Buddhism-Daoism-Vegetarianism

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[b:64187bab00]Question:[/b:64187bab00]
I am familiar with Tzu Chi Buddhism, and other forms of Buddhism prevalent in China, and Tzu Chi is completely vegetarian, and other forms have days of being vegetarian. But in daoism, practitioners recommend eating some meat. Vegetarianism in China? History? Is there medical research or spiritual research towards the conclusions of vegetarianism or need for meat in diet?

[b:64187bab00]Answer:[/b:64187bab00]
As the Buddhism is concerned, in China, the real Buddhists, I mean the monks, must not be complete vegetarians, no matter what sects they are following. While some of the ordinary or layman believers are also very serious about the diet, they mainly take the vegetarian diet. For sure there is a number of believers take the animal diet as well.
Is Tsu Chi a Chinese or Japanese word? I cannot figure out the Chinese meaning.
In Daoism, there are also some complete vegetarians, but not as strict as the Buddhists.
Probably the fresh practitioners are allowed to eat fish and poultries, but not the real vetebrates meats.
It's hard to say the conclusion of the vegetarianism or meat diet! Personally, I think to start with, we do need some animal diet, but when our body is grown up, and we are strong enough to live on without any meat, we can live on the vegetarian food, which I believe is good to the spirit. Besides, some animal food can be taken such as honey, milk,
and other dairy products. So I don't worry about the nutrition problem. Anyway, personally I like the vegetarianism.