Was I not made to be a poet? In a light rain, I ride a donkey through the Jianmen Pass. In the Song dynasty,…
Was I not made to be a poet? In a light rain, I ride a donkey through the Jianmen Pass.
In the Song dynasty, due to the scarcity of horses, donkeys became the preferred means of travel. This even gave rise to a game akin to polo, played while riding donkeys. There was also the emergence of a donkey dance performance. Since donkeys were indispensable as mounts, their meat was officially prohibited. Yet to the Song people, donkey meat was considered delicious, praised as "a heavenly delight." It can also be used in medicine, and was believed to calm the spirit and relieve melancholy.