We modern humans are basically carnivores. As the saying goes, chicken, duck, and fish, the meat mainly refers to pork, but do you know? Before the Qing Dynasty, people rarely ate pork. So what kind of meat did the ancients eat?

(1) Six Animals in Ancient Times

We know that in ancient times there was the so-called domestication of "six animals". This is the six kinds of animals: horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens. Although everyone They are all animals that provided high-quality meat resources for ancient people, but different meats have different statuses in the food system, and this status even affects the price of meat today. For example, in "Guo Yu Chu Yu Xia", Guan She's father said: "The emperor's food is too lao, cattle, sheep and hogs are all available. The princes eat cattle, the ministers eat sheep, the officials eat hogs, the scholars eat fish and roast it, and the common people eat vegetables." ,

You see, in the feudal feudal dynasty that emphasized ritual and music culture, meat resources were allocated according to each person's status level. Generally, there were several levels:

The emperor of Zhou could eat food sacrificed to heaven and earth, including beef, mutton and pork; the princes could eat beef, and the ministers could eat mutton; the officials could eat pork, the scholars could eat fish, and the common people could only eat vegetables.

Judging from this meat consumption situation, beef>mutton>pork>fish, it is not difficult to find that the status of pork is not as good as that of beef and mutton. This is related to the economic structure and productivity level at that time, as well as the continued social turmoil. The total number of various types of carnivorous economic animals is far from meeting the needs of the whole society. Beef and mutton, due to their scarcity and deliciousness, have become the exclusive enjoyment of the top nobles. Pork has become the exclusive enjoyment of the top nobles. The meat-eating attribute also occupied the dining tables of the lower-class nobles.

As for ordinary people who still want to eat meat? Enjoy your food! Precisely because meat eaters represent nobility, vegetarians also have a name, called "weed eaters", who feed on bean leaves and generally refer to eating whole grains. "Shuo Yuan Shan Shuo" written by Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty: "Meat eaters have already taken care of it, but what about those who eat grasshoppers?" ?

And the two are also tit-for-tat, and no one looks down on the other. For example, in the famous story "Cao GUI's Debate", Cao GUI believed that "meat-eaters are despicable and fail to make far-sighted plans" and felt that nobles If we eat too much meat, our foreheads will be blocked, so we don't think long-term and comprehensive enough, and our heads are far faster than those of vegetarians like ourselves. In the spring of ten years, all the troops attacked me. The general is fighting, and Cao GUI invites him to see him. The people in his hometown said: "Meat-eaters plan this, so why not?" ?GUI said: ?Meat eaters are despicable and fail to plan far. ?It’s about seeing.

(2) Pork in the Qing Dynasty

The sudden rise in the status of pork came in the Qing Dynasty. With the rapid development of breeding technology, pork finally reversed and became a staple food of the Han people. Mainly meat.

For example, we can see in gourmet Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Food List" that pigs have been listed separately in the "Special Animal List": "Pigs are used the most and can be called "the majority leader". The ancient people had a special gift of food to dolphins. ?

In his introduction, there were 43 dishes related to pork, including three methods of red braised pork, white braised pork, and oil-roasted pork. Beef and mutton are classified in the "Miscellaneous Animal List", which includes cattle, sheep and deer, which are common in non-Southern households. However, one must not know how to make it. Compose "Miscellaneous Animal List". ?

Today, there are endless ways to cook pork, and many classic dishes have become frequent guests on people’s daily tables. For example, braised pork is a famous popular dish and is a hot dish. It uses pork belly as the main ingredient, and it is best to use three layers of fat and lean meat (pork belly). There are as many as 20 or 30 ways to make it; boiled pork slices are a new local famous dish, which originated in Zigong and developed in the southwest. , is a famous home-cooked dish in Sichuan cuisine; pork stewed vermicelli is one of the four major stewed Northeastern dishes. It is a distinctive Northeastern flavor dish that is deeply loved by people from the north and the south.