Chopstick help---ainchent china and chopsticks?!


Question: i have 2 queshtons about chopsticks
1)why are they called chopsticks
2)why did the chinese make chopsticks instead of forks.
please help me! due on the 28th of march


Answers: i have 2 queshtons about chopsticks
1)why are they called chopsticks
2)why did the chinese make chopsticks instead of forks.
please help me! due on the 28th of march

What are chopsticks?

Chopsticks are utensils used for eating and cooking in East Asia. In fact, they are the second-most popular eating tools in the world, after fingers! They come in many different sizes, shapes, colors, and lengths. Chopsticks are made from a variety of materials, including wood (disposable and non-disposable). Bamboo is the most popular material for chopsticks because it is inexpensive, available, easy to split, resistant to heat, and has no odor or taste. Other materials used to make chopsticks include cedar, sandalwood, teak, pine, and bone, and some wealthy people have chopsticks made from jade, gold, bronze, brass, agate, coral, ivory, and silver.

Where did chopsticks come from?

It is believed that chopsticks were developed in China about 5,000 years ago! It is likely that people cooked their food in large pots that held heat for a long time, and impatient eaters would break twigs off trees to get their food. Some say the philosopher Confucius, who lived in the 5th century B.C., influenced the development of chopsticks with his nonviolent teachings. He declared that knives not be brought to the dinner table, because they were associated with war and death. Bronze chopsticks were excavated from sites in China dating back to the Shang Dynasty, over 3,000 years ago. By this time, Chinese who wanted to save fuel while cooking chopped and shredded their food into little bite-size pieces so it would cook faster. They found it easier to eat these morsels of food with a set of two sticks they called "kuai-za" or "quick ones." The English word "chopstick" came into being in the 19th century, when English-speaking traders attempted to say the Chinese word "kuai-za." The word "chop" means fast--as in the phrase "chop chop!"

Who uses chopsticks?

Chinese may have developed chopsticks, but by 500 A.D., people in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and other places in East Asia were using them regularly, too! People from Thailand, Indonesia, and most parts of the Philippines do not normally use chopsticks unless they are of Chinese descent. In countries such as Thailand, chopsticks may be used to eat Chinese-style noodle dishes, and a ceramic Chinese spoon may be used for soups and certain desserts. Of course, many modern homes and almost all restaurants provide a spoon and fork, and you can find chopsticks in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese restaurants around the world!

Using chopsticks is said to help to improve your memory, give you increased manual dexterity and help you to become a great traditional painter.

According to superstition, dropping your chopsticks is supposed to be a sign of bad luck to come, and embedding your chopsticks in your bowl of rice is very bad luck.

The Chinese use 45 bilion pairs of disposable chopsticks every year, which adds up to 25 milion full-grown trees

Japanese chopsticks are usually tapered or pointed at the eating end, and Chinese chopsticks tend to be longer with a blunt or square end.

Chopstick etiquette.
1) When you’re not using your chopsticks, you’re supposed to place them on the table facing to your left.
2) Don't lick your chopsticks.
3) Never use your chopstick to point at anything.
4) Don't wave your chopsticks in the air.
5) Don't cross your chopsticks on the table, unless you want to signal to your server that you're ready for your check.
6) Never push chopsticks into your food, with the other end sticking up in the air.

chopsticks are called chopsticks cause they are 2 sticks and they probably used to chop things, this of course is what westerns think, but that may be different in china...

These sites will help you

http://www.asianartmall.com/chopstickshi...

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/chopstic...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopsticks

http://www.everythingchopsticks.com/info...

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/...

http://www.chinaonline.cn.com/chinese_cu...

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/china/vi...

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/restaura...





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