Beef in China: a food that transfers emotions

By Haoxuan Yuan

Personally, I am a huge beef lover and thus my exhibit will focus on beef in China. Beef has a unique position in Chinese meat-eating history. While the despise of meat overall by Chinese culture can be traced back to Spring and Festival due to its association with the lack of foresight by Cao Gui (Yuting Liu, page 1, 2021), the prejudice against beef is more linked to the protection of cattle as important farming forces. Regulations on cattle protection started in the Qin dynasty and flourished from Han to the end of the Chinese dynasties. In the Song dynasty, butchering cattle secretly could even be sentenced to death (Chaoli Qu, page 5, 2012).

The situation got changed during the Yuan dynasty, when Mongolians, nomad groups living on the prairie, became the ruler of China. Their preference for beef drastically changed people’s stereotype of beef, and such opinion transition was further strengthened by the colonization of westerners in the 19th century. The nutritional value of beef as a high-quality protein source finally provided beef with equal status as other meat in China. The complex history as well as diverse attitudes Chinese hold on beef resulted in rich connotations of beef given by novelists, poets, moviemakers, and all people. Emotions, meanings, and spirits in families, clans, values were cultivated in the Chinese beef dishes, and such facts lead me to establish my main thesis on beef as: While beef is perceived as non-mainstream and unpopular in China, it serves as a good carrier of different emotions and spirits throughout the Chinese history.

My use of the novel Water Margin as primary source one aims to establish how the author uses beef to depict the historic background of the Song dynasty and the rebellious theme he conveyed. The second primary source I use focuses on the ritual use of roast whole beef in the Yuan dynasty as a representative of people’s wish for a good life. The third primary source further illustrates the beef noodles in modern society as an important symbol of home missing and family affection.

Keywords: beef, Chinese, dynasties, emotions and spirits, food history

References

  1. Qu, Chaoli. “宋代禁止宰牛的法令與判例研究.” The Journal of Chinese Historical Researches volume 81 (May 2012): 225-239.
  2. Yuting Liu. “肉食之鄙:古代辞赋中的饮食书写偏见.” Zhejiang Academic Journal. (2021): 156-166. doi:10.16235/j.cnki.33-1005/c.2021.06.017.