Eating meat is eating human beings?Chinese characters are combinations of symbols (pictographic: drawing), sounds (phono-semantic: shape and sound) and meanings (ideographic: ideology and concept). Of the three, what makes the characters stand out most visually interesting is the symbolic and artistic nature.
Take the word
肉(“rou”, meat / flesh) for example, the special thing about this word is how it's constructed from. There seems to be two
人(“ren”, man / human being) inside the character
门(“men”, door). Two men inside a door is meat? What does that mean?
The way I would interpret the character
肉(“rou”, meat) is quite similar but with a simple twist. My idea was inspired by the concept of universal love. You shall see why below:
人(“ren”, man / human being): The character looks like a man walking with two legs.
门(“men”, door): The character itself resembles a door with hinge.
內(“nei”, inside): A man inside a door means 'inside', quite graphical too.
肉(“rou”, meat / flesh): There is actually a 'human being' (the lower character 人) hidden 'inside' meat.
This is the conclusion: There is a human being inside meat. If you eat meat, you eat human beings. How do we come to comprehend this? This simple conclusion is in line with the concept of reincarnation, that all living beings keep incarnating to other living forms depending on how well (or how bad) they've contributed during their life time.
What we are really eating? This piece of chicken could have been a grandmother of your friends in previous lives. That piece of red meat (cow) could have been your own grandfather who passed away many years ago. Killing and eating each others have created deep hatred and curses. No wonder the world is full of vengeance wars of all kinds.
PS:1. This is one perspective to look at why eating meat is wrong. If you find the idea comfortable and useful, you can help to spread the message or even translate it to your own language for a good cause.
2. The concept of
肉(“rou”, meat / flesh;
'Human beings' are 'inside' meat) includes beef, chicken, turkeys, pork, pigs, chicken eggs, cows, fish, lobsters, crabs, horses, sheep, dogs, cats, cattle, goats, swines, mules, birds, donkeys, rabbits, leopards, giant pandas, owls, pigeons, crayfish, octopus, deers, eagles, hawks, ostriches, penguins, gooses, salmon, tuna, eels, snakes, snails, frogs, turtles, ducks, calves, steaks, puppies, kittens, ponies and so on.
(Click on for clearer picture)
