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It's mainly because of nationalism.East Asian countries are just pathetic,we share similar culture but can't unify.
A Brief History of Chopsticks
We’ve discussed the story of the knife and fork, but there’s another set of utensils used by billions of people around the world—and it has a truly ancient past. The Chinese have been wielding chopsticks since at least 1200 B.C., and by A.D. 500 the slender batons had swept the Asian continent from Vietnam to Japan. From their humble beginnings as cooking utensils to paper-wrapped bamboo sets at the sushi counter, there’s more to chopsticks than meets the eye.
The fabled ruins of Yin, in Henan province, provided not only the earliest examples of Chinese writing but also the first known chopsticks—bronze sets found in tombs at the site. Capable of reaching deep into boiling pots of water or oil, early chopsticks were used mainly for cooking. It wasn’t until A.D. 400 that people began eating with the utensils. This happened when a population boom across China sapped resources and forced cooks to develop cost-saving habits. They began chopping food into smaller pieces that required less cooking fuel—and happened to be perfect for the tweezers-like grip of chopsticks.
As food became bite-sized, knives became more or less obsolete. Their decline—and chopsticks’ ascent—also came courtesy of Confucius. As a vegetarian, he believed that sharp utensils at the dinner table would remind eaters of the slaughterhouse. He also thought that knives’ sharp points evoked violence and warfare, killing the happy, contended mood that should reign during meals. Thanks in part to his teachings, chopstick use quickly became widespread throughout Asia.
Different cultures adopted different chopstick styles. Perhaps in a nod to Confucius, Chinese chopsticks featured a blunt rather than pointed end. In Japan, chopsticks were 8 inches long for men and 7 inches long for women. In 1878 the Japanese became the first to create the now-ubiquitous disposable set, typically made of bamboo or wood. Wealthy diners could eat with ivory, jade, coral, brass or agate versions, while the most privileged used silver sets. It was believed that the silver would corrode and turn black if it came into contact with poisoned food.
Throughout history, chopsticks have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with another staple of Asian cuisine: rice. Naturally, eating with chopsticks lends itself to some types of food more than others. At first glance, you’d think that rice wouldn’t make the cut, but in Asia most rice is of the short- or medium-grain variety. The starches in these rices create a cooked product that is gummy and clumpy, unlike the fluffy and distinct grains of Western long-grain rice. As chopsticks come together to lift steaming bundles of sticky rice, it’s a match made in heaven.
A Brief History of Chopsticks — Hungry History — Food & Culinary History
The English word "chopstick" may have derived from Chinese Pidgin English, a pidgin in which "chop chop" meant "quickly".[1][2] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest published use of the word is in the 1699 book Voyages and descriptions by William Dampier: "[T]hey are called by the English seamen Chopsticks".[3]
The Chinese term for chopsticks is kuaizi (Chinese: 筷子). The first character (筷) is a semantic-phonetic compound with a phonetic part meaning "quick" (快), and a semantic part meaning "bamboo" (竹).[4] "Kuaizi" means a sort of imperative good wish, such as the wish for newlyweds to have sons soon.[5][better source needed]
In ancient written Chinese, the character for chopsticks was zhu (箸; Middle Chinese reconstruction: d̪jwo-). Although it may have been widely used in ancient spoken Chinese, its use was eventually replaced by the pronunciation for the character kuai (快), meaning "quick". The original character, though still commonly used in writing, is rarely used in modern spoken Chinese languages, with the exception of modern Hokkien, which maintains the old usage.
For written semantic differentiation between the "fast" (快) versus "chopsticks", a new character was created for "chopsticks" (筷) by adding the "bamboo" (竹) radical (⺮) to it.[6]
In Japanese, chopsticks are called hashi (箸). They are also known as otemoto (おてもと), a phrase commonly printed on the wrappers of disposable chopsticks. Te means hand and moto means the area under or around something. The preceding o is used for politeness.[7]
In Korean, 저 (箸, jeo) is used in the compound jeotgarak (젓가락) which is composed of jeo (chopsticks) and garak (stick). Jeo cannot be used alone, but can be found in other compounds such as sujeo (수저), meaning "spoon and chopsticks".
In Vietnamese, chopsticks are called "đũa", which is written as with 竹 trúc (bamboo) as the semantic, and 杜 đỗ as the phonetic part in Chữ Nôm.
Chopsticks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Why Do Asian Nations Use Chopsticks?
