EASTERN DOGS IN EARLY TIMES 



This reminds us of Jaschke's remark, that the Tibetan wolves, 

 where more numerous as, for instance, in Spiti commit 

 ravages among sheep, but are otherwise not much dreaded by 

 man, and, like the wolf in general, they are easily tamed. If 

 we compare in the above-mentioned book, ' Mao shih,' etc., 

 the picture of the wolf with that of the dog (mang*), a 

 striking resemblance between the two is noticeable as regards 

 shape of head, mouth, and body, legs, claws, tail, and hairi- 

 ness. The mang is mentioned as early as the ' Shih king,' 

 and must therefore have been known to the Chinese at an 

 early date. It now seems questionable whether the Tibetans 

 are to be looked upon as the trainers of the mastiff ; if not, 

 rather ancient Turkish tribes tamed the wolf an animal with 

 which they were always quite familiar, and which played an 

 eminent role in their tribal traditions and creation myths f 

 at a much earlier period. Of the fact that the dog in general 

 was known in the South-Siberian bronze age, we possess well- 

 authenticated archaeological evidence in a bronze plaque re- 

 presenting a hunter accompanied by two dogs. In this 

 connexion it is worthy of note that a fierce kind of dog, called 

 p'i ngan (usually translated ' bull-dog '), whose picture is 

 painted on the doors of jails because of his ability as a watch- 

 dog, is said to originate from the land of the Turks. 



* The " Shuo wen " (A.D. 100) gives the following names of dogs, and their 

 definitions : 



Hsien (or lien) is a black dog with yellow chin. 



Mang is a dog with plenty of hair. 



Hsien (character slightly different from above) is a dog that barks incessantly. 



Ao is a dog that knows man's heart, and can accordingly be utilized. (See Laufer, 



P- 253-) 

 The " Erh Ya " states that a dog with long snout is called hsien or lien ; one with 



a short snout, hsieh hsiao. According to the ' Shih King,' both are hunting dogs 

 (Couvreur's edition, p. 134). The " Erh Ya " also states that the chao is a dog of great 

 strength. 



f H. Vambe'ry, " Die primitive Cultur des turko-tatarischen Volkes " (Leipzig, 

 1879), pp. 197-98. 



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