How to Use Chopsticks

The earliest chopsticks were probably made of bamboo. Some esthete then may have whittled himself a pair of fine hardwood chopsticks, and a later esthete, perhaps a Croesus, thought of using ivory. There were many trials of other cherished materials, amber and jade among them, but several centuries ago chopsticks made of silver and ivory were an accepted status symbol at any rich man’s table. They were also on occasion a silent proof of his good faith. In those days a lord who wanted to rid himself of a number of enemies might polish them off all at once by inviting them to a fine dinner, one of whose dishes had been poisoned. Since it was believed that silver would turn black in the presence of poison, and threat ivory in the same circumstances would fly to pieces, guests whose chopsticks remained whole and untarnished could be easy in their minds and eat their fill. One wonders how many people nearly died of heart attacks when they dug into egg dishes with their silver sticks and saw the silver blacken.

In a Chinese household wealthy enough to use ivory chopsticks, they are treated with great care. Ivory should not be subjected to extreme heat: Heat yellows and warps the material, so chopsticks of ivory must be carefully washed in lukewarm water and thoroughly dried. In more general use are inexpensive chopsticks of bamboo or wood that can be bought in bundles of pairs: 10 is the usual number when one buys bowls, spoons and teacups, since that is the maximum number of persons ordinarily seated at a single table at a Chinese banquet.

Chinese will tell you that they can guess many things about a person from the way he handles his chopsticks. If he places them across his rice bowl between bouts of eating, it indicates that he is a boatman, for this is considered a good omen in navigation.. Usually, however, placing chopsticks across the rice bowl is simply the concluding gesture of the meal, signifying "dinner’s over" or " I can’t eat another bite." If the holder pushes the sticks against his stomach to even them up instead of tapping them on the table, chances are he is a laborer and is used to eating out of doors, squatting on the ground. The marital future of a baby girl can be foretold by the way she first picks up a set of chopsticks, for if they are grasped at the far end her husband will come from a distant province, but if they are seized near the eating end her husband may turn out to be the boy next door. To drop your chopsticks means bad luck. To find a pair of unequal length at your place at table means that you will miss a train, or boat, or plane.

Some of the most important chopsticks rules are:

Never stick the chopsticks into the food, especially not into rice. Only at funerals are chopsticks stuck into the rice that is put onto the altar. When you are not using the chopsticks, put them in front of you onto the table or a dish with the tip to the left.

Do not spear food with your chopsticks.

Neither point with the chopsticks to something or somebody nor move them too much around in the air.

If you want to separate a piece of food into two pieces with chopsticks, do it step by step in exerting controlled pressure on your chopsticks.

Improper use of chopsticks