Differentiation of"Dog"and"Piglet"——Also on the Gender View Contained in Gou Jian's Fertility Reward Policy
The fertility reward measures in the famous article Gou Jian Exterminates Wu have a far-reaching impact.Among them,the practice of rewarding dogs and piglets respectively for boys and girls has aroused considerable controversy.By identifying the differences between"dogs"and"piglets"from multiple perspectives such as language,history,and culture,the article clearly points out that dogs and piglets were both important sources of meat during the pre-Qin period.However,the Yue people kept dogs mainly for hunting,so in their hearts,the status of dogs was higher than piglets.The concept of animal Yin and Yang among which a dog belongs to Yang while a piglet Yin is the habit of the Han people,and is not applicable to the Yue state.Gou Jian's respective rewards are derived from the different cultural connotations of dogs and piglets,reflecting the different division of labor be-tween men and women under the concept of male superiority and female inferiority.Gou Jian's gender perspective also has reference and inspiration for today's society.