Cattle Slaughter Industry in Qing China:State Ban,Muslim Dominance,and the Western Diet  

作　　者：Shaodan Zhang 

机构地区：[1]Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,IL 61801,USA

出　　处：《Frontiers of History in China》2021年第1期4-38,共35页中国历史学前沿（英文版）

摘　　要：Cattle slaughter and beef consumption are barely mentioned in the literature on Chinese economic,food,or animal history.This is possibly due to the widely held popular and scholarly assumption that beef was avoided and even considered taboo in the daily diet of Chinese people in premodern times.This article investigates the tangible regulation and practice of cattle slaughter in Qing China—the period when the beef taboo was argued to be formally subsumed into Chinese morality.I ask the following questions:To what extent did the Qing state ban cattle slaughter?How was the ban enforced in the localities?Did Chinese people slaughter cattle for consumption?Were there lawful beef markets in Qing China proper?How did increasing beef-eating Western sojourners since the mid-19th century impact this sector?Accordingly,I demonstrate that with the leeway provided by the state,the cattle slaughter industry developed in many regions of China proper,especially large cities.In this sector,Chinese Muslim merchants played a dominant role,even though the Han merchants could outnumber them.Their efforts have prepared the state and Chinese merchants to better cope with new circumstances since the mid-19th century.Broadly,this paper sheds light on how different religious,ethnic,and national groups affected the economy and the practice of law in the Qing dynasty.

关 键 词：cattle slaughter industry beef market late imperial China Muslims in China Westerners in the late Qing the Qing law 

分 类 号：F42[经济管理—产业经济]