In contemporary society, dogs are known as "the most loyal friends of human beings", and because there are more and more people who keep pet dogs, so the cute and interesting video pictures about recording dogs also occupy major social platforms, and gradually everyone's love for dogs has gradually evolved into an extreme desire for protection, resulting in the prevalence of the saying that "eating dogs is wrong".
However, although dog lovers cannot stand this kind of dog eating behavior and are deeply criticized, China's history of eating dog meat has a long history. Looking back at history, dog meat is also a popular delicacy on the national table, and it is also praised by the court as a "treasure", and it is also the preferred food used by people in ancient society to send gifts or sacrifices. As one of the six animals, dogs are also an ingredient on the table, and eating dog meat can be traced back to 10,000 years, and only in written records there are more than 3,000 years. For example, there is an account of humans eating dog meat in the "Zhou Ji", and this work of the Western Zhou Dynasty also presents us with the earliest "table dog meat", when people have mastered the cooking and eating of various organs of dogs, and the "Li Ji Yue Ling" of the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period also records that Tianzi also had the habit of eating dog meat at that time. Therefore, it is speculated that dog meat may be one of the first delicacies to be sent to the court table.
In the pre-Qin period, because eating dog meat was no longer a sparse and common thing, there was also a profession of dog slaughter. Just like the killing of cattle and sheep in contemporary times, the existence of dog slaughter at that time also proved that dog meat is indeed one of the common meats.
However, before that, most of the dog meat was sent to the court table, until the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, ordinary people also had the right to eat dog meat, which made "eating dog meat" more habitual. There was even Yue Wang Gou Jian, for the purpose of restoring the country, who encouraged the people to give birth, proposing to give birth to a meat dog and two pots of wine for the birth of a boy, and a piglet and two pots of wine for the birth of a girl, which highlighted the love of people for eating meat dogs in the same period.
In the Han Dynasty, there were two celebrities related to dog meat, one of them was engaged in killing dogs, named Fan Duo, and the other was a hobby of eating dog meat, named Liu Bang. So in modern times, in some areas there is still a famous dish of "Pei Gong Dog Meat". Since then, dog meat has always been one of the meat delicacies on people's tables at that time, and even developed a variety of famous dishes about dog meat.
But since the Tang and Song dynasties, the status of dog meat in the gastronomic world has gradually declined, the main reason is that the dog meat itself is small, and it will not grow too big, so when livestock such as pigs, cattle and sheep come to the table, there is no status of dog meat.
In addition, another reason why dog meat was no longer popular was also because of the introduction and prevalence of Buddhism, when the first emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, a horseback riding ethnic regime in the north, was a Buddhist believer, and Buddhism emphasized the abstinence from killing, so the emperor at that time also ordered the slaughter of animals, and dog meat was naturally included.
Later, because buddhism continued to spread among the Han people, coupled with the leadership has always regarded dogs as human partners, the Han people's habit of eating dog meat has changed.
However, although dog meat was not as popular as it used to be, it has not completely stepped off people's tables, such as in the Water Margin, there is a record of Lu Zhishen's consumption of dog meat, and the cooking of dog meat at that time was a casserole method, which is almost the same as the current dog meat cooking method in some cities in China.
The Qing Dynasty painter Zheng Banqiao was also a dog meat lover, it is said that ordinary people send him a meal of dog meat to eat, he is willing to write a word or paint a picture for others, and if a rich person sends thousands of gold, Zheng Banqiao may ignore it. During the Ming Dynasty, the physician Li Shizhen also studied dog meat, for example, in his "Compendium of Materia Medica", he recorded what kind of dog is suitable for eating, what kind of dog is suitable for housekeeping, what kind of dog is suitable for hunting, and so on.
Until the Qing Dynasty, when there was an in-depth study of food, the literati once wrote in a book that in that period only poor people loved to eat dog meat, or some sick people needed to eat dog meat treatment, most people have given up this meat habit, although it is said that there can be literati bachelors who will taste this meat, but at that time, except for the two Guangdong places, eating dog meat seems to have formed a taboo.
Throughout the Chinese attitude towards dog meat, from the previous "delicious food" to "the popularity of the people's table" and then to "become one of the medicinal herbs", now everyone has poured another love for dogs because more and more people have pet dogs, and there are many animal protectionists who have called on everyone not to eat dog meat, resulting in eating dog meat has become a minority over the years, but until today, dog meat has not completely walked off the people's table, especially for some foodies and friends. The delicious taste that comes with dog meat is unmatched by other meats.
But in the final analysis, "eating dog meat" is not a mistake, it is also a personal choice, if only because of a "eating habit" that has been popular in China for thousands of years to label dog eaters as "unkind", it is a bit extreme.