Take us modern people as an example. The rise of the so-called vegetarian culture must be because everyone once had a strong resistance to meat, so they started to be vegetarian. Just like before, in high school and junior high school, the food was not very good, so I longed for pork and beef. But then I went to college, and my hands became loose. I got tired of eating meat every day and began to eat vegetables. If we really want to be a vegetarian, it should stem from our current state.
However, if we study history, we will find that vegetarianism not only rose in the Song Dynasty, but also became a popular culture. This is really surprising. The problem of hunger has not been solved, and vegetarianism is popular. Is it because the people in the Song Dynasty had a high level of thought, or did they really develop to the point where we are now?
First, the origin of vegetarianism
Regarding the rise of ancient vegetarianism, we really don't think highly of the ancients. Because most scholars emphasized in their papers that people in Song Dynasty were willing to eat vegetarian food, not because they didn't like meat, but because they were too poor to eat meat.
In fact, all this can be seen from the middle and late Tang Dynasty. At that time, the Tang empire declined, and the local government and the central government fought for years, which dealt a great blow to the farming of the people. In this context, many people are on the verge of food and clothing, and a large number of people are starving.
When the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms appeared, the world was even more chaotic, so that there was a record that Huang Chao ate human flesh. In such a terrible state, living is already a luxury. As for eating meat, only human flesh can eat it, and sometimes it can't be eaten. So vegetarianism became popular, but the purpose of doing so was not to pursue the so-called realm, but just to survive.
It can be said that the origin of vegetarianism at that time was economic poverty and the terrible chaos in Huang Chao. However, this terrible beginning has brought many different developments, and the vegetarian culture has also gone out of its own way.
Second, Liang Wudi's reform.
When the world is in chaos, Buddhism is often easy to rise. Because Buddhism can give you a spiritual pursuit, Buddhism can support some people, so many people will go to Buddhism in troubled times.
Under such a great rule, there was once a ruler who changed the rules of Buddhism, that is, Liang Wudi in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Liang Wudi made it clear that all monks would not eat meat in order not to kill animals, so they began to eat vegetarian food. Therefore, long before people began to be vegetarians, Liang Wudi had turned Buddhism into a religion that did not eat meat.
Then when the world was in chaos, many people entered the temple to seek survival. Under the large-scale rule of not eating meat, people gradually popularized this vegetarianism. On the one hand, there is no meat to eat, so we have to be vegetarian in order to survive. On the other hand, the great influence of Buddhism in troubled times made vegetarianism spread in a relatively benign way. On the one hand, it is the survival in troubled times, on the other hand, it is the inner pressure in troubled times, and vegetarianism has ushered in a new realm.
Third, the climax of the Song Dynasty.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were in chaos for so long, and Buddhist culture spread for so long. By the time the unified order was established again, the Song Dynasty had already ushered in a vegetarian climax. According to historical records, people used to be vegetarian to survive, but under the guidance of Buddhism, vegetarianism has a deep foundation in troubled times.
Before, everyone scrimped and saved food in order to concentrate on recovering the sixteen states of Youyun and further promoting the influence of vegetarianism. By the time the Song Dynasty really developed, it was easy for everyone to accept vegetarianism.
However, vegetarianism at this time is different. In the past, people could not afford to eat meat because they had no money, but by the middle of the Song Dynasty, they were already rich, but they would still go vegetarian at some time to commemorate the past days or worship Buddha. This historical phenomenon is actually rare, and vegetarianism reached its climax in the Song Dynasty.
However, there is still a very important problem that we can't ignore, that is, vegetarianism in the Song Dynasty really reached its climax, not because of the previous economic changes or subtle influence, but because people in the Song Dynasty enjoyed life more.
Fourth, vegetarianism and health preservation.
I remember when I watched A Dream in Tokyo, there was a very interesting record in it. The aristocrats in the Song Dynasty yearned for the health-preserving culture, because they already had a lot of wealth in their hands, and the whole society did not need large-scale turmoil and war. What everyone could do was to enjoy it. However, the more they enjoy it, the more they worry that they will die young, so they pursue longevity and health on a large scale.
In this context, various medical supplies are widely used, and Qian Jin Fang has also been expanded and edited in various forms. In the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and health care, it is emphasized that vegetarianism can be a good health care, and restraining obscene articles can make your body stronger.
Therefore, under the guidance of health preservation, a large number of aristocrats promoted vegetarianism, and their actions not only made the whole aristocratic circle enter a Buddhist state, but also greatly stimulated the bottom people.
As we said before, the Song Dynasty was a very developed era of folk economy. Therefore, when aristocratic health care becomes the mainstream, people with a little money will begin to imitate nobles and start health care. So in the Song Dynasty, many ordinary people began to pursue health preservation other than livestock products, and a large number of people were learned to be vegetarian by the nobles there.
Generally speaking, up to now, vegetarianism in the Song Dynasty should have reached a climax, because of various reasons, fast food has become a culture and trend. So if you go back to the Song Dynasty, you may see a very surprising scene. People in the Song Dynasty not only ate popsicles, but also refrigerators, where they also ate vegetarian food. I have to say that the ancients really entered a watershed in the Song Dynasty, and the original hunger became the so-called health preservation, which was a qualitative leap.
summary
So after reading these historical records, we may come to a conclusion that vegetarianism may be somewhat contrary to normal human behavior, but there is a lot of reflection behind it.
Judging from the Chinese people's choice and historical inheritance, we have chosen to suppress ourselves and then pursue vegetarian culture when we have to. Later, after prosperity, we began to know how to restrain ourselves from pursuing a higher realm of life. All this seems to tell us that a moderate diet makes it easier for us to survive and develop.
Moreover, especially for modern people, there should be more lessons. I remember when reading A Brief History of the Future, foreign historians always thought that hunger would no longer be our problem, and obesity would become our biggest problem in the future. Therefore, the vegetarianism of the ancients should really be our lesson. In peacetime, we should know the truth of starving people, but in the era of development, we should know the importance of restraining our bodies and eating.
Therefore, in the future, we should not despise vegetarianism, because that is our history and the means that human beings may take in the future. Therefore, everyone should also take a good look at their weight, and when something is ok, they can also control their diet and be vegetarian once or twice. This is a very important thing in the future, and we can start now.
References:
Cooking and Cooking Jane Luju, Dream of Tokyo, A Brief History of the Future