Am I right to think that in ancient times in the Far East if you where a vegetarian you were actually vegan,?!

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No I don't think so. I think there were people who may not have eaten any animal products but veganism is so much more.

"The word 'veganism' denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, including humans and the environment.
In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."

It is quite possible there were some vegans out there but I don't think anyone knows that for sure because of the times and the history kept. Dairy is probably a more recent thing in history but not eating dairy doesn't make you a vegan.

vegan because animals are not property

Well that would depend on how "ancient" you wanna go? Milk as food is at least 10,000 years old ( and the first dairy animal was a goat, not a cow). A favorite food by the Mongols, especially by it's army that conquered what is now known as China, was something called "kumis" which is fermented mare's milk. The use of honey for food and other, mostly medicinal purposes can be found in many "ancient" Chinese manuscripts.

Possibly. There isn't really a direct translation for "vegetarian" for that time or region. A good number of people over there translate "vegetarian" as "no red meat" or "no land animals." Some translate it as "vegan" and some translate it as "vegan and no onions or garlic."

I'd say that if someone was what we'd call a vegetarian, yes, chances are that they were either ovo-vegetarian or vegan, though they probably weren't really vegan because they used animal fibers.

Dairy was consumed within biblical times.

Julius Caesar and his army were vegetarians. They ate foods using oil and some products from cows. But not cheese ( made in the middle ages by a Turkish man leaving milk curds in a cave).

Milk has been used since Egyptian times- donkey milk, camel milk. Cow milk used too, often for washing and beauty treatments.

There were no vegetarians or vegans in "ancient times". Humans need vitamin B12 and it's only available from animal foods (meat, milk, eggs). Those people who didn't eat animal products died.

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