On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, when the changes in ocean tides reach their maximum due to the waxing and waning of the moon, the "tide" of blood surges inside our body also reaches its maximum, and our emotions will fall into an extreme state.

The meaning of "vegetarian" in ancient China does not mean "not eating meat".

The original meaning of the Chinese word "Su" means white, clean and simple.

Some experts have conducted research and found that vegetarianism had three meanings in ancient China: first, it refers to vegetarianism, which coincides with our modern vegetarianism; secondly, it refers to eating various fruits and vegetables raw, which is similar to the modern natural vegetarianism.

They are similar, but the only difference is that it is difficult for modern people to eat the "natural vegetarian food" in their concept; the third refers to earning a salary without merit, which is already a matter in the field of sociology and has nothing to do with the purpose of this article.

According to traditional Chinese health-preserving science, people should not pursue a rich and rich diet. "Easy and calm" is the last word for health-preserving food.

With the introduction of Buddhism, Emperor Wu of Liang, known as the "Bodhisattva Emperor" in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, made vegetarianism a distinctive feature of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism.

Emperor Wu of Liang was an important figure in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Previous Buddhists, even in India where Sakyamuni Buddha was alive, allowed practitioners to eat the "five pure meats".

Since Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty, vegetarianism has become a major symbol of Chinese Han Buddhism.

Therefore, if we want to say that the people who have most consciously, thoroughly and selflessly followed the path of vegetarianism that combines theory and practice from ancient times to the present, we should recommend the Chinese Buddhists after the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Ancient Chinese medicine has always advocated using more light vegetarian food and less fatty and flavorful food.

Sun Simiao, the king of medicine, said in "Emergency Qianjin Yi Fang": "Eating food will not only cause trouble for people, but the freshest dishes should be eaten sparingly. Diet should be frugal. If there is too much greed, the gastrointestinal skin of the elderly will be thin, and there will be many diseases."

"No need." What is said here is that "fresh food should be kept simple", which means that you must eat less meat food and do not harm your body due to greed for fresh food. Especially the elderly have weak digestion and absorption functions, so they should think twice before eating.

Eat it.

Sun Simiao further said: "The reason why the elderly are often sick is that they take too much cold food in spring and summer, and eat too cold food. Therefore, fish, lettuce, raw meat, and fishy and cold foods are often harmful to people, so they should be cut off frequently."

Ancient Chinese medicine books such as "Huangdi Neijing", "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", "Yinshan Zhengyao", and "Compendium of Materia Medica" all record dietary therapies that use vegetables to make vegetarian meals.

The Song Dynasty was an era when Chinese culture was highly developed.

According to records in "Tokyo Menghualu" and "Menglianglu", there were already vegetarian restaurants specializing in vegetarian dishes in the catering industry in Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty.

In Lin Hong's "Shan Jia Qing Gong", there are more than 100 kinds of food recorded, most of which are vegetarian, including flowers, medicines, fruits and soy products, etc. It is also recorded for the first time that there were "fake fried fish",

Imitation meat technology such as "Shengrou Jia" and "Vegetarian Steamed Chicken".

In addition, Chen Dalsou's "Ben Xin Zhai Shu Recipe" also records 20 kinds of vegetarian dishes made from vegetables and fruits.

In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the development of vegetarian food became more and more prosperous, and vegetarian dishes were recorded in various documents.

According to the "History of Chinese Transportation" by Japanese scholar Kimiya Yasuhiko, when the eminent monk Yin Yuan traveled east to Japan in the late Ming Dynasty, he brought China's vegetarian cooking techniques, which he named "Pure Cooking", which combined the superb Buddhist techniques with him.

Spiritual cultivation is implemented into daily life.

In the late Qing Dynasty, Xue Baochen wrote a monograph on vegetarian food, "A Brief Introduction to Vegetarian Food", which described more than 200 kinds of vegetarian food. Its vividness and richness have greatly exceeded those of previous generations.

Buddhism’s attitude on the issue of “fasting” is the most appealing to Chinese vegetarians.

In traditional monasteries, the monks who live together gather together on the first and fifteenth day of every month and ask monks who are familiar with the law to give precepts to reflect on whether the practice in the past half month is in line with the precepts.

If anyone violates the precepts, he must repent in front of the public.

As lay disciples of lay Buddhists, they should fast and purify their minds on such days, and naturally they can only eat plain food.

Buddhist synodic fasting has received more and more support from modern science today.

According to the tidal theory, the moon's influence on the earth is mainly exerted on the water bodies on the earth, which is often reflected through the regular rise and fall of ocean tides.

Water in the human body accounts for more than 80% of the body, and the salt concentration in human blood is almost the same as that in the ocean.

Therefore, every lunar day (i.e. the first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar), when the changes in ocean tides reach their maximum value due to the influence of the moon's waxing and waning, the "tide" of blood surging inside our human body also reaches its maximum value.

At this time, a person's blood is either at its strongest or at its weakest. In short, his emotions will fall into an extreme state.

Foreign studies have found that on the fifteenth day of the full moon, people are generally more excited than usual, the crime rate in society will increase sharply, and the incidence of car accidents is much higher than on weekdays; and on the first day of the new moon,

, people's mood is generally lower than usual, depression patients will increase, suicide rates will also increase, and some people with mental illness will find it more difficult to control themselves than usual.

If you look at the fasts on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month from this perspective, you will understand why those ancient eminent monks said that fasting as a vegetarian at this time has greater merits.