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When it comes to eating habits, everyone's ears are filled with these: the Manchus don't eat dog meat, the Tibetans don't eat fish, the Hui don't eat pork, and the Han don't have any taboos. But in fact, these eating habits are misunderstood.
And these misunderstood eating habits have a certain historical background and conditions. Now let's travel through history to see how these misunderstood eating habits came into being and passed down.
1. The misunderstood Manchus
When it comes to Manchu dietary taboos, it's easy to think of not eating dog meat, and this is a big misunderstanding of Manchu eating habits.
(Jurchen soldier)
As early as the Jurchen period, the Manchus had the habit of slaughtering dogs. When they made sacrifices, they would slaughter white dogs, hang their heads on long poles, and stretch them into the air to communicate with the gods and pray for good weather or disease disasters.
In normal times, the Jurchens also slaughter dogs as an extra meal. In the "Three Dynasties Northern Alliance Compilation", it is recorded that the Jurchens put dog meat and other food on the plate, and everyone put the joy on the scene.
In addition, in the production of warm clothing, Jurchens will also use dog skin as coats and dog skin as hats, and will not avoid dogs at all.
The attitude of the Manchus towards dogs did not change until the Nurhachi period, and there is a legend about this change.
(Loyal dog saves Nurhach)
According to legend, when Nurhachi was young, he once led troops to fight an unfavorable battle, and he was defeated and retreated, and finally he was forced to hide in a valley. He was hungry and tired, and soon lay down on the ground and died, and his puppy lay faithfully next to him, guarding him like a bodyguard.
The enemy army rummaged through the entire valley, but did not find Nur Hachi's figure, anxious. At this time, a clever soldier proposed to burn the weeds in the valley with fire and force Nurhachi out with smoke.
Soon after, a raging fire burst into flames, crackling the blades of grass while Nurhachi was still asleep. The puppy next to him was in a hurry, and quickly ran to the river to wet himself, and then threw the water on Nurhach's body.
The puppy had to run again and again, Nurhach's body was wet, but the puppy passed out because of his lack of physical strength. When Nurhachi woke up from a full sleep, all he saw was the puppy's almost cool body.
This leads to the legend that Nurhachi repays the favor to loyal dogs, saying that he forbids eating dog meat, but this is another misunderstanding.
(Portrait of Emperor Taiji)
It is recorded in the "Old Manchu Files" that the Manchus were still eating dog meat in the Nurhachi period. Even when the official family issued the official wording, they did not shy away from distributing dog meat as a reward to their subordinates.
In fact, what really made dogs taboo was Huang Taiji, who issued the ban on dogs. Because dog ownership was a problem at that time, it was serious enough to disturb the people, and the state issued a dog slaughter order earlier. And Huang Taiji's dog ban was proposed in response to the dog slaughter order, and he did not recommend slaughtering all dogs.
At the same time, this dog ban is also subject to regional restrictions, only in the city, and outside the city is still unrestricted. When there are some dog-related disputes in the city, the officials will still sanction the dogs.
Later, when the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Manchus listed the ban on dogs as an explicit text in order to highlight the cultural differences between the Manchus and the Han. At this point, the news that the Manchus did not eat dog meat slowly spread.
(Manchu)
Therefore, the Manchus eat dog meat, and the ban on dogs is just a cultural label for them. And it is generally believed that the Manchus do not eat dog meat, which is a misunderstanding of the Manchus.
2. The misunderstood Tibetans
In fact, there are also ethnic groups that do not eat any dog meat, that is, the Tibetans, who have been with dogs for a long time, feel that dogs are a kind of fetish, and dogs are not allowed to be slaughtered.
Compared with the Tibetan eating habit of not eating dog meat, Tibetans have always been talked about not eating fish meat, and this is a misunderstanding of the Tibetan people.
Tibetans have a long history of eating fish, and such a related story is recorded in the "Records of the Kings of Tibet".
(Fish bones in the ruins)
King Zhongning married a very beautiful princess from Buda, this princess had delicate skin, dark hair and radiance. But soon the princess was visibly emaciated: her skin had lost its luster, her hair had become dull, and even her complexion had dissipated a lot.
