Wang Anshi, a politician in the Northern Song Dynasty, explained the word "beauty" in this way: from sheep to big, big sheep is beauty. Moreover, in the Song Dynasty, from dignitaries to ordinary people, everyone regarded mutton as a delicacy. Even the royal meals about meat in the court are almost all made of mutton. However, in daily life, the demand for pork is still great.

In the Song Dynasty, Wu's Dream recorded that there were several meat shops inside and outside Hangzhou. "Every shop was hung with pigs, not less than ten sides. For example, during the two festivals in winter, each store sells dozens of noodles every day. By the end of the meal, the hanging bones were exhausted. " "Xiuyifang in the north of the dam is called the meat market, and both streets in the lane are slaughterhouses, killing hundreds of mouths every day." Pork can be seen everywhere in the streets.

However, there are few scenes of pork in Water Margin, and many Liangshan heroes only like to eat beef. Although there are laws prohibiting the slaughter of cattle in past dynasties, heroes always run counter to them.

There are as many as 134 scenes involving slaughtering and eating meat in Water Margin, among which 48 scenes are beef. For example, before Lin Chong went to Liangshan on a snowy night, he "carried fireworks with wine gourd and beef in his arms"; Wu Yong went to find the Ruan brothers to join in. Ruan cut ten Jin of "flower cake and fat cow" in a small shop near the village and ate it until it was getting late. When Wu Yong returned the invitation, he bought twenty Jin of raw and cooked beef.

In episode 38, "When it rains, the gods will walk in the Pacific Ocean, and the black whirlwind will fight in the waves and jump in vain", Song Jiang sees that Li Kui jy has chewed three bowls of fish soup and bones, so he asks the bartender to say, "My eldest brother thinks he is hungry. You can find a big piece of meat and cut two Jin to eat with him. If you cut less, you will be rewarded. "

The bartender said, "I only sell mutton here, not beef." I want fat sheep. " Song Jiang didn't actually ask for beef by name, but some of them are self-evident. When Li Kui jy heard that there was no beef, he was very angry. He chopped the fish sauce on his face and spilled it all over the bartender.

When Liangshan heroes get together, beef is one of the essential foods. why

Liangshan hero is determined to have a hard time with cattle? After thinking about it, there is only one explanation: showing contempt and strong dissatisfaction with the law and the court. Some scholars have come to the conclusion that Shi Naian emphasized in The Water Margin that all Liangshan heroes like to eat beef, because beef is a symbolic food with "rebellious" significance, which is more in line with the social background at that time.

In fact, people in China ate beef earlier, but in the Spring and Autumn Period.

During the Warring States Period, in order to increase agricultural output, Niu Geng became an important agricultural farming measure, so cattle became an important strategic material of the country and were protected by the state. Cattle were not allowed to be slaughtered without permission. In the Qin dynasty, when cows were old, they had to be handed over to the government, and the government allowed them to be slaughtered. With the remarkable development of family economy in Song Dynasty, it was more important for farmers to cultivate cattle. Su Shi said that "farmers lose more cattle than children". Legislation in the Song Dynasty explicitly prohibited the killing of cattle, and the crime of killing cattle was punishable by death.

The Criminal Law of the Song Dynasty stipulates: "In the future, anyone who kills officials, private horses, private cattle and miscellaneous animals, or who kills them privately out of hatred, please kill them for theft. If you steal a horse and a cow, the first one will be put to death, and the follower will be demoted one level. " "Whoever steals a cow's nose and feet shall be put to death first, and be demoted by one level, and those who are available shall be demoted by one level."