Are orthodox monks not allowed to eat beef?

The daily dietary taboos of Zhengyi literati are mainly: "four fasts", "five meats and four emotions", sacrificial activities such as major Taoist festivals and fasting ceremonies, and vegetarianism during the first and fifteenth days of each month.

"four fast"

It refers to fasting "beef, mullet, swan goose and dog meat". Except during major Taoist festivals, fasting ceremonies and the first and fifteenth days of each month, it is generally impossible not to eat meat and spicy food, but these four foods are absolutely not eaten. The reason is explained in the canon: First of all, don't eat beef because cows work hard all their lives and benefit all beings. Too hard, it is the embodiment of justice in the eyes of the world and cannot be eaten; Don't eat mullet because the ancients thought that when mullet came to lay eggs, its eyes were dim and it could only starve to death, and mullet larvae were the most filial. They would rather swim to their mother's mouth to feed her than let her starve to death. This is valuable and cannot be eaten as food. The ancients thought that Hongyan was widowed, lived alone all her life, was in a bleak situation, determined not to marry, and was chaste, so Hongyan could not eat; Finally, there are dogs. Throughout the ages, people often say, "A son doesn't think his mother is ugly, and a dog doesn't think his family is poor." Dogs are always with the Lord and serve him. They are the representatives of loyalty, so they can't eat. Zheng's "four fasting" taboo fully embodies the traditional values of loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness of the Chinese nation.

Prohibition of "five meats and four emotions"

Five meats and four spices refer to some vegetables and condiments with strong smell. Although it was delicious to eat five meats and four fragrances at that time, it produced foul smell through corruption after entering the spleen and stomach, which blocked the innate inhalation and affected the rise of clear gas, which was not convinced by purists; Outside, the stench is freely emitted, and the smell of five poultry meat is dirty and clean, which is rejected by ghosts and gods, leading to the ignorance of Tao and the inability of God to reach it, hindering Taoist practice and causing troubles. "Zhengyi Dian" explains that people often use five kinds of fragrant vegetables in their daily lives, namely, onion, leek, garlic and coriander, which are also called "five-meat dishes". Sixiang refers to four kinds of spices with strong fragrance: pepper, fennel, star anise and pepper. Five meats and four vegetarian dishes were all rejected by orthodox literati in Qing Dynasty.