Why was being a butcher such a horrible job in ancient China?

Question

In the book "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See, the job of a butcher was a very low class job. The time frame is nineteenth century China. The people ate meat - why was a butcher so low class?

Answer 1

I think it had to do with Buddhists beliefs; killing a cow was looked on as very bad. Butcher was a terrible job in Japan, too, and so was any job that worked with leather. (Japan also had a huge taboo against blood in the Shinto religion.) People with those kind of jobs were terribly discriminated against. But yet, people still wanted shoes and to eat meat. You find these kind of paradoxes in many societies, though.

Answer 2

butchers today are not very well paid either.