King Zhongning was worried and asked if the princess was sick. The princess replied that it was just a change in eating habits that did not adapt. She says she often eats a delicacy in her hometown, and if she can eat it again, she believes she will soon be radiant.
King Zhongning hurriedly asked his subordinates to fetch this ingredient. The princess sent a henchman to fry it in oil, seal it in a sealed jar, and eat it secretly, and this ingredient is fish. The princess often ate when she was in her mother's house, and King Zhongning did not have the habit of eating fish here, so it led to the princess's increasing emaciation. It can be seen that Tibetans have always had the habit of eating fish.
The reason why Tibetans have rumors that they do not eat fish is directly related to the general environment of Tibetans later.
(Split belly fish)
As we all know, Tibetans are rich in water resources, and there are more than 100 types of fish, but not all of them are suitable for consumption.
Take the largest number of cracked fish, they live in freshwater areas, and their appearance is not much different from ordinary fish, but they hide great toxicity, especially its eggs are highly toxic. If people accidentally eat it, they will have a headache, a stomach pain, and severe vomiting and diarrhea, which will make people collapse.
Unfortunately, until now there has been no effective antidote to this fish poison. Once people are hit, this abrasive symptom will continue for several days until the body carries the toxin.
Coupled with the limited cooking technology at that time, Tibetans could not ensure the safety of cooking, so there was a strange circle of often eating fish and poisoning, so gradually Tibetans gave up eating fish.
Later, although cooking technology improved a lot, many Tibetans still insisted on not eating fish because of their religious beliefs.
(Devout Tibetans)
Before Buddhism was introduced to Tibetans, Tibetans practiced Bon. Lu, the evil god in Bon, is said to live in water, and once he is disturbed, he will be angry and corrupted, bringing people a succession of bad luck. Therefore, Tibetans try not to eat the creatures in the water to avoid disturbing the evil gods in the water, including fish.
Later, Buddhism was introduced to the Tibetans, and Tibetans were influenced by the Buddhist concept of non-killing, trying to reduce killing. They try to kill relatively large animals, such as cattle and sheep, in order to reduce the number of animals slaughtered, and thus alleviate the sins in their hearts.
At the same time, many Tibetans choose to release the animals they catch in order to accumulate merit. In Buddhism, released animals can no longer be preyed upon. The number of fish is so large and similar that after release, it is really impossible to determine which ones are released and which are wild, so devout Tibetans have slowly developed the custom of not eating fish.
(Tibetan cattle and sheep)
Therefore, Tibetans eat fish, especially now that they are skilled in cooking. The common belief that Tibetans do not eat fish is a misunderstanding of Tibetans.
3. The misunderstood Hui
In addition to the misunderstood Tibetans, there is another misunderstood ethnic group that is the Hui. The dietary taboo of the Hui is more familiar with not eating pork, and in fact, in addition to historical reasons not to eat pork, there are many foods they do not eat.
Let's first talk about the reason why the Hui do not eat pork.
(Hui distribution map)
We all know that the Hui are mainly distributed in the north, especially near Xinjiang. The geography here has always been harsh, and desertification is particularly severe. Therefore, the land on which people can grow crops is very limited, and coupled with the poor soil in the local area, it is not very good to grow any harvest.
Pigs are omnivores, they are almost not picky eaters, vegetables and fruits do not refuse, and even some bark and wild vegetables that people can't eat can easily eat. At that time, when people themselves were not enough to eat, there was no rich food to raise pigs.
At the same time, because of the omnivorous nature of pigs, people only provide pigs with one ingredient and cannot raise pigs very strong. Therefore, everyone only knows its pigs and does not eat its meat, and slowly develops the habit of not eating pork.
In addition to objective geographical reasons, there is also a legend that the Hui do not eat pork.
(Pig feeding picture)
On one occasion, the ancestors of the Hui were defeated in the battle with foreign tribes and were forced into front of a large river. There were chasers in front, and there was water in the back, and the people were in a dead end.
Seeing that the enemy was about to chase him, everyone was dying. At this time, someone saw several strong pigs walking leisurely nearby, so they moved and proposed to ride pigs across the river.
Although these pigs have ugly faces, they have a gentle temperament. When people climb on the pig's back, the pig neither dodges nor resists. Then, as if it could understand people's hearts, the pigs carried people across the river.
