met free Chapter 261 Why not eat beef? Vegetarianism in the Tang Dynasty?
Chapter 261 Why not eat beef? Vegetarianism in the Tang Dynasty?
Don't underestimate Zhen Xiaosi; she can be called a "historical detective" because she can always dig out amazing discoveries from ancient books. What's even more amazing is that she can also turn her discoveries into money.
Zhen Xiaosi analyzed some specific phenomena, such as the significant class differences, which made the law more restrictive on commoners. Because she found a dish called "Red Sheep Branch Cane" roasted whole lamb in Wei Juyuan's "Banquet Menu", it shows that meat was still eaten by the nobility, but beef was indeed particularly rare.
Of course, there are exceptions in special circumstances, such as when the army went to war or there was a famine, there are records of "killing cattle to feed the soldiers" as an emergency measure. Zhen Xiaosi found some flexibility in the beef ban in the "Biography of Guo Ziyi" in the Old Book of Tang, which shows that the beef ban was not immutable.
Surprisingly, Zhen Xiaosi works part-time as a university lecturer, where she is incredibly engaging and charismatic. Her story of becoming a reclusive millionaire solely through a single part-time project is truly legendary…
Zhen Xiaosi found a crucial passage about cattle in the Dunhuang manuscripts, "The Fragment of the Laws on Household Registration, Marriage, Stables, and Storehouses under the Chuigong System," demonstrating the strictness of the control. While the enforcement of these laws may have varied from place to place, they collectively formed the social constraints of the time.
Teacher Zhen raised her hand and pushed up her tortoiseshell glasses, which exuded an academic geek vibe. A mysterious glint appeared on her lips as she opened the PowerPoint presentation with a "ding." She cleared her throat and said, "Hey everyone! Today, let's have a good chat about why people in the Tang Dynasty kept their distance from beef—it's definitely not as simple as some student made it out to be, that even the Bull Demon King would shake his head in disgust. That's far from enough!"
As soon as he said that, the classroom erupted in laughter. Everyone's eyes turned to that student, who, feeling embarrassed by the stares, scratched his head and chuckled with a red face.
"We all know there's a fragment of the 'Chuigong Zhizhi Hunjiu Ku Law' in the Dunhuang manuscripts, right? Can you guess what's written on it?" Teacher Zhen suddenly slammed her hand on the table with a loud "bang," startling several students who were secretly daydreaming and dozing off. They were instantly pulled back from their slumber, their eyes still sleepy and a little dazed.
Teacher Zhen raised her voice and said, enunciating each word clearly, "Listen carefully! In the Tang Dynasty, even if a cow accidentally scraped its hoof by the slightest bit, it had to rush to submit a report to the government overnight! This reporting process was incredibly complicated, a hundred times more cumbersome than the OA system we use today. It was practically the most invincible standard procedure for assessing work-related injuries in the ancient cattle world!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a student couldn't help but whisper among himself: "In my opinion, those low-level civil servants in the Tang Dynasty might have had a special position where their daily job was to squat there and apply gentian violet to cow hooves..."
"Who's whispering down there? If you want to speak, stand up and say it openly!" Zhen Xiaosi reacted quickly, throwing a piece of chalk accurately at the muttering student. Teacher Zhen wasn't angry and continued to switch PPT slides, with the page of "The Essentials of the Four Seasons" appearing on the screen.
"Class, open your eyes wide and pay attention to this important point!" She paused, then continued, "Back then, the practical need for oxen was paramount, absolutely dominant. Oxen were incredibly important; farming relied mainly on oxen as helpers, just as this agricultural book, *The Essentials of the Four Seasons*, clearly states—'One ox can replace the strength of seven people!' Imagine, in the early Tang Dynasty, before the population exploded, the economic value of oxen far surpassed the nutritional value of beef!"
As she spoke, Teacher Zhen used a laser pointer to draw the phrase "One ox can replace the strength of seven people," and even drew several horizontal lines under it. "This cost-effectiveness is insane, like a super excavator! During the Zhenguan era, the price of oxen in Chang'an was still in its 'dormant period,' before it skyrocketed. The price was at most about the same as in a small third-tier county town. But if someone got carried away and slaughtered an ox, the scene would be like dismantling a brand-new Lamborghini into eight pieces and selling it as scrap metal! Anyone who does that is a fool!"
The students' previously dazed eyes lit up instantly, and they became incredibly excited, chattering away as the classroom erupted into a frenzy.
"So, the people of the Tang Dynasty were all hidden actuaries!" Teacher Zhen began showing the tomb murals. "Classmates, look at how smug these nobles are eating roasted whole lamb. Doesn't it look like the Christmas trees you post on your WeChat Moments?"
Teacher Zhen drew circles with a laser pointer. "Students, look at Wei Juyuan's 'Banquet Menu.' This main dish—'Red Bull Cane'—is worth three Michelin stars these days. But look closely—the entire Manchu Han Imperial Feast is prepared, but there's no beef! What does this mean?"
Looking at the students chatting and laughing below, Teacher Zhen suddenly pulled out her pointer and tapped the blackboard, "This shows that the Tang Dynasty nobles had already grasped the essence of Versailles literature: the more unattainable something is, the more they want to show it off! You could get a Bull Demon King figurine; that would definitely be top-tier in the doll world!"
The students' attention was back.
"Moreover, pork, mutton, venison, and poultry can all be used to replace beef, as recorded in many instances in the Taiping Guangji. In addition, scenes of hunting deer and eating sheep are frequently seen in murals in aristocratic tombs. Therefore, as cattle were used as tools for production, their meat-related function was naturally marginalized."
Zhen Xiaosi switched the PPT to the religion page, "Confucianism belongs to the agricultural ideology, and the scholar-official class adheres to the concept that 'the ox is the foundation of agriculture.' When Han Yu argued with others in his 'Memorial on the Reform of Salt Law,' he invoked the banner of agriculture, a move comparable to that of a modern environmentalist. What's even more amazing is the divine assistance from Buddhism and Taoism—monks said that killing oxen would lead to hell, and Taoists said that slaughtering oxen would damage one's cultivation... Just because of this, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism reached a strategic cooperation at the dinner table!"
Zhen Xiaosi also added the Taoist taboo, citing the "One Hundred and Eighty Precepts of Laozi" which also has the precept of "not killing or harming any living beings." Multiple religions, along with ethics and morality, have jointly shaped the trend of dietary taboos.
Suddenly, Zhen Xiaosi pulled a copy of "Laojun's 180 Precepts" from the podium and began to promote it to the class: "Look closely, everyone! This is an original photocopy, a rare find! Anyone who wants it, come find me after class with your vouchers to 'get it for you'..." She didn't even need to look; the students' eyes lit up, eager to try their luck...