為什麼中國人沒有善用羊毛？

為什麼中國人沒有善用羊毛？這個問題﹐其實跟問為甚麼中國人不發展乳業是一樣的。

歷史學家 Nigel Cameron 在其為香港牛奶公司撰寫的 The Milky Way: The History of Dairy Farm 一書中提出了一個很有意思的看法。

他寫道：

"But in China a diary industry did not develop where it could have done--in the temperate latitudes--as it did elsewhere...The cause was the absolute necessity...to shut out the 'barbarian' tribal peoples of the huge land mass called Central Asia...The incidental result of excluding the 'barbarian' was that China also excluded most of their culture, including the use of milk in daily diet...Cows and yaks were the Central Asians' daily source of milk...They also raised sheep. But having excluded these peoples, it was not unnatural to regard their way of life including their eating habits and diet as 'barbarian' also...The very rigidity of China's ruling administrative system over the last 2,000 year...seem to have been the main factors--always opposing the ever-pestering 'barbarians'--which effectively deprived the Chinese of the concept of dairy farming."（「但中國並沒有像其他溫帶地區那樣﹐發展乳業……原因是中國認為非要把那大片叫中亞的土地上面的『野蠻』部落民族關在外邊不可……不料把這些『野蠻人』摒諸門外的時候﹐也讓中國排斥了他們的文化﹐當中包括吃用牛奶……乳牛和犛牛是中亞人的主要日用奶源……他們也養羊。中國人由於排斥了這些民族﹐自然也把他們的生活方式如飲食習慣視為『野蠻』……中國兩千年來統治制度的僵化﹐也就是永遠要抗擊那不斷侵擾的『野蠻人』﹐其實令中國人喪失了乳業這個概念……」）

中國人這種「聰明反被聰明誤」的例子太多了。

連羊也不多養﹐那自然所產羊毛也不多。即使到近世開始吃點羊肉了﹐也想盡辦法把所謂「羊膻臭」辟除﹐非要把羊肉弄得羊味盡去不肯吃。其實論「膻臭」﹐狗肉毫不比羊肉遜色﹐而且雜食的狗比草食的羊骯髒得多﹐但中國人卻認定是羊膻臭而狗肉香。

中國人另一陋習也令羊毛紡織較難發展。那就是往往謊報羊毛衣物所含的羊毛成份﹐牧羊者在羊毛中攙以異物以增重﹐或以腈綸、錦綸或其他人造毛冒充羊毛等等。在中國或香港的的假羊毛衫就如假古董一樣遍地皆是﹐如何鑑別真假羊毛衫變成門大學問。但一般顧客哪有這樣的能力﹐要不是長期接觸真羊毛﹐也不可能憑理論奢言鑑別。

這裡羊毛衫的羊毛成份一般起碼佔衣料的八成﹐自從我穿過這裡的真羊毛衫後﹐就很相信以前在香港所穿的所謂羊毛衫全是假的。