The Japanese once banned meat and fish 1200 years. Why?

The main reason is that Emperor Tianwu began to ban meat under successive emperors, and the secondary reason is that Japan belongs to an island country with relatively developed fisheries and underdeveloped animal husbandry. In fact, as early as the rope pattern period in Japan, they hunted for a living just like the caveman period in China. At that time, they ate a lot of meat. Later, foreigners were extradited to Japan, and cultures such as agriculture, handicrafts and manufacturing were introduced, which turned Japan into an agricultural society and mainly developed farming civilization.

Probably due to the consideration of developing agricultural civilization and the influence of Buddhism introduced from China during the Japanese Bird Period. Buddhism shook the local religion in Japan, and the emperor began to believe in Buddhism, so Emperor Tianwu began to issue a ban on meat. The original ban on meat was to prohibit people from eating cows, horses, dogs, chickens and monkeys, because these animals were related to the development of farming culture. However, many emperors in the later period of Emperor Wu of Heaven added bricks to this ban, and finally formed a complete set of bans. It developed greatly in Nara period and finally formed in Heian period.

The original meat ban was mostly based on the consideration of protecting agriculture and nature, and there was not much religious thought. However, Emperor Shengwu, which later issued several prohibition orders, was different. He is a devout Buddhist. It was from this time that Buddhism flourished in Japan.

In fact, this is similar to the ban on meat issued by China's famous ancient emperor Liang Wudi Xiao Yan, who refused to become a monk and had to be redeemed by the minister. Japan's ban on meat originated in order to protect the vigorous development of farming civilization, developed in the emperor's own beliefs and means of safeguarding imperial power, and finally burst under the impact of foreign culture.