Old almanac terminology: What does it mean to teach cattle and horses?

Lead: Cattle and horses were important materials in ancient China and could not be easily slaughtered or disposed of. Even the work of training cattle and horses is not easy for ordinary people. There is a word in the terminology of the old almanac to teach cattle and horses. So what does it mean to teach cattle and horses? Let's see what it means to teach cattle and horses.

What does it mean to teach cattle and horses?

Teaching cattle and horses: refers to the work of training cattle and horses.

Cattle and horses are the means of production, and other means of transportation, war tools and means of transportation all play a very important role.

In ancient times, it was not easy to kill cattle and horses.

Cattle in the era of basic deism have been filed with the government. Unless the ox is too old and weak to farm, the owner of the ox can apply to the government and get permission before slaughtering the beef. Cowhide and beef tendon must be handed in, because cowhide can be used as armor, beef tendon can be used as bowstring, and beef bone can be boiled into glue, which is also the material for making bows and arrows.

Outside the law, the tragic ending of cattle thieves and cattle killers is widely circulated among the people. Killing cattle to eat beef is not only illegal, but also extremely immoral and should be condemned by public opinion.

For thousands of years, only cows and horses have been treated like this, but cats and dogs have not. Why? Because cats and dogs are not necessary, that is, they are not essential to society, the country and even the people.

Ancient times was a farming society. After the emergence of Niu Geng, cattle were the most important means of production. Killing and eating cattle is tantamount to destroying the means of production. For a country based on agriculture, this is digging its own grave. War horse is a means of transportation and strategic material. Killing horses for no reason will inevitably have an extremely adverse impact on war and traffic. Moreover, the investment in raising cattle and horses is very large, and killing meat is not worth the loss.

Killing cattle is illegal.

Counting, China is the first country in the world to put animal protection into law. The protected animals are mainly economic animals such as cattle and horses.

"The Book of Rites, the King System" says: "Governors don't kill cows for no reason, doctors don't kill sheep for no reason, scholars don't kill dogs for no reason, and Shu Ren doesn't eat treasures for no reason."

"Nine Chapters of Han Law" says: "Don't kill less teeth, or the offenders will abandon the market."

The fifteenth volume of "Tang Law" contains: "The official privately owned cattle and horses, taking use as the priority, cattle as the foundation of farming, and horses as the army, so the murderer was only one and a half years."

From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, it was forbidden to slaughter cattle at will in all previous dynasties, and even governors in the Western Zhou Dynasty could not kill cattle without reason. During the Han dynasty, it was forbidden to kill young cattle, and offenders were beheaded; Those who killed cattle and horses in the Tang Dynasty were imprisoned for one and a half years.

In ancient times, cows were used as sacrifices, so under normal circumstances, no one would kill cows at will. It may also be related to this, so killing cattle is generally forbidden by the emperor. The son of heaven is always different from ordinary people. It is not excluded that ordinary people are not allowed to kill cattle casually in order to show this particularity, not to mention that cattle are so expensive. In fact, in ancient times, old cows could be eaten without labor, but this standard was not decided by ordinary people, but was tested by the government. Cows die of old age and can only be eaten after being reported for approval.

If you want to find out more about the explanation of almanac terms, please click on the explanation of almanac terms.