Why Chopsticks?
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M$3 Answers
As for the history of chopsticks, there's a good article here: http://www.asianartmall.com/chopstickshistory.htm
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M$
- In ancient China, where chopsticks were developed, food was prepared in large pots, where it stayed hot for extended periods of time, so Chinese people would break off some twigs to pull out pieces of food.
- Due to Confucius' statements about knives being related to the aggressiveness of the slaughter house (Confucius was vegetarian) use of knives at the table was considered bad form.
- With dwindling food resources, meat was chopped into smaller pieces, which also cooked more rapidly thereby reducing the amount of fuel needed for cooking. These pieces were easy to pick up with chopsticks and did not require a fork and knife, which would have been needed to cut large chunks of meat into manageable bite-sized chunks.
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M$
There is more on this topic here : http://allchopsticks.info
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M$
Yep, there is nothing magical about knives and forks that all societies should use them.
Forks only in fact started being used quite recently in the West.
http://lsned.com/facts/invention-fork/
Apart from knives and forks and chopsticks, there are cultures that eat their food in other ways such as using tortillas or rotis to scoop up pieces of food.
... and they can save some cabinet space too. How much room does a set of forks, knives, and spoons take up anyways? The only universal eating utensil that modern civilization has come up with is the spork and those are about as useful as a car with no wheels. I for one think chopsticks are the way to go. If not you can just pick up on the Indian tradition and start using your hands. You can keep with the bulky utensils of modern man too. Really, I guess it's your call. :)