For us modern people, pork is a very common thing, and we see it on the table almost every day.

Although we also eat some other meats, such as beef, mutton, chicken, duck, goose, fish and shrimp, etc., the frequency of these on the table is far less than that of pork.

So, was this kind of meat that is so common in modern society the same in ancient times as it is now?

And when did our ancients put pork on the table?

And we all know that the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty was Zhu Yuanzhang, so the emperors of the entire Ming Dynasty had the surname Zhu.

Pig and Zhu have the same pronunciation, and in the past, royal surnames were taboo. In other words, pigs were not allowed to be killed in the Ming Dynasty.

But what’s interesting is that now, pork has become one of the indispensable meats in our country’s daily life.

What happened during this period that made pork turn around and successfully defeat other meats?

We know that pork is rich in nutrients and can be substituted by beef and mutton. However, the reason why we modern people generally eat beef and mutton instead of pork is mainly because beef and mutton are more expensive, which was not the case in ancient times.

The counterattack of pork in the banquet picture, the status of each dynasty and each generation is different. The earliest record of pork appeared in the Zhou Dynasty. Pork appeared in the "Book of Rites": "The emperor's food is too strong, and the three animals of cattle, sheep and hogs are available.

The princes ate cattle, the ministers ate sheep, the officials ate pigs, the scholars ate fish and vegetables, and the common people ate vegetables. "In the Zhou Dynasty, pork, beef and mutton were both called "Dalao". Except for sacrifices, only the monarchs and officials ate it.

Qualified to eat meat on the daily table.

The "豕" here refers to pork.

But it’s not like these lower-class people never have access to meat. They can usually eat meat during Chinese New Years, festivals, or other celebrations, but it’s basically pork.

"Salt and Iron Treatise" records: "It is not the place to drink alcohol, make meat with glutinous rice, and offer meat without wine in the village."

Like Xiang Yu's Hongmen Banquet, there was pork.

It's just that the pork Xiang Yu rewarded Fan Kuai was raw, but Fan Kuai ate it forcefully, and Xiang Yu had to face him.

In ancient times, the low status of pork had nothing to do with the price of meat, but was related to the productivity at that time.

Banquet pictures Since the Spring and Autumn Period, after the appearance of the iron plow, cattle have become the most important labor tool for farmers. Since then, the status of cattle has been greatly improved. The slaughter of cattle for plowing is not allowed in the past dynasties, so beef has become an ancient dining table

There is no more luxury than meat.

Because there are no other sources except cows that die of old age or disease, so beef is naturally very rare.

Well, this can't help but remind people of the scene described in "Water Margin" where the Liangshan heroes "drink from a big bowl and eat (beef) meat". It can only be said that this is either the author's imagination, or the author wants to embody the Liangshan heroes.

They showed contempt and provocation to the imperial court, and some dynasties such as the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty also specially legislated for this.

If you don’t eat beef, you can only eat the other five animals: pigs, sheep, horses, chickens, and dogs.

But only sheep can become a daily meat on the table like pork.

Dogs and horses, especially horses, ate very little in the past.

Although it’s not that there are no fans, it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to people who don’t eat.

Banquet Pictures During the Han Dynasty, there were already records about raising pigs and sheep: "Thousand-footed Pigs in Zezhong" and "Thousand-footed Sheep".

The "thousand legs" here does not mean that cows and sheep have a thousand legs, but that the total number of legs of all pigs and sheep has a thousand legs, so a thousand legs is 250.

It can be seen that raising pigs and sheep has been very common since very early times.

However, when entering the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the status of pork suddenly declined, and its breeding was greatly reduced. Mutton became the main meat on the dining table of ancient Chinese people for thousands of years.

Documents from the Northern and Southern Dynasties praised mutton as the best meat available on land; the most frequently described meat by literati in the Tang Dynasty was mutton; the descriptions of meat in the Tang Dynasty in "Taiping Guangji" are all

***There are more than 100 references, including 47 references to mutton and only 12 references to pork.

And it also records that some Buddhist householders still eat mutton.

This also reflects the important position of mutton on the table at that time.

The Tang Dynasty was a period of highly developed civilization. Various cultures were perfected during this period, such as food culture and so on.

After experiencing the Tang Dynasty and developing into the Song Dynasty, the food culture of mutton had become a fashion in the Song Dynasty.

The mutton culture of the Song Dynasty also improved upon that of the Tang Dynasty, and the most rare thing is that not only the menu details of the palace banquets were preserved, but also the raw materials and methods were recorded in detail; and as the dynasty progressed, the Song Dynasty's mutton culture

Not only did the emperors not get tired of it, but the more they ate, the more they loved it.