Soups & stews Banchan Tteok Chopsticks are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks that have been used as kitchen and eating utensils in most of East Asia for over three millennia.

They are traditionally made of wood, bamboo, metal, ivory, and ceramics, and in modern days, increasingly available in non-traditional materials such as plastic, stainless steel, and even titanium.

[5] The wide diffusion of chopsticks in the Chinese culture is sometimes attributed to the Confucian philosophy that emphasizes family harmony as the basis for civil order.

[8] Confucius' reference to chopsticks in his Book of Rites suggests these items were widely known in the Warring States period (c. 475–221 BC).

[9] The first chopsticks were used for cooking, stirring the fire, serving or seizing bits of food, and not as eating utensils.

One reason was that before the Han dynasty, millet was predominant in North China, Korea and parts of Japan.

Scholars such as Isshiki Hachiro and Lynn White have noted how the world was split among three dining customs, or food cultural spheres.

There are those that eat with their fingers, those that use forks and knives, and then there is the "chopsticks cultural sphere", consisting of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

[10]: 1-3, 67-92 As Han Chinese emigration percolated, they spread the usage of chopsticks as eating utensils to South and Southeast Asian countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

The earliest European reference to chopsticks comes in the Portuguese Suma Oriental by Tomé Pires, who wrote in 1515 in Malacca: "They [the Chinese] eat with two sticks and the earthenware or china bowl in their left hand close to the mouth, with the two sticks to suck in.

Although it may have been widely used in ancient vernacular Chinese, its use was eventually replaced by the pronunciation for the character kuài (快), meaning "quick".

[26] A special type of chopsticks made from the himehagi (Polygala japonica) stem is called sōrō 'nmēshi (そーろーぅんめーし, sooroo ʔNmeesi精霊御箸[citation needed]).

Many Japanese chopsticks have circumferential grooves at the eating end, which helps prevent food from slipping.

They are decorated with mother-of-pearl from abalone, and with eggshell to impart a waterproof coating to the chopsticks, extending their life.

[30] Edo Kibashi chopsticks have been made by Tokyo craftspeople since the beginning of the Taishō period (1912–1926) roughly 100 years ago.

These chopsticks use high-grade wood (ebony, red sandalwood, ironwood, Japanese box-trees, or maple), which craftspeople plane by hand.

During the Joseon era, chopsticks used by royalty were made of silver, as its oxidizing properties could often be used to detect whether or not food intended for royals had been tampered with.

In North and South Korea, chopsticks of medium-length with a small, flat rectangular shape are paired with a spoon, made of the same material.

At the same time, sticks were not often used directly for eating, being, for the most part, an element of decor and confirmation of the status of the carrier.

Adult learners, on the other hand, may acquire the skill through personal help from friends, or from instructions printed on wrapper sleeves of some disposable chopsticks.

[B] The most popular chopstick learning aid is arguably the wrapper-sleeve-and-rubber-band model, which is used in East Asian restaurants around the world.

Usually these models connect the two chopsticks with a bridge and a hinge, holding the two sticks in the right configuration on behalf of users.

[10]: 102-119 In chopstick-using countries, holding chopsticks incorrectly reflects negatively on a child's parents and home environment.

[40]: 73-75 [41][42] In general, chopsticks should not be left vertically stuck into a bowl of rice because it resembles the ritual of incense-burning that symbolizes "feeding" the dead.

[56] Because Cambodia adopted the spoon and fork later than neighboring countries such as Thailand, it is common to see Cambodians use chopsticks for any meals.

Its customs are heavily influenced by its Chinese counterparts, including using chopsticks exclusively as eating utensils.

[67] In April 2006, China imposed a 5% tax on disposable chopsticks to reduce waste of natural resources by overconsumption.

[69][70] This measure had the most effect in Japan as many of its disposable chopsticks are imported from China,[67] which account for over 90% of the Japanese market.

[66][71] American manufacturers have begun exporting American-made chopsticks to China, using sweet gum and poplar wood as these materials do not need to be artificially lightened with chemicals or bleach, and have been seen as appealing to Chinese and other East Asian consumers.

[72] The American-born Taiwanese singer Wang Leehom has publicly advocated the use of reusable chopsticks made from sustainable materials.