Acquired skill?
In practice, their use is an acquired skill that can take some mastery.
Actually, I was using chopsticks competently within two days of my arrival in Korea. After a week, I could manipulate them as well as any Korean. Has anyone had a similar chopstick experience, or am I simply gifted? :)
Also, I notice this article talks a lot about sharing a Chinese meal in the United States. This should probably be moved elsewhere; this is an article about chopsticks themselves, and the "hygenic problems" are probably only problems in Western cultures. Over here, everyone just picks out of common dishes with their chopsticks. --Stephen Gilbert
- You are not alone, learned to use them in a few days also, but it does say mastery which is not the same as being really good. -- Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 18:44, 2004 Sep 1 (UTC)
- Another test is to think about whether a phrase like In practice, their use is an acquired skill that can take some mastery. would appear on an article on, say, the fork or the spoon. I'm not really sure the sentence belongs in the article, but that might just be me. CES 04:08, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Different ways of holding chopsticks
As I understand it, there are actually several different styles for holding chopsticks - a Korean friend learned to use them "wrong" and his parents called him a barbarian.
Some description of alternate styles (or at least a note that there are such) should be put in by someone who knows how to explain it.
Chopsticks (music)
Page also needs a (disambiguation) link to Chopsticks (Music), or (Piano) or something, but I can't think of where to put it at the moment. --justfred
Southeast Asia and chopsticks
I have a problem with the jumbling together of all of Southeast Asia here (but I'm not qualified to sort it out). It's just that the faux pas section REALLY depends on the country! Couldn't someone divide it by country who knows how?Sara Parks Ricker
How to use a fork
We need an article on how to use a fork. --User:Juuitchan
Chopsticks in Japanese
"Hashi" of chopsticks and of bridge are different words. The accents (or tones) are clearly different in standard Japanese. The former is Hight-Low and the latter is Low-High. --Nanshu 23:25 1 Jul 2003 (UTC)
Wood for chopsticks?
Is there any truth to the story that the Japense have bought up vast swaths of the Amazon rain forest in order to cut down trees for chopsticks? It's probably an urban legend, but if it's true, it might be useful to add here. I don't want to add it without proof. RickK 02:43, 10 Nov 2003 (UTC)
It is nothing more than an urban legend. According to [1], tropical trees are too fragile for chopsticks, and Chinese products hold a share of 90% of the Japanese market. In addition, at least Japanese products are efficiently made of thinned wood and other woods that cannot be utilized for other purposes. --Nanshu 00:38, 3 Apr 2004 (UTC)
- Though i have no idea whats true, others claim that it's not from leftover wood
- http://www1.pref.tokushima.jp/kankyou/seikatsubunka/awalife/july01/chopsticks.htm
- http://www.geocities.com/ecosig_2000/waribashi.html -- Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 22:41, 2004 Sep 1 (UTC)
- I haven't seen anything in many years, but I clearly recall a tv program (a long time ago) saying that the wood was grown in Minnesota in the U.S. That's far from tropical rainforest; it was purpose-grown, not leftover; and it wasn't bamboo. Incidentally, although Japanese people consume unimaginably large numbers of wooden, disposable chopsticks at restaurants and when eating bentos, they also typically have reusable chopsticks in the home. And disposable knives, forks and spoons are made from petroleum.
+++++ End of Fg2's comment +++++
- Both sites represents one side of the so-called old "waribashi controversy". But unfortunately, neither provides scientific or statistic basis. So I presume they just show the widespread belief. In addition, waribashi accounts for less than 1% of total wood consumption of Japan. [2] --Nanshu 03:55, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Thailand
I believe that chopsticks were used in Thailand until King Rama V travelled to Europe in the 19th century after which he introduced eating with spoon and fork.
- I've finally found some references to Thai chopsticks that say something other than that they are not used there: Eating the Thai Way states that they are used for eating noodles. Other sites say they are used only for eating soup. In thai they are called "ตะเกียบ" ("ta kiap", "ta-giab", "dhà'gìap", etc). — Hippietrail 09:55, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- Well, the reason why most sites say chopsticks are not used in Thailand is because it is not used. Traditionally, Thais ate with their right hands (direct picking -- requires a bit of practice) until the western spoons and forks came in. In fact, the practice of eating by hand can still be found in rural part of the country, especially in the Northeastern part. Yes, chopsticks have been used for some (not all) of the Chinese-style food, mainly noodles. This is mere Chinese influence and personally I believe it came with immigration of Chinese people. The situation is similar to Western countries these days where people start using chopsticks when eating oriental food -- It is limitted to that particular type of food and it would not be correct to say that traditionally westerner eat with chopsticks. --Jakris 05:30, 5 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Length of Korean chopsticks
Also, the page states that Korean chopsticks are short. I always remember Korean chopsticks as being the most difficult to use because they are long and thin. Hippietrail 07:56, 6 Jan 2004 (UTC)
- You're holding them sideways. - Nunh-huh 00:41, 3 Apr 2004 (UTC)
- In common households, I believe chopsticks are longest in China, and shortest in Japan. I'm going to change the article to say that Korean chopsticks are medium in length. Kjoonlee 05:54, 2004 Dec 6 (UTC)
Nanotechnology
In future, they will use nanotechnology and contain embedded video displays, which will be used for advertising (according to Neal Stephenson in The Diamond Age. ( 17:26, 3 Dec 2003 (UTC)
Food preparation utensils Category
I'm pretty sure chopsticks are not used in the preparation of food. They are used in the eating of food - if you have a category for that. — Hippietrail 08:24, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)
- Other countries might be different, but Japanese cooks use chopsticks as well as a bewildering variety of other utensils. Chopsticks are useful for stirring food during boiling or frying, turning meat or fish when broiling, picking up food to place on dishes, etc. Fg2 07:04, Sep 5, 2004 (UTC)
- I actually have an extremely long pair of "cooking chopsticks" at home that I use in much the same way that many cooks use metal tongs. Picked it up from Martin Yan & too much PBS as a child. Lanzetta 02:55 14 Feb 2005 (PDT)
- Yes I've seen them myself now, in a Mongolian barbecue restaurant. I guess it's a secondary type of chopstick, there being no category for the primary type. Also, I have found that the Japanese name for "cooking chopsticks" is "saibashi" or "菜箸". I get the feeling that information on cooking chopsticks could be added to this article to to further improve it.