Bonus Facts:
- Ancient spoons in China also sometimes featured a pointy end to be used as a one prong fork / knife… perhaps the first known instance of the spork or spnife, depending on how you want to look at it.
- The ruins of Yin provide both the earliest examples of Chinese writing as well as the first known chopsticks. They were a bronze set that were found in one of the tombs at the site.
- Traditionally, Chinese chopsticks are made from wood or bamboo that’s unfinished. In comparison, Japanese chopsticks are traditionally finished.
- Chopstick etiquette is also a highly important factor in Asian cultures and history. They can also vary greatly from country to country and from person to person, but in general:
- In traditional Chinese culture, it’s poor etiquette to:
- Spear your food with your chopsticks.
- Dig around in your food for a particular item. This is referred to as “digging your grave” and is considered extremely rude.
- Tap your chopsticks on the edge of your bowl. This is what beggars do to attract attention.
- Children to hold their chopsticks incorrectly, as this will reflect poorly on the parents.
- In Japanese culture , it’s poor etiquette to:
- Cross your chopsticks on the table.
- Stick your chopsticks vertically in rice, as this is a practise reserved for funerals.
- Transfer food from your chopsticks to another persons.
- In Taiwanese culture, it’s poor etiquette to:
- Bite on your chopsticks or to let them linger in your mouth for too long.
- Use your chopsticks to pick up contents from a soup bowl.
- Place your chopsticks on the table. You should either use a chopstick rest or place them across the top of your bowl.
- In Korean culture, it’s poor etiquette to:
- Pick up your utensils before your elders.
- Brings your bowl closer to your mouth to eat.
- Use chopsticks to eat rice unless you’re someone considered lower class. Spoons should be used instead.
- In Vietnamese culture, it’s poor etiquette to:
- Place you chopsticks in the shape of a V once you’ve finished eating. This is considered to be a bad omen.
- Pick up food directly from the table and eat it. The item should be placed in your own bowl first.
- Place your chopsticks in your mouth whilst choosing food.
Ed, you notice that some cultures in Southeast Asia eat with their fingers? The Thai, Lao, Khmer, Burmese, Malays, and also Filipinos. I noticed this when I went to a Thai Restaurant one time, i ordered sticky rice, and the waitress told me that the best way to eat it with the curry dish is with the fingers. They have an art how to use their fingers, too. Very , very unique.
I tried it, its nice. But the only thing i don't like about using fingers is that i dont like the food particles going under my fingernails (i like to keep my fingers and hands clean).
Anyways, some pictures of how people in Southeast Asia use their fingers to eat:
View attachment 164257
Thai people from Chiang Rai eating the traditional way
View attachment 164258
Cambodian family having a nice lunch
View attachment 164260
Filipinos eating traditional way
Ed, you notice that some cultures in Southeast Asia eat with their fingers? The Thai, Lao, Khmer, Burmese, Malays, and also Filipinos. I noticed this when I went to a Thai Restaurant one time, i ordered sticky rice, and the waitress told me that the best way to eat it with the curry dish is with the fingers. They have an art how to use their fingers, too. Very , very unique.
I tried it, its nice. But the only thing i don't like about using fingers is that i dont like the food particles going under my fingernails (i like to keep my fingers and hands clean).
Anyways, some pictures of how people in Southeast Asia use their fingers to eat:
View attachment 164257
Thai people from Chiang Rai eating the traditional way
View attachment 164258
Cambodian family having a nice lunch
View attachment 164260
Filipinos eating traditional way
I eat sometimes with my hand because some of our culinary are best eat with hand. I like to keep my fingernails short all the time so I don't have a problem with food remain afterward. Just a simple wash and they all gone.
So chopsticks in China really got popular around 500 AD. How long did the chopstick craze take to get to Japan? Well, the oldest official records of chopsticks being used in Japan is from the Kojiki, written in 712AD, but they probably made it over there even sooner than that. Chinese culture made its way over to Japan through Korea earlier than that, and the chopsticks were sure to have been one of the things that made it over.
I eat sometimes with my hand because some of our culinary are best eat with hand. I like to keep my fingernails short all the time so I don't have a problem with food remain afterward. Just a simple wash and they all gone.
I dated a Filipina girl before and she showed me how she eats with her fingers. In Philippines they call this style of eating as "Ka May An". It takes a while to get used to it tho. he he he..
Is there some part of the world that your 'fantasy' girlfriends haven't belonged too ?
She wasn't my gf, i just dated her
Whats the difference ?