Archaeological studies have found that the world's earliest domestic pig remains were found in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, about 9 years ago. The earliest site of eating pork in China is the "Cishan Site" in Wu 'an, Hebei Province, which is about 8, years ago. The pig bones excavated from Cishan site come from 8 adult pigs and 3 young pigs, which shows that the breeding has reached a certain scale. In addition, traces of pig-raising have also been found in the sites of the same period in Xinglongwa, Inner Mongolia, across the lake bridge in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang and Wuyang, Henan. It can be seen that pigs began to enter people's lives in the early stage of human social development.

Compared with other parts of the world, China people's feelings for pigs have been deeper and more special since ancient times. Ancient books often mention "horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, tapirs" and "six animals", among which tapirs refer to pigs. When the ancient emperors sacrificed to the country, they used the ceremony of too fast, which required that "cattle, sheep and tapirs" should be available, and pigs were essential. There is a "tapir" in the Chinese character for "home" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which means that only by raising pigs can you be called "home". All this reflects that pigs have occupied an important position in people's lives at that time.

During the Shang Dynasty in ancient China, it was very common to raise pigs. By the Zhou Dynasty, the pig industry had reached a certain scale. Gong Liu in The Book of Songs "Elegance" records: "Hold it in prison, and use it appropriately. Drink what you eat, and you will be the king. "It tells the story of eating pork and drinking beautiful wine at the celebration ceremony.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, nomadic tribes in the northern grassland entered the Central Plains, established a series of political power, and also brought the nomadic people's habit of eating mutton. The rising trend of pork began to shrink, and mutton gradually replaced pork, opening the road to hegemony for thousands of years.

in the song dynasty, mutton was still popular in the upper class. In Song Shenzong, the royal chef stipulated that the royal family only used mutton, not pork. The palace consumed 4, Jin of mutton every year, while only 4, Jin of pork. The huge difference between the two kinds of meat fully reflected the royal family's eating attitude at that time. But during this period, pork ushered in a turning point in civil society. At that time, although mutton was an aristocrat in meat, it made dignitaries flock to it, but the disadvantage was that the supply was limited. Because of this, pork, which was easier to obtain, quietly rose among the people. Menglianglu in the Southern Song Dynasty described the prosperous pork market in Lin 'an that year: "The two streets in the lane are slaughter houses, killing hundreds of pigs every day", "Pigs are hung from each shop every day, not less than ten sides" and "people are crowded and people eat". According to records, at that time, a catty of pork cost six yuan, a catty of mutton cost eight yuan, and a catty of beef and horse meat cost thirty yuan. The obvious price advantage has driven pork consumption.

pork really turned over and once again ascended the throne of hegemony, until the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the early Ming Dynasty, a recipe for imperial meals in Yongle period showed that a meal consumed five kilograms of mutton and six kilograms of pork, and at this time, mutton began to decline. In the late Ming Dynasty, the court consumed 18,9 pigs and 1,75 sheep every year, and pork had taken a great advantage. During the Qing Dynasty, the status of pork was further consolidated. According to statistics, nearly 1, pigs will be killed in Beijing every Spring Festival alone. After thousands of years, pork finally attacked the upper position.