The story of chopsticks

Chopsticks originated in ancient China with the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BC), The first chopsticks were probably used for cooking, stirring the fire, serving or seizing bits of food, and not as eating utensils.

It was not until the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 BC) that chopsticks came into normal use for both serving and eating, acquiring the present shape.

By 500 AC, chopstick use spread from China to other Asian countries, including Japan.

While the ancient Chinese character for chopsticks (箸 d̪jwo-; pinyin: zhù; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tī/tū) was latter replaced with a different character, in Japanese it is still in use with the phonetic reading of “hashi”.

This reading was given because, at first, they were a single piece of bamboo connected at one end (折箸 oribashi）. This connection resemble a bridge, that in Japanese is also called "hashi" (橋).

By the 10th century AC, they began to be made as two separate pieces and used in pairs, as they are today.

Originally, they were used strictly for religious ceremonies.

Chopsticks are still important in traditional Japanese funeral rites, in the ritual treatment of the cremated remains.

Guests use a pair of mismatched chopsticks (one stick of wood and one of bamboo) to put the bone fragments leftover of the deceased in the urn, starting with the feet to ensure the upright orientation of the body within the urn.

This because they believe that the world of the alive and the dead are separate by a river. To help the dead to go from one bank to another through an imaginary bridge (hashi), they use chopsticks (hashi).

Another funeral ritual is to offer incense, or to stuck a departed family member’s personal pair of chopsticks in the bowl of uncooked rice, and place it upon the family altar as an offer.

For these rituals, it is forbidden to pass food directly from one person’s chopsticks to another’s, to use a mismatched pair of them, and to stick chopsticks in a bowl of rice and leaving them in a vertical position.

Soon chopsticks started to be used for casual eating as well.

This because, as the Chinese cooking methods, Japanese, before stir-frying the food, cut it into tiny pieces, making easy to them to manipulate the food with chopsticks.

In the 17th century AC, the wood began to be lacquered to make them more durable, waterproof and easier to clean.

Plus, the ornate designs make them some of the most attractive and unique chopsticks in the world, reflecting the highly artistic culture of the islands.

Japanese chopsticks are shorter than most chopsticks from other countries. They are typically 7-9 inches long (20-23cm), rounded, and tapered to a point.

Nowadays, chopsticks are usually made of bamboo, sandalwood, pine or plastic, and more expensive sets are made of lacquered wood, silver or even jade.

Note:

In Japan chopsticks were are also known as otemoto (おてもと), since て means hand and もと means the area under or around something. The preceding お

o is used for politeness.

This word now is just used on the wrappers of disposable chopsticks.