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Disclosing the life of Chinese pigs
Pigs and pork have been significant in China for thousands of years. A symbol of fertility and prosperity, the animal has long been celebrated in Chinese literature, music, and art.
The Pig is one of twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac: it is related to fertility (and it’s believed that children born in the year ofthe Pig would be very lucky and happy for the rest of their lives), and it’s associated with virility in China. This has led to statues of pigs being displayed prominently in the bedrooms of Chinese couples who are trying to have children.
The written Chinese character for home (家 jiā), shows a pig under a roof, as the animals used to live with the family in rural homes. So, in a figurative sense, a roof over a pig makes a home.
A superstition to protect new born babies was to give them pig's trotters for shoes and a pig head mask, so demons would think it was a pig and leave them alone.
Studies have also shown that, much like humans, they dream. And dreaming isn’t the only way in which pigs are similar to humans: their genetic makeup is also very close to our own. Because of this, transplantation of pig heart valves is possible, and stem cells from pigs are being used by scientists to research cures for human diseases. To track the cells once they’ve been injected, Chinese geneticists at the South Chinese Agricultural University injected a fluorescent protein from jellyfish DNA into pig embryos. The result was 10 transgenic piglets whose tongues and trotters glow fluorescent green in UV light.
The pig is a remarkable animal, and perfectly suited to domestication: they are quite intelligent and learn tricks faster than dogs. Pigs swim just fine and would eagerly prefer water to mud. They run at speed 11.5 mph (almost 20 km/h!). We just need to make them ride a bicycle and they can do triathlon.
Indeed, the pig has long been domesticated in China. It is a very widely eaten meat – except by the sizable Muslim population – so symbolically it represents feasting. A legend tells that the founder of the Khitan people of northern China had a pig's head and so the Khitan people would not eat pork.
As said, pigs are very fertile, and sows can give birth to 15 piglets a year, which mature quickly, in six months on average. And the pig is omnivore, most efficiently converting plants and cereals to meat. This has made it a popular choice on the farm, where table scraps, whey, and other unwanted organic materials are routinely devoured by nature’s garbage disposal: the pig.
Mao called them “walking fertilizer plants,” because they’re able to eat up and digest nearly any type of food scraps or household waste. Pigs are also useful as plows: give a few pigs access to a field that needs turning and the job is done as they search for buried roots and nuts to eat with their powerful snouts and jaws.
In Mandarin, the general word for “meat” (rou) is the same as the specific word for “pork”.
It’s not just a matter of culture: pork significantly affects the Chinese financial economy as well as the government’s policies. The commodity is a significant component of China’s consumer price index and can be a major driver of inflation. Its influence is so significant, both as a staple food and as part of the financial economy, that the Chinese government has instituted various measures to stabilize pork prices. One of these includes the establishment of the world’s first and only pork reserve, which buys up pork if it falls below a certain price threshold and releases it to the market if it rises above another.
This can be explained by some numbers: in 2018, the pig production in China was 693.82 million head, which is more than twice the U.S. population (326 million in 2018) and half the Chinese population (1.42 billion).
Pork is definitely an important animal for Chinese people, and even if mostly related with food, it is part of the memory and of the life of every Chinese.
In 2014, book designer Zhu Yingchun invited more than a hundred contributors to share their memories about pork fat. He compiled the results into a book, titled “Pork Fat”, that features literature, poetry, art and messages from the famous about the fatty meat.
“When I was little, being a butcher was my dream so I could kill pigs and eat the pork fat,” Chinese novelist Gao Wenxuan recalls in the book. Likewise, poet Hong Ying shared her memory of a dish of pork fat and wild mushrooms that has remained in her mind for 30 years.
A rendering of pork fat by artist Yao Yuan
Mr. Zhu didn’t limit the book’s submissions to the written word.
XuBing, vice dean from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, also offered a sample Chinese calligraphy featuring the characters for “fat.” Artist Yao Yuan crafted a watercolor for the book featuring Dongpo pork fat, a traditional dish from Hangzhou, surrounded by lotus leaves and peach blossoms. Er Gang’s calligraphy of the Chinese characters for the word mimicked the dripping, oily fat. Designer Fan Liang constructed a miniature 3-D house made out of pork fat.
The book also features a chapter with celebrities’ reflections on the food, such as the quip by actress Liu Xiaoqing that “a little pork fat can make you more beautiful.” Actor Yu Entai was also quoted in the book, saying that “other people’s meat always tastes better; girls next door are always prettier.”
Pork fat, curated by ZhuYingchun
When he had all of his submissions, Zhu Yingchun headed to the local market and bought the fattiest piece of pork he could find. He then went ahead and scanned the meat to make the cover for the new book, which was sold wrapped in cellophane, as though it was a piece of meat.
Well, at least pork belly became a kind of nourishment for the mind, not only food for the body.
HFG Law&Intellectual Property
