Although the material conditions in ancient times were relatively scarce, it was not impossible for ordinary people to eat meat, which was divided into eras and regions.
In the pre-Qin period, the overall productivity of the slave society of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties was relatively low, and the total output of social grain was far from enough to supply the daily consumption of the people, and the tragedy of people being starved to death often occurred, let alone eating meat. And according to the rank of the common people is not eligible to eat meat, only princes and other nobles are eligible to enjoy meat, in the "Zhou Li", it is clearly expressed that according to the social hierarchy to allocate meat resources, beef can only be enjoyed by the King of Zhou, mutton can only be eaten by the princes, the following doctors can only be relieved by pigs and dogs, to the level of commoners, eating meat has become almost impossible.
In the Song Dynasty, the commercial society arrived, the surplus products of the society appeared to be exchanged, the resources of the market were greatly enriched, and the common people also gained the right to eat meat. Although not as exaggerated as in "Water Margin", ordinary people can eat beef from cultivated land, but pork and chicken have become common consumables on the table of ordinary people, according to relevant historical records, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng Province, has special chicken, duck, pig breeding farms and slaughterhouses, the daily supply of tens of thousands, can meet the meat needs of hundreds of thousands of people in Bieliang City.
When the ancient material was really greatly enriched, it was still in the Ming and Qing dynasties. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the high-yield crops of the West were successively introduced to the East, so that China's population surged rapidly, the frequency of exchange was greater, during the kangqian dynasty, China's agricultural output also reached the highest of the ancient feudal dynasty, the urbanization process also reached the highest in history, and the catering industry in the town also underwent major changes, people pay more attention to food, taste, and in the late Qing Dynasty, a food culture was born, derived from the traditional "eight major cuisines", meat has also become an ordinary urban people can consume the ingredients.
Therefore, ancient civilians want to eat meat, the decisive role is still the environment of the times, encountering the prosperity of grain and prosperity, eating meat is no longer the luxury of ordinary people, in the face of famine or war, then it is very rare to be able to eat and live.
The ancients ate meat, and in addition to having a great relationship with the times, they also had a lot to do with the region where they were located.
Just like people who live in deep mountains and old forests, they can get prey by hunting to meet the demand for meat, or people who live near the rivers and streams of The Sea Lake can catch shrimp by fishing to obtain seafood and meet the needs of meat, which is a way for the ancients to obtain meat.