实证论文_A485.pdfVIP

Beef taboo in Chinese society International Journal of Social Economics ; Bradford; 2000; Cheng-chung Lai; Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Start Page: 286-290 ISSN: Subject Terms: Meat Economic theory Culture Classification Codes: 9130: Experimental/theoretical 1120: Economic policy planning 9179:Asia the Pacific Geographic Names: China Abstract: Beef taboo was generally obeyed among Chinese but it is no longer significant in todays Taiwan where large amounts of beef are imported from Australia and United States. So is the beef taboo in Chinese society culturally binding? Argues that the rise of this taboo was mainly a result of food constraint, and its fall is a result of food abundance. A notion of rice/beef competition for land is advanced to explain this mechanism. Full Text: Copyright MCB UP Limited (MCB) 2000 Cheng-chung Lai: Department of Economics, National Tsing Hua University, Sinchu, Taiwan 1 Main arguments Beef taboo is obeyed among Chinese Buddhists, it was also obeyed by most people in the recent past for the simple reason that one should not eat cattle that till rice fields for us. Except for religious reasons, the beef taboo is no longer significant in todays Taiwan where large amounts of beef are imported from Australia and the USA. So is the beef taboo in Chinese society culturally binding? This paper argues that, from an economic history point of view, the rise of this taboo was mainly a result of food constraint, and its fall is a result of food abundance. The notion of rice/beef competition for land is used to explain this mechanism. The central argument is quite simple: if a society permits beef eating, and suppose one acre of land can raise ten cattle, which produce 100,000 calories per ye