In the Han Dynasty, killing a cow was punishable by beheading. Why did the ancients place such importance on cattle?

The Chinese seem to have an innate fondness for cattle. Although they never reached the deified status of the zebu in India, the image of cattle in Chinese culture has always been positive:diligent, enduring, friendly- such words have all been generously applied to this domestic animal.

The Chinese have long used and domesticated cattle. In the rice-growing regions of the south, the common water buffalo is active; on the plateaus, we domesticated the yak; and beyond these, China's unique domestic cattle breed - the Chineseyellow cattle- is even more familiar to us.

Today's protagonist - the yellow cattle (Bos taurus). Image: wikimedia

A murky origin

Although today we regard the yellow cattle as an inseparable part of the domestic cattle family, a closer look at the origin of this uniquely Chinese cattle breed remains murky.

Existing archaeological evidence indicates thatthe domestication of domestic cattle first began 10,000 years ago in West Asia and Northeast Africa. At that time, humans had already entered an agricultural society; an ample food supply nurtured a larger population, and the gradually developing agricultural needs urgently required apowerful draft animal。

The aurochs, widely distributed across the Eurasian continent,aurochswere promptly domesticated and eventually formed today's domestic cattle. Like many foreign livestock and poultry in history, domestic cattle may also have entered Eastern civilization along a transmission route from West Asia through Kazakhstan to China's northwest and then to the Central Plains.

The wild ancestor of domestic cattle - the European aurochs. The earliest domestic cattle domesticated by West Asian civilizations were its descendants. Image: wikimedia

But paradoxically, many domesticated organisms had previously spread along this route, and along this transmission pathway, they all show spatiotemporal connections of species dispersal.

Yet for domestic cattle, almost no trace of them has been found along the transmission route from West Asia to China. From the domestication of domestic cattle by ancient West Asian civilizations 10,000 years ago to the appearance of domestic cattle remains at the Qijia Culture site in the Gansu-Qinghai region and the Longshan Culture site in the Central Plains region 4,500 years ago, domestic cattle seem to have suddenly appeared on the stage of Eastern civilization.

Domestic cattle in what is today Israel. Image: Zachi Eveno / wikimedia

Even more puzzling is that at the Yinsuodao ancient site on Erhai Lake in Yunnan, cattle bones dating back 5,000 years were even unearthed - a simple logical judgment suffices to imagine that if domestic cattle spread from West Asia toward the Central Plains, then this tribe far to the south should have come into contact with domestic cattle later than Central Plains culture.

And by directly comparing Chinese yellow cattle with other domestic cattle populations worldwide, we can also find some very notable differences: Chinese yellow cattlegenerally have short, small horns, and many individuals are even hornless; Chinese yellow cattle havevery poor milk production, so historically we never developed dietary habits related to cow's milk; and congenital defects such ashairlessness, single hooves, and double muscling that often appear in other domestic cattle populations have basically disappeared in Chinese yellow cattle。

Herein lies the confusion over the origin of Chinese yellow cattle.

Domestic cattle can differ enormously in appearance. Swipe left and right to view, in order: yellow cattle, Holstein dairy cattle, English Longhorn, and African domestic cattle. Images: Dave & Keith Weller / wikimedia; Richard Du Toit / mindenpictures

Perhaps hybridization is the cause

Some scholars believe that, like pigs and chickens,the domestication of domestic cattle may also have had multiple independent origins. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic, a bronze hu vessel with gold-inlaid red copper from the State of Yan during the Warring States period was unearthed in Tangshan. The hunting patterns depicted on it clearly show a short-horned variety of aurochs that was once widely distributed across Asia.

Domestic cattle remains unearthed in China already show relatively mature evidence of domestication, which seems to indicate that the domestication of yellow cattle was indeed not accomplished locally in China. But could it be possible that somewhere closer to China, some civilization also obtained domestic cattle by domesticating this short-horned aurochs variety, and later spread them into the Chinese cultural sphere?

Rubbing of the hunting pattern on the gold-inlaid red copper hu vessel from the State of Yan during the Warring States period; in the center is a short-horned wild ox. Image:

Some scholars also believe that the origin of Chinese yellow cattle is more likely the result of crossbreeding among multiple domesticated species.The zebu, extensively domesticated in what is today India, was also widely distributed within China's borders during the pre-Qin period. In the oracle bone inscriptions from Yinxu, there are numerous descriptions of "white cattle," and the white genetic trait can basically be determined to be a genetic mutation of the zebu. This is also direct evidence that the Yellow River basin once domesticated zebu.

