DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



the red dog of the Deccan.* The race is found in many parts 

 of China. In size and build it is smaller than the common 

 Chinese grey wolf. Its coloration is almost as varied as that of 

 the domestic dog. In Yunnan Province as many as two or 

 three individuals differing in colour have been seen near one 

 village at one time in winter. It is not known to form packs, 

 and is rarely seen in summer. Its cry resembles the howl of 

 the domestic dog. 



Among the Aryans the shepherd's dog, the house-dog, and 

 the vagrant dog, comparable to the homeless begging friar, 

 were specially protected by religious ordinances. The keep- 

 ing back of their food or the giving of bad food to them was a 

 crime punishable with many stripes. " For it is the dog, 

 of all the creatures of the good spirit, that most quickly 

 decays into age, while not eating near eating people, and 

 watching goods none of which it receives. Bring ye unto 

 him milk and fat with meat ; this is the right food for the 

 dog." f 



" Whenever one eats bread one must put aside three 

 mouthfuls and give them to the dogs ... for among all 

 the poor than is none poorer than the dog." J 



A further remark by Berthold Laufer deals with the possible 

 wolf-origin of certain breeds of Chinese dogs : 



" Most interesting in this connexion is a passage in the 

 ' Tso chuan,' ' To the Jung and Ti, the wolf is not an object 

 of dislike,' by which is meant, apparently, that the wolf was 

 not dreaded by these presumably Turkish tribes, and was 

 accustomed to live in the neighbourhood of human dwellings. 



* Sowerby, Journ. N.C.B.R.A.Soc., vol. xlvii. 



j- Zend Avesta, " Sacred Books of the East," vol. iv., p. 158. 



\ Saddar, 31 ; Hyde, 35. 



Given in the " Mao shih ming wu t'u shuo " (Book II, p. 3), under the descrip- 

 tion of the wolf, where again it is quoted after the book of Hsing Ping (932-1010) : 

 Giles, " Biographical Dictionary," p. 296. 



6 



