China’s food culture has a long history and can be traced back to the beginning of agricultural civilization. Up to now, in addition to the "eight major cuisines" that are famous both at home and abroad, there are also a variety of folk snacks and street snacks. Food represents a culture, a feeling, and also a kind of sustenance. As early as ancient times, people were very fond of the lively scenes of drinking and chatting, cooking sheep and slaughtering cattle, and there were many famous works about food that have been passed down through the ages. The documentary "A Bite of China" shows Chinese food vividly and vividly explains what Chinese food culture is.
To this day, people are still innovating on the original basis, bringing new food, making people lament the beauty of life. Chinese food is very complex, and as long as it is cooked properly, you can eat almost anything. However, one type of animal is rarely found on various dining tables, and that is cats. Isn’t cat meat inedible? Why did the ancients never eat cats? It turns out that Li Shizhen's works have already given the answer, and the ancients have tried it before.
In ancient times when supplies were scarce, when humans did not have enough food sources, they would eat some uncommon animals, including dogs and cats. It is recorded in ancient books that cat meat is mild in nature, non-toxic and edible, but has a sour taste. Cat meat has already been recorded in Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica": "However, if civet meat is eaten, cat meat is not good and is not used in food, so it is rarely used." It can be seen that cat meat is not inedible, but its sour taste makes people unacceptable.
On the other hand, from the perspective of ancient legends, cats are spiritual things, so they cannot be eaten. Everyone must be familiar with it. In myths and legends, cats have nine lives. They are not animals that are easily hunted. If one of their lives is hurt, it will come back to life and wait for the opportunity to take revenge. Among the people, if anyone dares to eat cat meat, something bad or unlucky will happen, so in order not to make themselves suffer, no one will eat cat meat. In foreign countries, cats are also regarded as sacred animals and can talk to God, so they also believe that cats are spiritual and do not eat cat meat. In addition, there is also a folk legend that cats gather wealth, so many stores will put up lucky cat statues in order to get good luck. Domestic cats in the South are also fat and fat, and they have such a meaning of "bringing in wealth", so no one will talk about cat meat being served on the dinner table.
In modern times, people are even less likely to eat cat meat. First, because people have long regarded cats as their friends. Cats are very cute, soft and furry, making people feel loving and affectionate. Therefore, many people have become cat slaves and stay with cats all day long. If you eat a cat, you will feel very cruel. How can you eat a cat that is so cute? Secondly, it has been recorded in ancient times that cat meat tastes sour and unpalatable. This tradition has become something that everyone sticks to. Therefore, after being passed down for thousands of years, few people want to break this rule, so people are afraid of cat meat. Third, cats have a long growth cycle, are small in size, and have very few edible parts, which is very troublesome from the perspective of breeding and cooking, affects the profits of businesses, and is very cost-effective, so people rarely raise cats in large numbers to sell to restaurants. Nowadays, the chickens, ducks, and fish we eat can be raised on a large scale, and the growth cycle is short, so the benefits can be seen quickly, so this type of food animals is often seen on the dining table.
From an ecological and environmental perspective, cats are beneficial because they can capture food and humans’ natural enemies, rats. Rats not only destroy food crops and affect food production, but also bring various pathogens. If they accidentally cause plague, they can harm the entire society. Therefore, the cat is the natural enemy of the mouse. In this sense, the cat is also a great contributor, so no one will eat it. Even in ancient times, farmers would sacrifice to the cat god to thank him for his protection, so that the family could have a full harvest of food throughout the year and not worry about survival.
Conclusion
In today's society, the food culture is becoming more and more colorful, and there are more and more things that people can eat. Human beings naturally avoid those things that they cannot eat. Nowadays, cats and dogs have become human friends, even their beloved pets, and become members of the family. The meaning of cats and dogs is not just housekeeping animals, so no one will eat cat meat, and almost no one will see cat meat on the table. The sources of food in human daily life are already rich and varied, and there is really no need to hunt for novelties, otherwise it will accidentally lead to disaster, and it will be too late to regret it. In addition to farmed food animals, we also appeal to those who are motivated by profit not to touch the bottom line and kill some wild animals. Humans are not the rulers of the earth, so in order to develop peacefully, we must also abide by the laws of nature and live in peace with animals. Only then can the ecology be balanced and human development be sustainable!