The Beef Taboo in China explains how and why, around the turn of the second millennium, the Chinese determined that cattle should not be slaughtered or eaten. This taboo remained prevalent until the beginning of the twentieth century and is still observed by some today. Goossaert situates this prohibition within evolving Chinese attitudes toward animals and meat and juxtaposes the taboo with vegetarianism and other forms of meat ethics. He argues that the emergence of this specific practice must be understood in several contexts, notably a new agricultural economy and ecology in early modern times that protected plow cattle and marginalized pastures; a sacrificial reform that eliminated beef as the standard offering to gods and spirits; and the development of Daoist rituals, cults, and moral theology that tabooed beef and made this observance a linchpin of Chinese civilization.
| ISBN: | 9780824898472 |
| Publication date: | 28th February 2025 |
| Author: | Vincent Goossaert |
| Publisher: | University of Hawai'i Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 277 pages |
| Genres: |
Asian history Taoism Buddhism |
The Beef Taboo in China explains how and why, around the turn of the second millennium, the Chinese determined that cattle should not be slaughtered or eaten. This taboo remained prevalent until the beginning of the twentieth century and is still observed by some today. Goossaert situates this prohibition within evolving Chinese attitudes toward animals and meat and juxtaposes the taboo with vegetarianism and other forms of meat ethics. He argues that the emergence of this specific practice must be understood in several contexts, notably a new agricultural economy and ecology in early modern times that protected plow cattle and marginalized pastures; a sacrificial reform that eliminated beef as the standard offering to gods and spirits; and the development of Daoist rituals, cults, and moral theology that tabooed beef and made this observance a linchpin of Chinese civilization.
The Beef Taboo in China features in the following genres: Asian history, Taoism, Buddhism
The Beef Taboo in China is available in Hardback
The Beef Taboo in China was written by Vincent Goossaert and published by University of Hawai'i Press
The Beef Taboo in China has 277 pages