Why did mutton have such a high status among the people in the Tang Dynasty?

As we all know, the Tang Dynasty was one of the most prosperous periods in the history of China. It not only opened the Tang Dynasty, but also was a Tang Dynasty on the tip of the tongue. Speaking of food, it can be said that meat is an indispensable ingredient, and meat has always been the most important food in people's lives since ancient times. Now some people don't like the taste of mutton, but in the Tang Dynasty, people wanted to eat mutton for every meal, which accounted for a high proportion among the people. This is because the northern minorities gradually merged into the Central Plains, which led to the rapid development of the mutton market.

First, at the beginning of the great integration of North and South, pork was the main meat source. Later, in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this evolution process already existed. Because the Huns and other ethnic minorities began to emigrate from the north to the Central Plains at that time, some ethnic minorities created their own political power in the Central Plains. It can be said that ethnic minorities have a very close relationship with the Han nationality in the Central Plains, and gradually developed the diet structure at that time, and the eating habits of ethnic minorities were quickly integrated into the Han nationality.

Second, the development of mutton animal husbandry in the Tang Dynasty reached the Tang Dynasty, and it began to advance by leaps and bounds on the basis of primitive animal husbandry in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Therefore, the sheep industry has developed rapidly. In the process of archaeological excavation, we often see many sheep-shaped porcelain products. Because the Tang Dynasty established a complete animal husbandry system and constantly created the range of pasture, it provided the prosperity and development of sheep industry. The original Han nationality has been integrated in the previous national diet, so the proportion of mutton entering the table is getting higher and higher, and the sales of mutton are also rising rapidly. People will entertain friends and guests with mutton on any occasion.

People in the Tang Dynasty merged into the Central Plains because of the eating habits of ethnic minorities, so the mutton of ethnic minorities became one of the favorite ingredients of the Han people. At the same time, the soaring consumption of mutton has promoted the prosperity and development of animal husbandry economy. It can be said that a folk custom had a very important relationship with the economic development of the dynasty, and it was this economic opening that promoted the mutton consumption of the Han nationality, so mutton occupied an important position in the Tang Dynasty.