In fact, there is not much beef in general martial arts novels. I only remember that in "The Condor Heroes", the Wu brothers made a toast in order to embarrass Yang Guo. The result was calculated by Yang Guo, who caught the dripping beef with his fingers. Then a group of Mongolian masters fought over a piece of beef at the dinner table, and the old urchin took it away. However, it was the turn of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, beggars were not ordinary people, and it was natural for Mongolians to eat beef. Eating beef at that time was actually not against the will.
The most famous novel about beef is the Water Margin, but what impressed me most about the novel is not eating beef, but eating human flesh and meat shops, and it is as casual as eating pigs and sheep. Since human flesh is eaten, beef is nothing. Statutory law can bind ordinary people, but it is invalid for heroes.
The most horrible place in Water Margin is eating human flesh, including the detailed description of Sun Erniang human flesh shop with great fanfare, the reappearance of the scene where Li Kui jy roasted Huang Wenbing has eaten until now, and there are many places that understate the effect. For example, Zhu Gui, who opened a restaurant to spy on information, casually told Lin Chong that I would open a restaurant and let those who had no money go. The rich were robbed and the unlucky were killed. Lean meat is used to make sliced meat, and fatty oil is used to light lamps. Another example is Wang Ying's gang of mountain thieves, who eat people's hearts and pay attention to taking them, and immediately pour cold water to make them crispy. For example, Li Kui jy killed Huang Wenbing and dreamed of making hangover soup. At that time, there were more than 30 people waiting to celebrate in Song Dynasty. I guess it's time for soup. Is it that Han people in Jiangnan and Quzhou people kill each other? In short, it was forced by natural and man-made disasters, but many heroes in the Water Margin, in the prosperous Northern Song Dynasty, could eat beef at will, but only preferred human flesh. This description can only be said to be Shi Naian's bad taste.
It is precisely because Shi Naian described a lot of bad tastes that many people have a lot of complaints about the heroes of the Water Margin. But I think this writing is more in line with the character setting. It turns out that most of the predecessors of the heroes of the Water Margin are unemployed and small officials, who only care about personal happiness or fame, without much ideological consciousness. Ordinary people eat a piece of pork, but how can heroes satisfy themselves by eating only pigs and sheep? It takes a mouthful of beef to show their skill and heroism, and a little meat is even more shocking.