WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Far East, Close Up: Chopsticks

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

Far East, Close Up provides Westerners a front-row seat to the customs, cultures and everyday life in East Asia. Created and hosted by Emma Wiermann. In this episode, Emma gives us the history of these finicky eating utensils. 

I'm Emma Wehrman, welcoming you to Far East Close Up, where we provide Westerners a front row seat to the customs, cultures, and everyday life in East Asia. Today's topic is chopsticks. Chopsticks have a history stretching back over 3,000 years. They were first used in ancient China during the Shang Dynasty, and maybe even earlier. Originally, they weren't for eating. They were tools for cooking, stirring fires, and even checking food temperature. But by the Han Dynasty, as rice took over the table, chopsticks became eating utensils. In the Ming Dynasty, they took on their modern name, Kwaitze, derived from the characters

meaning quick and bamboo. Today, chopsticks are part of a rich standing tradition shared across China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, in what scholars Ishiki Ha Tzuro and Lynn White describe as the Chopsticks Cultural Sphere. I'm Emma Wehrman, and this has been Far East Close Up. Hillsdale 101.7 FM.