in Japan, they were highly valued and used only for religious ceremonies. In China, the wealthy used silver chopsticks, believing that the silver would turn black if the food had been poisoned. In addition they have been made from bamboo, wood, bone, gold, and even agate and coral (CAS, p. 1).

As Asian cultures developed, each culture established beliefs and rituals about food and how it should be prepared and consumed. The history of chopsticks are riddled with cultural significance, taking on meaning beyond their utilitarian use. For instance, in China many believe that Confucius, an ancient religious philosopher as well as a vegetarian, supported the use of chopsticks because eating meat with knives would remind the eater of how the animal had been killed (CAS, p. 1).

In Japan, how one ate reflected a cultural interest in cleanliness. They believed that hands were always dirty, even after being washed, because they came in contact with so many things that had not been washed. For instance, children are carefully taught to wash their hands after handling money because it is soiled (Ohnuki-Tierney, p. 71). Because of this, with few exceptions, the Japanese eat nearly everything with chopsticks. Many Japanese do not want to eat sandwiches with their hands, and in Japan, sandwiches are cut into small pieces and served with toothpicks (Grew, p. 266). Chopsticks play an important role from a child's earliest days in Japan to teach the importance of not eating with the hands. Around 100 days after its birth, a small ceremony is held where the child is introduced to solid food. Soft food suitable for a small baby is prepared and placed in front of the child. The mother uses never-before-used chopsticks to give the baby morsels of the solid food (Hendry, p. 36).

But while the Japanese culture was using chopsticks as part of a cultural interest in cleanliness, in China, chopsticks became a symbol of their cultural value on belonging to a group rather than standing out as an individual. In some parts of China, older members of a group prepared the food, cooking at the middle of a table and using chopsticks to manipulate the cooking food. The round table and group food preparation emphasized the group mentality. In addition, people used their chopsticks to pull food from the communal pot, which emphasized their connections to each other. They felt that sharing utensils and glasses with others emphasized that people were not selfless and could act as "selfless friends" (Shih, p. 82).