- As for Chinese, all I've been able to find is "公筷" (or possibly "筷用"), but I can't read enough Chinese to be sure. Can anyone enlighten me please? — Hippietrail 10:10, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Viet Nam
This article could benefit from a bit on Viet Nam, e.g. what kind of (Type) is used? Kokiri 22:13, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)
How to hold 32 chopsticks
IMO the dark shadows in the "How to use" image make it hard to understand. At first glance it appeared to me that the first picture showed a hand holding two chopsticks (in a very odd manner) and the second more than two chopsticks! The shadows are unnecessary anyway, as they don't convey any relevant "third-dimension" information. It would be great if someone could remove the shadows from the image. - dcljr 20:50, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- I have edited this pic to remove the unnecessary shadows and rounded the hands to look less choppy (no pun). This is image is from the french wiki and needs to be uploaded and corrected there too. Drhaggis 19:27, 4 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- Great! Thanks... well, hang on. The numbers still have shadows on them. And they don't match the numbered list below it. Actually, the first picture doesn't seem to match any of the instructions. But other than that, it looks great. - dcljr 09:25, 5 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- I was so focused on doctoring the photo, I didnt actually read the body text. Shame on me. I have corrected the copy to have 4 steps + hints to match the updated pic. - Drhaggis 05:21, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- This article does contain the line "In modern times, biases against left-handed eating are becoming less severe, and so chopsticks might be held with either hand." I am not the hand model, nor the original creator of this pic, but I am left handed and use chopsticks in the left hand. Drhaggis 03:17, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- The picture is now shadow free and right handed. I also limited the width of the pic in the article to be a little neater. Drhaggis 18:59, 10 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Vietnamese etiquette
Theres not a word about it, how does it differ from the others? -- Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 19:04, 2004 Sep 1 (UTC)
bamboo == wood?
This article lists all the main types of chopsticks as "wood", however bamboo is according to all other sources i've read by far the most common, does it mean to say bamboo (which is classified as wood) or does it mean "oldschool" wood (so to speak). -- Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason 23:18, 2004 Sep 4 (UTC)
Language Box
I have seen a number of language boxes lately like the one in this article ... is it really necessary to have these, especially when the article does a nice job discussing the origin of the word "chopstick" in Asian languages? This is an English-language encyclopedia, not a foreign language dictionary afterall. CES 04:08, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Hygiene
For hygeine's sake, when obtaining food from the serving dish, the chopsticks are inverted the other ends to pick up the food. I've spent quite a long time in China, and I never saw this done. Was I unobservant, was I eating with barbarians, or is this wrong (as well as misspelt)? Markalexander100 04:06, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC)
- I have, however, been shown to do this by Japanese... — Hippietrail 05:03, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC)
More etiquette problems: Do not stand chopsticks in a bowl of rice or anything else because the act is part of a traditional funeral rite. is mentioned both in the general and Chinese etiquette sections. An anon user indicated that this restriction is not universal, while my guide to Vietnamese culture says that it's impolite to do it, but doesn't say why. Does anyone know how universal or otherwise this is?
And to complicate things, my Vietnam book mentions using serving spoons when retrieving food from shared dishes, but doesn't mention the reverse-sticks manoeuvre. Markalexander100 06:21, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
Mongolia
So is Mongolia a "chopstick country" as mentioned in this article? Are chopsticks traditionally used for eating in Mongolia? We were given (Chinese plastic) chopsticks at the Mongolian BBQ restaurant last week and the BBQ chef was using a giant pair of chopsticks. I've also found the Mongolian word for chopsticks and [included it on Wiktionary]. — Hippietrail 10:56, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- I am under the impression that common "Mongolian BBQ" retaurants in the US are actually Chinese-run, and serve food quite distinct from the cuisine of Mongolia, which relies on boiled meat.--Pharos 06:18, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Cantonese IPA
To Ran: Please stop removing Cantonese IPA from all articles that have it. It is your own preferencing for not using it. But then it's stated on Wikipedia that IPA should be used wherever applicable to mark pronunciations. -- 20:26, January 26, 2005, UTC
User:Ran changed the text by removing IPAs.
BEFORE
| k'uai-tzu | |
| Cantonese IPA | fɑɪ3dzɪ2 |
| Cantonese Jyutping | faai3dzi2 |
AFTER
| k'uai-tzu | |
| Cantonese Jyutping | faai3zi2 |
- This has already been discussed to death at Talk:Political divisions of China. -- ran (talk) 20:57, Jan 26, 2005 (UTC)
Chinese chopsticks made of plastics
The article mentioned that Chinese chopsticks are made of wood, without mentioning plastics ones are in fact getting more popular. It didn't mention ivory ones used to be popular too. -- 20:28, January 26, 2005, UTC