This is the legend that the Hui do not eat pork because of gratitude.
In fact, in addition to geographical and legendary reasons, the Hui do not eat pork and are directly related to religion.
(Islamic architecture)
Islam believes that pigs are lazy and lie down after eating; And they don't pay much attention to the environment they live in, and they always make a mess in the nest; At the same time, the pig does not raise its head, which is contrary to the tenet of change of heart and mind advocated by Islam. Therefore, the rule that no congregation was allowed to eat pork was gradually left.
Most of the Hui believe in Islam, and the Islamic Bible "Quran" clearly stipulates that pork cannot be eaten. It is precisely this religious belief and special geographical environment that has made the Hui people pass down the habit of not eating pork.
(Devout Hui)
In fact, the Hui not only do not eat pork, dog meat, snake meat, donkey meat, they also do not eat it. So it is also a misconception that the Hui people just don't eat pork.
Fourth, the misunderstood Han people
As the Han ethnic group, which accounts for the largest proportion of the population, it seems that there is no taboo on diet, but in fact, the Han people do not eat beef for a long time.
(Cultivated cattle under cultivation)
As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Book of Rites clearly stipulated that princes could not slaughter cattle at will. The upper class still has a ban on cattle, and the people at the bottom cannot slaughter cattle casually.
At this time, the ban on cattle was mainly related to the low productivity at that time. The main foods of the Han are wheat and rice, which require a lot of labor. At that time, the means of production were not developed, so people became the main labor force for farming.
Later, people domesticated cattle and found that cattle had great potential in farming. A robust farming cow can even accompany the growth of a generation, affecting the rise and fall of a family. Therefore, in order to increase agricultural production, the rulers of ancient times would explicitly prohibit the slaughter of cattle.
In addition, with the ruler's blessing of the ban on cattle, fewer and fewer cattle can be slaughtered, the price of beef becomes more and more expensive, and in the long run, the Han people slowly stop eating beef.
Later, with the continuous development of productivity, the ban on cattle also ushered in a relaxing day.
(War Horse)
The current record of the ban on cattle can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. There is also a provision in the "Song Penal System" that slaughtering cattle privately shall be sentenced to one and a half years in prison.
In the later "Water Margin", we can often see such a scene: a big hero sits down in the store, raises his hand to greet the shop Xiaoer to come with two pounds of beef and a pot of good wine. We all know that the author Shi Nai-an is from the Ming Dynasty, and the story he wrote took place in the Song Dynasty, which shows that during the Ming Dynasty, the ban on cattle had been gradually relaxed.
This change is closely related to comprehensive national strength. As productivity increased, the rulers' political propositions changed from national stability to external expansion. At this time, they began to abandon the cattle ban and impose a horse ban that was more beneficial to sustain expansion.
(Food Pairing)
Now, with the continuous improvement of material life, people's requirements for diet are getting higher and higher. Everyone not only pays attention to the combination of meat and vegetables, but also pays attention to balanced nutrition, beef has become a home-cooked dish often served, and the ban on cattle has become a memory in history.
Of course, even in the current era of cultural integration, the Han people are not taboo about everything, and the Han people in various regions have retained their own unique drinking habits.
For example, Cantonese people who claim to be able to eat Fujianese people, they do not eat spicy; Senior Nanjing people, they don't eat carp; Hainan's little friends do not eat pig's heads and chicken feet.
Therefore, it is generally believed that the Han people have no dietary taboos, which is also a misunderstanding of the Han people.
(Great Integration of Nationalities)
There are many ethnic groups in China and a long history, and the formation of each ethnic group's eating habits has its own unique historical conditions and human factors.
With the continuous development of the level of technology and the deepening of cultural exchanges, many ethnic groups no longer regard a certain food as a taboo that cannot be touched as before, and they can even eat at the same table with other ethnic groups and talk happily.
(Cultural heritage)
However, we still have to respect the eating habits handed down by various ethnic groups, just as we respect our own traditional culture.
After all, only if we value our own culture and pass it on with dedication, will other countries not be so easy to carry out cultural invasions, and our culture will not be so easily stolen by others.