No Need for Knives

Invented about 5,000 years ago, chopsticks were initially used for cooking. After all, they were ideal for reaching into deep pots filled with oil or hot water. Around 400-500 A.D., the use of chopsticks would change due to China’s population boom.

As the population gradually expanded, resources for cooking continued to become more and more scarce. This prompted people to start cutting their food into bite-sized pieces so that it would cook faster. Because there was almost nothing left to cut, knives became obsolete. Also, chopsticks were very easy to make and were typically constructed from cheap materials. This sparked the widespread use of chopsticks as eating utensils- a trend that has continued to this day and even spread to other parts of the world along with Chinese cuisine.