Under the reign of the Thangs, Kai-Yang presented a pair of gold chopsticks to his Minister of State, Soung-King, saying that he made him this present, not on account of the intrinsic value of the gold, but because the chopsticks were symbolical by their shape of the straightforwardness of his character.
It is recorded of a gourmet, named Ho-Tseng, who used to spend a large sum of money on his food, without ever being able to satisfy his tastes, that he fed like a prince, and though he spent upwards of a thousand crowns on his table, did not consider a single dish worthy of his chopsticks.
The number of historical anecdotes told about chopsticks is far too large to be given here. Let me, however, quote one of these anecdotes;
“A sea-shell which had the elongated form of a stick, and which is known as the solen or razor, is greatly appreciated in China. It bears a mark on its side. It is said that an Emperor having taken a solen up in his chopsticks, cast it into the lake. The mollusc multiplied, but each of its descendants preserve the traces of the chopsticks of Emperor Han-Ou-Ti.”
Let me conclude with four lines of poetry about the chopsticks, which were written by one of our philosophers:
“I often wish to consult my chopsticks,
Which always taste what is bitter and what is sweet before we do.
But they answer that all good savour comes from the dishes themselves,
And that all that they do is to come and to go.”