Everything Chopsticks presents new facts about chopsticks. Includes
facts about history, current issues, interesting tidbits, and more.
Fact: Almost one third of the world uses
chopsticks
every day, about as many as use a knife and fork. Chopsticks were
developed about 5,000 years ago in ancient China. Their use spread to
other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam between 250-550
AD.
Fact: Each year about 60-80 billion disposable chopsticks are used
every year consuming the equivalent of 20 million trees. China is
encouraging its citizens to switch to using non-disposable chopsticks
and silverware to stem deforestation.
Fact: In early Chinese dynasties
emperors used silver chopsticks thinking they would turn dark if they
came into contact with poison. Silver chopsticks were highly prized and
if a commoner was caught using them they would be imprisoned or
sometimes executed.
Fact: Chopsticks hold an important place in Japanese
Buddhist funerals. A pair of chopsticks stuck upright in a bowl of rice
and placed on the alter is an offering to the spirit of a deceased
relative. Virtually all bodies are cremated and family members
participate using chopsticks to retrieve remaining bones transferring
them to an urn. They do this in pairs, two people retrieving a bone
piece together. Because of this it is taboo for two people to grab the
same piece of food at the dinner table.
Fact: Chopsticks have been made
from a variety of materials including wood, bamboo, bone, ivory, silver,
bronze, horn and ceramic. Today chopsticks are also made of glass,
carbon fiber and titanium.
Fact: Each country or region has their own
style of chopsticks. Chinese chopsticks are very long and typically
square in the handle and round in the tip.
Japanese chopsticks are shorter and taper gracefully from handle to tip. Korean chopsticks are stainless steel and flat like the handle of a spoon.
Fact: 80
percent of chopsticks made in Japan are made in the little city of
Obama, named like President Obama, population about 32,000. There
craftsman continue the centuries old traditions of
Wakasa lacquered chopsticks.
Fact: Modern
surgical techniques are increasingly using tools inspired by chopsticks
to perform less invasive surgery. Chopsticks are successfully used by
pickpockets to steal wallets and mobile phones. Used disposable
chopsticks are being repurposed into furniture, baskets and one man has
even made a canoe.
Fact: And finally, the fear of chopsticks is called 'Consecotaleophobia.'
For
those seeking more fun and fascinating stories and facts there is a
website devoted to chopsticks news and information at Chopsticks University on Everythingchopsticks.com.
About Everything Chopsticks
Everything Chopsticks (http://EverythingChopsticks.com) has been a
leading provider of chopsticks since 2005, specializing in quality
chopsticks from Asian cultures around the world.