Has this been the royal pet of the Chinese royal family for thousands of years?
Has this been the royal pet of the Chinese royal family for thousands of years?
The Pekingese, commonly known as the Pekingese, is now less popular than Teddy, Corgi, Husky, Pomeranian and other pet dogs. In fact, this cute little dog has been the royal pet of the Chinese royal family for thousands of years, until a war more than 100 years ago changed their fate.
Pekingese dog becomes famous in the West
In 1893, at a dog show in England, a puppy attracted countless people's attention: it was petite, covered with long, silky hair, had a gorgeous gait, a high tail, and big round black eyes. It was as noble as a lion and as well-behaved as a kitten.
During this golden age of the British, this ornamental dog, known as the "Peking Lion Dog" or "Peking Dog", quickly became the new favorite of the upper class.
But the origin of the Pekingese is not cute at all. In 1860, the British and French allied forces invaded Beijing and burned the Old Summer Palace. The invaders took the treasures they had looted back home. One of the British captains, John Donne, took away five lion dogs he found in the Old Summer Palace, one of which was later presented to Queen Victoria.
The former British Queen Elizabeth II loves Corgis, and her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria also has a hobby of raising dogs. The royal hobby gradually became popular in the UK and even the entire Western world, and more and more Pekingese dogs were brought out of China and multiplied overseas.
By the end of the 19th century, Empress Dowager Cixi, who was obsessed with dogs, also gave Pekingese dogs as gifts to "friendly foreigners" many times. Unfortunately, in that era, Victoria and Cixi, two old ladies who loved dogs, had no chance to sit together and drink tea and chat peacefully, and discuss dog-raising...
“Pekingese” = Pug?
The Pekingese is generally called "Jingba" or "Pug" in China. However, the "Pugs" that many people keep at home today do not have flowing long hair, but instead have short hair, wrinkles on their faces, and a silly and cute look.
In fact, in the classification of domestic dog breeds, this type of pug is generally referred to as a pug, which is a small toy dog breed different from the Pekingese. However, in terms of bloodline, the Pug and the Pekingese are indeed bred from the same ancient dog breed.
Traveling between Europe and Asia, everyone loves it
The Pekingese, which bore the humiliation of the late Qing Dynasty, was not native to China, but an old-fashioned foreign dog introduced from the Western Regions. According to the Old Book of Tang, during the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, the people of Gaochang presented a pair of puppies, "six inches tall, more than a foot long, very smart, able to pull a horse and hold a candle, and said to be from the Byzantine Empire". The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) that ruled the eastern half of the Mediterranean at the time, so this kind of puppy was named "Byzantine dog", and the Pekingese is their descendant.
The Byzantine dog, which is small, delicate, docile and intelligent, was very popular in the Tang Dynasty court. Famous Tang Dynasty paintings such as "Ladies with Flowers in Their Hairpins" and "Palace Music" as well as many palace flower and bird paintings of the time all feature Byzantine dogs.
According to records, once Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was about to lose a game of chess with a prince. Yang Guifei, who was watching the game, quickly released the puppy in her arms, letting the dog mess up the chess pieces, thus helping the emperor to cleverly rescue the situation... This puppy that performed the meritorious service was probably also a Byzantine dog.
After the mid-Tang Dynasty, China suffered from wars, but the Fulin dog survived and was bred to have richer coat colors, gradually becoming the Pekingese dog of today. In the Qing Dynasty, the Pekingese dog was a luxury item exclusively used by the palace, the royal palace, and the homes of the Eight Banners. For ordinary people, the pug was delicate and could not guard the house. It was only cute and its only use was to refer to the slaves and scold people.
After thousands of years of independent breeding, the Pekingese dog looked increasingly different from its Western cousins, which was why Europeans who came to China in the second half of the 19th century were shocked. After being introduced to Europe and the United States, they were crossbred with a variety of pet dogs, and a bunch of new breeds were bred, which later returned to China as "foreign dogs". And the Pekingese dog in China also gradually entered the homes of ordinary people and became a popular pet since the Republic of China period.
Pekingese dogs are sick but still look cute
DNA testing shows that the ancestors of Pekingese and Pugs were one of the earliest domesticated dogs by humans, and their genes are closer to wolves than most domestic dogs, such as "wolf dogs" (German shepherds)! However, Pekingese and Pugs are not only much smaller than wolves, but also have flat muzzles, almost like round cat faces. These two main cute features have become their lifelong troubles.
Wild wolves run around all day looking for food and are very active, but the "Pugs" with four short legs are much more clumsy. Their flat muzzles also squeeze their noses, narrowing their nasal cavities and affecting their smooth breathing. At the same time, their teeth also grow into "overbites".
Due to human needs, these pathological characteristics are not only preserved, but also often inbreeding is used to ensure the "purity" of the offspring! The dogs that seem to be pampered are actually "suffering"...
Contact ：Aine Fan
Shandong Lize Pet Products Co.,Ltd
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