But we can find that many people in life are not afraid to eat dog meat, but don't touch cat meat very much, at least in China. In fact, the formation of this phenomenon is related to the culture handed down by our ancestors. Specifically, there are three main reasons.
First of all, China has a long history of keeping cats. Cats were welcomed by farmers' uncles from the beginning and were once regarded as "sacred objects". People also offer sacrifices to the cat god. If you carefully observe the word cat, you will find that it has a lot to do with agricultural production. The ancient book Zhengzitong records: "Rats are good at harming seedlings, while cats can catch rats and eliminate seedlings, so the word cat comes from seedlings."
The Book of Rites describes in detail the worship of gods in the Yao and Shun era. Gods include gods, agricultural gods, tiger gods and cat gods. The so-called "welcome cats and eat voles for them." Think about it. The farming technology at that time was far less advanced than it is now. Cats can help you catch mice and protect crops. Why did the ancients eat cats to trap themselves?
Secondly, we can look at the records about cats in Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica. Li Shizhen described that cat meat "is mainly caused by scabs, rat fistulas and poisons ... but cat meat is edible, and it is not good, so it is rarely used." Although the history books don't record whether Li Shizhen tasted cat meat, the author speculates that, with his realistic personality, he probably did.
Even if he didn't try, he must have heard of it. Li Shizhen believes that eating cats tastes bad and the meat quality is not as good as that of other animals, which is one of the reasons why our ancestors didn't like eating cats. What's more, cats are small in size and have low reproductive value compared with pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks. People in Song Dynasty were famous for their love of mutton, but they were not interested in cat meat.
China was dominated by agricultural civilization in ancient times, so many factors must be considered when choosing ingredients. Cat meat is tasteless, and wild cats are hard to catch, which requires a lot of manpower and material resources. The key is that it can climb trees! Like pigs, sheep, dogs, chickens and ducks, which sensitivity can be compared with cats? On the whole, cat meat was naturally eliminated from the main ingredients by the ancients.
Third, there were many cat slaves among the ancients. A cat's appearance and size determine that it will be very popular in the pet industry. Many historical celebrities we are familiar with, such as the great poet Lu You and Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, are all cat slaves. Lu You wrote many poems about raising cats. The poem "The Storm on November 4th" that we have all studied actually has two groups of poems. The first one is like this:
"The wind swept the rivers and lakes and the rain darkened the village, and the sound of the four mountains turned into waves. The firewood is soft and warm, so I can't go out with the raccoon dog. " It was dark and stormy outside, but Lu You huddled in the room to keep warm and beat the cat. How carefree! But when it comes to loving cats, Emperor Jiajing is a top cat slave.
"Wanli Ye Bian" records that after the death of the palace cat named "Frost Eyebrow", Emperor Jiajing "lamented that it was a golden coffin and was buried at the foot of Wanshou Mountain; He also lives in the value of being an old man, and his recommendation has soared. " This kind of treatment is not enjoyed by ordinary concubines, which shows that the ancients loved cats as much as modern people.
Of course, China people are not interested in cat meat since ancient times, and are influenced by some supernatural legends. With the progress of science, we all know that cats are omnivores and easily infected with parasites. It's not worth taking risks for a temporary appetite.