DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



" Other evidence pointing to the same fact is found in the 

 peculiar ' dog of the kind which is found with the barbarians 

 Ti,' mentioned by Ssu-ma Ch'ien. And if the country of Lii, 

 which sent the hound ao, was a branch of the Western Jung, 

 everything is indeed apt to show that these large extraordinary 

 dogs, including the mastiffs if the term mang may be 

 identified with the latter came from Turkish regions. It is 

 noteworthy, too, that, according to the dictionary ' Shuo 

 wen ' (A.D. 100), the land of the Hsiung nu (Huns) possessed 

 a special kind of dog, called chiao, with large mouth and 

 black body, which characteristics are essential to the mastiff. 

 For the rest, the definition of the chiao appears as a fabulous 

 animal in the ' Shan hai king ' : ' On the nephrite hills there 

 is an animal of a shape like a dog, striped like a panther, and 

 with horns like an ox ; it is called chiao ; its voice is like that 

 of a barking dog ; in the country where it appears dogs will be 

 abundant.' In a book, ' Jui ying t'u,' occurs now the inter- 

 esting passage that the Hsiung nu offered panther-dogs with 

 pointed mouth, red body, and four feet. Whether these latter 

 animals were mastiffs or not red colour occurs with them, in 

 fact it is evident that the Hsiung nu possessed extraordinary 

 dogs, which arrived also in China." 



The chase was of prime interest to the ancient Chinese, 

 and there are numerous references to sporting dogs in their 

 earlier literature. The first Emperors known to history- 

 organized hunting expeditions, with levies from every district, 

 four times a year, chiefly with a view to training their men for 

 war. There are, unfortunately, few descriptions of the breeds 

 of hunting dogs used, yet it is known that the Emperors set 

 great value on them. The " Tribute Decrees for the four 

 Quarters " * records that a Grand Councillor of the Emperor 

 T'ang, who lived about 1760 B.C., counselled his master to 



* " Yuan Chuan Lei Han," vol. cdxxxvi, " Dogs," second part. 



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