Chinese and animal: Benefits of the pig to the Chinese community

What are the benefits of the pig to the Chinese community?
The famous roast pig recipe was popularly attributed to have originated from China. Legend has it that the house of the pig was accidentally burned where pigs were accidentally roasted giving off a fine mouth watering scent and flavor. From then on the roast pig became a symbol of prosperity and blessing so that every occasion needs to have a roast pig as part of the celebrations. Yet the pig per se has many benefits to the Chinese peoples.
As one of the more viable stock of animals that can be maximized for the supply of food for humans, the pig has been a staple in the history and development of China. During the country`s early civilization, when people were still used to hunting and gathering and picking up foods from the wilderness, the pig has been consistently turned to for food supply. Evidences show that the pigs are one of the earliest animals domesticated by ancient Chinese men (Walker: 1965).
Up to the present, this trend has not been bucked down and the status of the pig as one of the staple foods, not just a type of meat, in China continues. In culled statistics, the population of the pig is one of the highest in the country. With over 800,000, it is no doubt that the food production is made more rapid and lucrative for the Chinese population. Developing a livestock of pigs does not require much toil as they are one of the animals that can reproduce more easily and more productively. An average pig can bore a minimum of five new, little pigs twice a year at the most.
Aside from the more obvious evidences of the high premium given to the pig animal in China, this is also manifest t in cultural markings and artifacts of the country. For instance, in the illustrious Chinese alphabet, the word "home" or "family" is represented by an image of a roof put above the image for pig. This linguistic marking seems to imply that the pig is part and parcel of the family; it is constituted in what is taken as the living foundation of a househol...