Long time ago, people from other cultures used their hands to eat food, while the ancient Chinese invented chopsticks to keep their hands clean. Early chopsticks were used mainly for cooking until 400 A. D. when people began eating with chopsticks.
We don't know exactly when chopsticks were invented. There's a research showing that they didn't come into wide use until about 300 B. C. Chinese thinker Confucius was an important person in the history of chopsticks, because he thought peace would not appear if people used knives during a meal.
The"no-knives-on-the-table" rule led to a big change in Chinese cooking. Food had to be cut into small pieces. This was the birth of Chinese cooking and it has made Chinese food popular around the world.
However, many Westerners find it difficult to use chopsticks. Eric, a foreign teacher, had the experience of learning to use chopsticks. "I need to hold them properly to be able to put the food carefully into my mouth." Eric' s Chinese friends taught him patiently, but it still took him months to learn this skill. "But it's worth learning. I have learned a lot from this experience," Eric said.
Cultures can often be understood through food. For Chinese, food doesn't just provide energy. It also brings happiness. And chopsticks also mean a lot. As a good example of Chinese culture, they show the Chinese wisdom(智慧).
