What are the dietary customs of the Hui people

There are many ethnic minorities in my country. Different ethnic groups have very different living habits and eating habits. For example, the Hui people are very common. This ethnic group pays great attention to diet and hygiene.

First, what are the dietary customs of the Hui people? The Hui people eat beef, mutton, chicken, rabbit and other meats. They must ask someone who knows the rules and taboos of slaughtering animals to slaughter them, and the slaughterer is required to wash the body thoroughly. In some places, in order to commemorate the deceased, the flour used for frying oil cakes and steaming buns must be ground by a well-washed and kowtowed person. If you want to slaughter a chicken, you must tie it up three or seven days in advance and feed it clean food. The Hui people call it "empty chicken" to prevent the chicken from eating unclean things such as feces.

Second, Hui people pay more attention to the cleanliness of water, and the wells used at home are usually covered to prevent dirt from falling in. If you go to the river to fetch water, if someone throws dirty things into the water, you have to wait until the water has flowed a hundred steps before you can fetch water. The Hui people believe that "water is clean after flowing a hundred steps."

Third, the Hui people also pay attention to cutting nails and shaving hair frequently. Long nails and long hair are not allowed. They start cutting nails from the time a child is just one month old. Except for the Hui people of the Saifaiya sect who grow long hair, Hui elders generally do not want to keep long hair and prefer to shave their heads because it is easier to wash. They also pay great attention to trimming their beards, and the beards on their upper lips are generally cut neatly and relatively short. They also often pluck the hair under their armpits and shave the hair below their navel for fear that it will harbor dirt and breed lice. In fact, plucking the hair under the armpits and below the navel is very unscientific and unhygienic. Nowadays, young Hui people don’t like to do this, and they are right.

What are the dietary habits of the Hui people? The Hui people are also very particular about eating marine animals. They do not eat aquatic scales, crabs, sharks, whales, sturgeons, etc. with irregular shapes, and do not eat big fish that eat small fish. Eat fish with a head and tail, spines on the spine, fins under the belly, and scales on the body. Such as carp, crucian carp, grass carp, chain fish and other fish. These fishes are not slaughtered when they are eaten, as they are believed that the blood of fish is in the water, and without water, the blood will disappear. More importantly, Muhammad once said: "We can eat two kinds of non-slaughtered animals: fish and grasshoppers." Hui people generally do not eat pigeon meat. Legend has it that pigeons protected Muhammad, so there is a saying among the Hui people that "pigeon meat must be slaughtered with a golden knife."