Testing for poison

Some daggers, referred to as cheonjado, had ornaments attached to the sheath. This knife, like many other jangdo, is equipped with chopsticks. The chopsticks could not only be used to eat when there was no other cutlery available but were also used to test food for poison.Kungnip Munhwajae Yŏn’guso (Korea) and Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig, eds., Togil Laip’ŭch’ihi Gŭrasi minsok pangmulgwan sojang Han’guk munhwajae (Korean art collection, Grassi Museum für Volkerkunde zu Leipzig, Germany), Kugoe sojae Han’guk munhwajae chosa pogosŏ 27 (Taejŏn: Kungnim Munhwajae Yŏn’guso, 2013), 301. Chopsticks made of silver would turn black when in contact with any food containing lethal dosages of the poisonous substance called arsenic.“Namuwiki: Jangdo.” Over the years, the functionality of the jangdo disappeared, turning the tool into an ornament. Some knives could no longer even be removed from their sheath. Together with this change, the use of chopsticks also transformed, becoming just another decorative part of the dagger.Niki, “Chopsticks: 筷子, 젓가락, おてもと, or Đũa?,” Medium (blog), June 5, 2017,. The use of silver in Korean chopsticks is a feature that sets them apart from other counties in East Asia, like China and Japan, where the chopsticks not only look different but are also used in slightly varying ways.