{{short description|Form of game in Chinese cuisine}} {{Infobox Chinese|pic=Je mei mainlandcuisine.jpg|piccap=Ye wei in Hunan|c=野味|p=yěwèi|j=je5 mei6*2|l=wild taste}} '''''Yewei''''' ({{lang-zh|s=野味|p=yě wèi|l=wild taste}}) is a Chinese term that describes various types of bushmeat from exotic wild animals.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond |last=Shah|first=Sonia|publisher=Sarah Crichton Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2016|location=New York |page=15 |quote=the Chinese taste for what's called ''yewei'', or "wild," cuisine, in which exotic animals from snakes and turtles to bats are prepared in special dishes.}}</ref>
== Terminology == The character 野 ({{zh|p=yě}}) means "wild", and is shortened from 野兽 (Traditional {{zh|t=野獸|p=yěshòu}}), which means "wild beasts".{{cn|date=November 2021}}
The character 味 ({{zh|p=wèi}}) literally means "taste", and metaphorically refers to various delicacies that appeals to the popular palate.{{cn|date=November 2021}}
== History == Historically, members of the imperial courts in Chinese dynastic eras requested grand animals for their meals. Famous examples include the Manchu Han Imperial Feast. Today, ''yewei'' can be eaten by anyone with access to wild animals, which can also be imported.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theworld.org/stories/2020/02/25/china-cracks-down-wildlife-trade-amid-coronavirus-outbreak|title=China cracks down on wildlife trade amid coronavirus outbreak|website=Public Radio International|language=en|access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref>
== Animals eaten == Yewei can include badgers,<ref name=Guo_Conversation>{{Cite web |url= https://theconversation.com/snakes-could-be-the-original-source-of-the-new-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china-130364 |title=Snakes could be the original source of the new coronavirus outbreak in China |last1=Guo |first1=Haitao |last2=Luo |first2=Guangxiang "George" |last3=Gao |first3=Shou-Jiang |date=13 February 2020 |work=The Conversation |access-date=7 April 2020}}</ref> bats,<ref name="Schnirring8Jan2020">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/virologists-weigh-novel-coronavirus-chinas-outbreak |title=Virologists weigh in on novel coronavirus in China's outbreak |last=Schnirring |first=Lisa |date=8 January 2020 |website=CIDRAP |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108234455/http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/01/virologists-weigh-novel-coronavirus-chinas-outbreak |archive-date=8 January 2020 |access-date=23 January 2020}}</ref> beavers,<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5770904/wuhan-coronavirus-wild-animals/ |title=The West Blames the Wuhan Coronavirus on China's Love of Eating Wild Animals |last=Campbell |first=Charlie |date=24 January 2020 |magazine=Time |language=en |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401110730/https://time.com/5770904/wuhan-coronavirus-wild-animals/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> civets,<ref name="Perper">{{Cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-virus-china-bans-food-markets-selling-live-animals-wolves-2020-1 |title=China banned live animal sales in Wuhan, after a food market selling wolves and civet cats was linked to a deadly virus |last=Perper |first=Rosie |website=Business Insider |access-date=25 January 2020}}</ref> crocodiles,<ref name="CNA 2020">{{Cite web |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/wuhan-pneumonia-virus-wholesale-market-animal-trading-12302476 |title=On the menu at Wuhan virus market: Rats and live wolf pups |date=22 January 2020 |website=CNA |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122134135/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/wuhan-pneumonia-virus-wholesale-market-animal-trading-12302476 |archive-date=22 January 2020 |access-date=23 January 2020}}</ref> foxes,<ref name="CNA 2020" /> giant salamanders,<ref name="CNA 2020" /> hedgehog,<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5769323/wuhan-coronavirus-outbreak/ |title=Here's What It's Like in Wuhan, the City at the Center of Coronavirus |date=2020-01-22 |magazine=Time |access-date=2020-01-24 |archive-date=2020-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401110728/https://time.com/5769323/wuhan-coronavirus-outbreak/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> marmots,<ref name="Schnirring8Jan2020" /> ostrich,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/virus-sparks-soul-searching-over-chinas-wild-animal-trade-11580055290 |title=Virus Sparks Soul-Searching Over China's Wild Animal Trade |last=Page |first=Jeremy |date=27 January 2020 |work=Wall Street Journal |access-date=27 January 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126175047/https://www.wsj.com/articles/virus-sparks-soul-searching-over-chinas-wild-animal-trade-11580055290 |archive-date=26 January 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> otters,<ref name=Perper/> pangolins,<ref name="PangolinsBruh">{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/07/pangolin-and-porcupines-on-sale-in-chinese-market-despite-jail-threat |title=Pangolin and porcupines on sale in Chinese market despite jail threat |work=The Guardian |date=2014 |access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref> peacocks,<ref name="CNA 2020" /> pheasants,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cb.com.cn/index/show/zj/cv/cv13474141264 |date=2020-01-22 |website=cb.com.cn |language=zh |script-title=zh:华南海鲜批发市场西区有十几家贩卖野味的商户 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122192237/http://www.cb.com.cn/index/show/zj/cv/cv13474141264 |archive-date=2020-01-22 |access-date=2020-01-24}}</ref> porcupines,<ref name="CNA 2020" /> rabbit and rabbit organs,<ref name="Shih8Jan2020">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/specter-of-possible-new-virus-emerging-from-central-china-raises-alarms-across-asia/2020/01/08/3d33046c-312f-11ea-971b-43bec3ff9860_story.html |title=Specter of possible new virus emerging from central China raises alarms across Asia |last1=Shih |first1=Gerry |last2=Sun |first2=Lena H. |date=8 January 2020 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108172338/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/specter-of-possible-new-virus-emerging-from-central-china-raises-alarms-across-asia/2020/01/08/3d33046c-312f-11ea-971b-43bec3ff9860_story.html |archive-date=8 January 2020 |access-date=23 January 2020}}</ref> rats,<ref name="CNA 2020" /> snakes (including many-banded krait),<ref name=Guo_Conversation/> spotted deer,<ref name="Shih8Jan2020" /> turtles<ref name="SCMP22Jan20202">{{cite news|last1=Xie|first1=Echo|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3047238/why-wild-animals-are-key-ingredient-chinas-coronavirus-outbreak|title=Why wild animals are a key ingredient in China's coronavirus outbreak|date=22 January 2020|newspaper=South China Morning Post|access-date=9 April 2020|last2=Cai|first2=Jane|last3=Rui|first3=Guo}}</ref> and wolf pups.<ref name="Time Wild 2020">{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5770904/wuhan-coronavirus-wild-animals/ |title=The West Blames the Wuhan Coronavirus on China's Love of Eating Wild Animals. The Truth Is More Complex |date=24 January 2020 |magazine=Time |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401110730/https://time.com/5770904/wuhan-coronavirus-wild-animals/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Culture == It has been reported that the consumption of wildlife appeals only to a minority of people in China.<ref name="dailymaverick">{{cite news|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-03-02-a-sea-change-in-chinas-attitude-towards-wildlife-exploitation-may-just-save-the-planet/|title=A sea change in China's attitude towards wildlife exploitation may just save the planet|date=2020-03-02|newspaper=Daily Maverick|quote=an online poll by the Peking University Centre for Nature Society found that 97% of some 100,000 participants were against eating wild animals. Nearly 80% rejected using wildlife products. Knights said the poll was “probably biased to more educated people, but, you know, that’s a large proportion of the Chinese population now.” By contrast, 14 million people worked in wildlife and trade consumption before the ban, some media have suggested. “A minority is still a minority; the majority have changed,” Lin said when Daily Maverick pointed out a minority in China could mean tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people..}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statesman.com/news/20200326/fact-check-is-chinese-culture-to-blame-for-coronavirus|title=Fact-check: Is Chinese culture to blame for the coronavirus?|last=Mekelburg|first=Madlin|website=Austin American-Statesman|language=en|access-date=2020-04-04|archive-date=2020-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329103945/https://www.statesman.com/news/20200326/fact-check-is-chinese-culture-to-blame-for-coronavirus|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radiichina.com/wet-markets-wild-animals-china/|title=No, You Won't Find "Wild Animals" in Most of China's Wet Markets|date=2020-02-25|website=RADII|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref> However, the topic of whether it should be consumed has had some mixed reactions. According to a 2006 survey by WildAid and the {{ill|China Wildlife Conservation Association|zh|中国野生动物保护协会}}, about 70% of 24,000 people surveyed in 16 cities in mainland China had not eaten wild animals in the previous year, up from 51% in a similar 1999 survey.<ref>[https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1842104/why-wild-animals-are-a-key-ingredient-in-chinas-coronavirus-outbreak "Why wild animals are a key ingredient in China's coronavirus outbreak"] ''Bangkok Post''. January 23, 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-31.</ref>
In a 2014 survey of several cities in China, 52.7% of respondents agreed with the statement that wildlife should not be consumed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Li |last2=Yin |first2=Feng |title=Wildlife consumption and conservation awareness in China: a long way to go |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |date=6 May 2014 |volume=23 |issue=9 |pages=2371–2381 |doi=10.1007/s10531-014-0708-4 |bibcode=2014BiCon..23.2371Z |s2cid=16650929 }}</ref>{{discuss}}
According to ''The Guardian'' in an article back in 2014, some locals in Southern China sometimes boast that they will "eat anything with four legs except a table".<ref name="PangolinsBruh"/>
The consumption of exotic wildlife, especially in some provinces in the southern part of the nation, came under heavy criticism after the SARS epidemic. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese government formally made the practice illegal,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/d59f43a911996a729cdf8636f5aa4ce4 |title=China temporarily bans wildlife trade in wake of outbreak |publisher=The Associated Press |date=2020-02-27|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref> amidst growing calls inside China to permanently ban the wildlife trade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theworld.org/stories/2020/02/25/china-cracks-down-wildlife-trade-amid-coronavirus-outbreak|title=China cracks down on wildlife trade amid coronavirus outbreak|website=Public Radio International|date=25 February 2020 |language=en|access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://eia-international.org/news/eia-supports-calls-in-china-to-extend-temporary-wildlife-trade-ban-and-make-it-permanent |title=EIA supports calls in China to extend temporary wildlife trade ban and make it permanent |publisher=Environmental Investigation Agency|date=2020-01-31|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Chinese imperial cuisine Category:Meat