Although in ancient times, cattle can be traded, but also clearly marked. Take the Han Dynasty as an example. Nine Chapters of Arithmetic says that a cow is worth about 930 words, while a sheep is worth about 570 words. The price of a dog is about 100 to 120, which shows that the market price of cattle is very high. However, the government stipulates that cattle can be bought and sold and cannot be killed.
In ancient China, cattle were indeed the noblest animals. Because the productivity of ancient agriculture was underdeveloped, there were no large-scale machinery, and cows could carry loads, so cows were an indispensable important labor force in ancient agriculture. Even now, agricultural cultivation in some backward areas is inseparable from cattle.
"The Book of Rites and Rules of the King" says that when the rulers offer sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven and earth, the sacrifices are divided into two grades. The first grade is cattle, sheep and pigs, which are collectively called the three animals, which are called Tai Prison. The second level is to reduce cattle, only pigs and sheep, called juvenile prison. The Emperor of Heaven (King of Zhou) is qualified to use cattle in the prison of meat, while the princes and dukes of a lower level can only use the prison without cattle.
The second animal is the sheep, and the "King System" stipulates that "doctors don't kill sheep for no reason", and doctors are equivalent to ministerial level, which shows that the status of sheep is also very high. Dogs, on the other hand, stipulate that "scholars don't kill dogs and tapirs for no reason", that is, dogs and pigs. Scholars are equivalent to the current civil service class. Of course, scholars are not the lowest, and the lowest is naturally ordinary people.
The "Wang Zhi" stipulates that ordinary people are not allowed to eat rare animals without special permission, including naturally the most noble cattle. It can be said that the cow is the ancient animal head of state, and it is necessary to investigate the criminal responsibility for killing the cow for no reason, nor can the official kill the cow. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a famous minister named Xie Yong in the Liang Dynasty.
His son, Xie Chenguan, worships Stuart Right's long history, which is equivalent to the secretary-general of the current state-level leadership. For some reason, Xie Changshi suddenly killed a cow at home, was denounced, broke the law and was dismissed from office for the people.
Extended data:
A long time ago, people in China knew how to domesticate six animals, such as horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs and chickens, to obtain meat, but different meats have different positions in the food system, which even affects today's meat prices.
In ancient eating habits, cattle and sheep were undoubtedly the most aristocratic meat. The Book of Rites also said: "The princes didn't kill cows for no reason, the doctors didn't kill sheep for no reason, the scholars didn't kill dogs for no reason, and Shu Ren didn't eat treasures for no reason."
From the ranking point of view, cattle and sheep are above pigs, which is first related to the preciousness of meat. Cattle are an important means of production in the farming era. In many dynasties, it is forbidden to kill cattle without permission. As the Book of Rites said, even the princes do not kill cattle easily if they have nothing important to do.
As early as the Han Dynasty, cattle had been protected by legislation, and the Chinese law stipulated that "no fewer teeth should be slaughtered". The punishment of killing cattle in the Han law is very severe, and those who violate the ban will be punished, and they will pay for their lives.
In the Tang and Song Dynasties, cattle were forbidden to be killed regardless of whether they were old, weak or sick. Only cattle that died naturally or died of illness could be skinned and sold or eaten by themselves.
People's Network-What kind of meat did the ancients eat? -3,000 years history of eating meat