Chopsticks were created about 5,000 years
ago in China. The earliest versions were used for cooking and were
most likely made from twigs. They began being used as table
implements about 500 AD.
The table knife’s decline in popularity in these regions at this
time can also be attributed to the teachings of Confucius, who was
a vegetarian. He believed that knives were not appropriate to eat
with. Confucius supposedly said, "The honorable and upright man
keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen and
he allows no knives on his table."
Chopsticks later migrated to Japan and Korea. One distinct
difference between Japanese and Chinese chopsticks was that the
former were made from a single piece of bamboo that were joined at
the base.
While the early chopsticks were more often than not made of some
cheap material, such as bamboo, later silver chopsticks were
sometimes used during Chinese dynastic times in order to prevent
food poisoning. It changes color if touched by garlic, onion, or
rotten eggs, which release hydrogen sulfide that reacts with the
silver causing it to change color.