Of course, with later climate changes, the rhinoceroses, elephants, and wild zebu of the Central Plains gradually declined, but it is very likely that domestic zebu had already crossbred with domestic cattle, ultimately producing the distinctly characteristic Chinese yellow cattle - today,southern breeds of Chinese yellow cattle still retain the zebu's characteristic shoulder hump。

The shoulder hump of the zebu. Image: Scott Bauer / wikimedia

Eating beef has been done since ancient times

Although the origin of yellow cattle remains murky to this day, their importance to Central Plains civilization is beyond doubt.

Like many domesticated animals, the original purpose of cattle domestication was mostly to supply meat.For a long time before the Western Zhou, the primary role of yellow cattle was as meat.

At the Zhangdeng Culture site of the pre-Shang period, the proportion of yellow cattle bones was still at a low 16.9%; by the Huanbei Shang City site of the mid-Shang period, it had climbed to 35.78%; at the late-period Yinxu site, the proportion of yellow cattle bones even exceeded 40%. Since a single yellow cattle yields 3 times as much meat as a domestic pig, it can be concluded thatin the mid-to-late Shang Dynasty, beef had already become the most consumed meat category at the time。

Beef - how do you like to eat it? Image: Jon Sullivan / wikimedia

We often say that to judge whether ordinary people are living well, you first look at their grocery basket. Unlike the locally domesticated pig and chicken, cattle have a very long raising cycle and a very low feed-to-meat ratio. Butin the pre-Qin period,people's meat choices could actually reach such a "luxurious" level, showing the degree of prosperity of the Shang Dynasty。

Beyond eating, the diversity of yellow cattle's functions before the Western Zhou is also astonishing. At that time,yellow cattle were regarded as important "benevolent beasts," often used in sacrificial activities before the commencement of important projects. By contrast, domestic animals such as pigs and dogs had more ferocious temperaments, so they were mostly used in burial accompaniments. And before the domestic horse spread to China, yellow cattle were alsoimportant riding and pack animals。

In some regions, cattle are still used as pack animals. Image: Juan Cristóbal Hurtado / behance.net

Killing cattle - a grave offense

However, from the Western Zhou "Rites" record stating "feudal lords shall not kill cattle without cause" until September 1984, when self-slaughter and self-sale of domestic cattle was permitted, the food value of yellow cattle was strictly constrained. Why? The "Tang Code with Explanations" gives the clearest answer: "Official and private horses and cattle are of great use: cattle are the foundation of farming, horses are for long-distance military service." In order to ensure sufficient draft animals for agricultural production,the plow cattle protection system, based on the principle of prohibiting private cattle slaughter,was written into the legal systems of successive dynasties。

This plow cattle protection system, lasting over 2,000 years, also had different standards of measurement.

The protection of plow cattle was strictest during the Tang, Song, and Five Dynasties periods - regardless of whether the cattle were large or small, slaughter was entirely prohibited, and only after cattle died naturally could they be eaten. By comparison, the Han, Ming, and Qing governments believed that plow cattle were most useful in their young and prime years, and once plow cattle grew old, with government permission, they could still enter the market for consumption. Of course,whether a cow was old was not for the owner to decide on their own- in the grassroots government work of the time, judging whether plow cattle were old was probably also an important task.

A newborn calf. Image: wikimedia

If someone privately slaughtered plow cattle, or even killed another person's plow cattle, they would inevitably be punished by iron law: during the Ming and Qing periods, privately slaughtering one's own plow cattle was punishable by 100 strokes of the cane; killing another person's plow cattle was punishable by exile 3,000 li away. By comparison,the Han Dynasty system treated everyone equally- as long as you killed cattle, whether your own or someone else's, well, you couldn't expect to live either.

In the nearly 100-plus years after the overthrow of the feudal dynasties, China's yellow cattle were still protected by such policies. From the Republic of China period to after Liberation, yellow cattle remained an important force in agricultural production for a long time. It was not until after the 1980s,when agricultural machinery gradually became widespread and, at the same time, to encourage the development of the beef cattle industry, that this plow cattle protection system finally passed into history。

The image of an old yellow cattle plowing the field is a microcosm of China's traditional agriculture. Image: xuehua.us

Looking back at our journey from walking out of East Africa to spreading across the globe, until achieving such heights today, our identity has undergone multiple transformations in the torrent of history, and the creatures that have accompanied us have also played different roles as the years passed.

The story between us Chinese people and yellow cattle is precisely such a vivid example. From a murky origin, to the cycle between meat use and draft use, to the long-lasting laws and regulations, the importance of yellow cattle in past years is beyond doubt. And in the future, this enduring yet gentle benevolent beast will continue to accompany us on our journey.

This is the 170th article of year 4 of Species Calendar, from Species Calendar author @A Man Wandering.

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