Introduction of chopsticks (kuài zi 筷子 )

Chopsticks (kuài zi 筷子 ) originated in ancient China as early as the Shang dynasty (1766BC-1066 BC). The earliest evidence of a pair of chopsticks made out of bronze was excavated from Yin Ruins's Tomb 1005 at Hou jia zhuang, Anyang, Henan, dated roughly 1200 BC.

Chopsticks (kuài zi 筷子 ) are small tapered sticks used in pairs of equal length as the traditional eating utensils of Greater China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Generally believed to have originated in ancient China, they can also be found in some areas of Tibet and Nepal that are close to Han Chinese populations. Chopsticks (kuài zi 筷子 ) are most commonly made of bamboo or plastic, but are also made of metal, bone, ivory, and various types of wood. The pair of sticks is maneuvered in one hand, between the thumb and fingers, and used to pick up pieces of food.

How to say chopsticks and other

relevant words in Chinese

chopsticks kuài zi 筷子

a pair of chopsticks

yì shuāng kuài zi

一双筷子

I am able to use chopsticks.

wǒ huì yòng kuài zi.

我会用筷子。

I use chopsticks when I eat Chinese food.

wǒ yòng kuài zi chī zhōng cān

我用筷子吃中餐。

This is a pair of chopsticks.

zhè shì yì shuāng kuài zi.

这是一双筷子。

Universal etiquette of using chopsticks

Chopsticks are not used to make noise, to draw attention, or to gesticulate. Playing with chopsticks is considered bad mannered and vulgar (just as playing with cutlery in a Western environment would be deemed crass).

Chopsticks are not used to move bowls or plates.

Chopsticks are not used to toy with one's food or with dishes in common.

Chopsticks are not used to pierce food, save in rare instances. Exceptions include tearing larger items apart such as vegetables and Kim chi. In informal use, small, difficult-to-pick-up items such as cherry tomatoes or fishballs may be stabbed, but this behavior is frowned upon by traditionalists.

Chopsticks should not be left standing vertically in a bowl of rice or other food. Any stick-like object pointed upward resembles the incense sticks that some Asians use as offerings to deceased family members; certain funerary rites designate offerings of food to the dead using standing chopsticks.

You will continue to eat

When you finish your meal

How to use chopsticks

Step 1

Hold one chopstick between your thumb and ring finger. Position the chopstick so that it lies at the base of your thumb (on the joint) and at the lower joint of the ring finger. This chopstick shouldn't touch the forefinger.

Step 2

Add the second. chopstick and hold it as you hold a pencil.

Step 3

Be sure the tips of the chopsticks are parallel.

Step 4

Keep the first chopstick stationary as you practice moving the second chopstick toward the stationary one.

Step 5

Use this technique to position the chopsticks around a piece of eraser, candy or coin.

Step 6

Hold the item or food firmly as you lift it.

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