The History of Chopsticks

Did you know that the chopsticks provided at your favorite Chinese restaurant are actually part of a long tradition reaching all the way back to 1200 B.C.? The first known chopsticks were made of bronze and used exclusively for cooking, but around A.D. 400, Chinese cooks began cutting everything into bite-size pieces to help conserve food. The bite-size pieces combined with popular Confucian teachings that disapproved of knives meant that chopsticks became the main eating utensil across Asia. However, the disposable version that’s given out by restaurants in America today wasn’t invented until the Japanese created wooden chopsticks in 1878 – before that, the wealthiest of diners ate with chopsticks made of ivory, jade, coral, brass, agate, or silver.