Vegan and vegetarian Chinese vocabulary

[Kenny同志]

I am writing an essay about how a few words with the suffix 主義 can be avoided. 素食主義者 is one of them. It’s basically intended to be a literal translation of vegan or vegetarian. As we discussed before, it can’t encompass all aspects covered by the word vegan, which means someone who do not eat animal or animal-based food, and apart from that, do not use any animal products at all. I was wondering whether vegetarian means one who avoids eating animal or animal-based food only. Or put it another way, if one uses animal products, can we still call him or her a vegetarian?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[tooironic]

Vegetarianism can be a very personal thing, but I think strictly speaking a vegetarian doesn't eat meat (including fish) but can eat animal products such as eggs and milk if s/he wishes. They can also use leather and fur if they so desire, though I'm sure this can be a contentious issue for some. I've met some vegetarians who still eat fish, but I think technically they are considered to be pescatarians. Vegans are more extreme, and generally won't touch anything coming from animals, including meat, fish, eggs, milk, leather and fur and any product containing animal parts, derivitives, oils, etc.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you very much, Tooironic. Your explanation is very clear and useful, as always.

[li3wei1]

There are even those who insist on gardening without the use of animal manures, which is crazy, because there are all sorts of things living in the soil, pooping continuously. Not sure if there's a word for them, though.

[Kenny同志]

自古明賢治病，多用生命以濟危急，雖曰賤畜貴人，至於愛命，人畜一也。損彼益己，物情同患，況於人乎？夫殺生求生，去生更遠。吾今此方所以不用生命為藥者，良由此也。

Note: 「去生更遠」之「生」乃使動字，意思是使生，即救也。譯文也順便修改下。呵呵。

Since the old times, it had been a practice among great doctors to treat acute and dangerous diseases with medicine made from living animals. Although it is said that animals are inferior to man, they cherish life as much as man does. The practice of harming others for the sake of one’s own benefit is detested by all forms of life, let alone us humans! To sacrifice the life of an animal to save our own life goes alll the more against the meaning of “save”. Exactly because of this, I refuse to use any ingredients taken from animals in these formulae.

The earlier version:

Since the Old Times, it had been a practice among great doctors to treat acute and dangerous diseases with medicine made from living animals. Although it is said that animals are inferior and men are dignified, when it comes to cherishing life, there is no difference between the two. Harming others for the sake of one’s own benefits is detested by all forms of life; and we're humans! To sacrifice the life of animals to save our own life is all the more against what the word "life” means. This is exactly why I refuse to use living animals in this formula.

[semantic nuance]

I am a vagan.= 我吃全素 / 純素。(meaning you excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients.

 

It sounds to me that vegetarians sometimes are not so strict as vegans. Their food may include eggs, cheese, milk. In that case, we say 奶素 (vegetarian who can drink milk), 蛋素 (vegetarian who can eat eggs). 

 

If you want to know if the food contains anything related to animal-derived ingredients, you can ask in Chinese:

 

這東西 / 食物有沒有葷的(成分)? 

 

Hope it helps!