DOG-LORE AND SUPERSTITION 



watch-dog, the hunting-dog, and the edible dog ; but 

 according to the description of this last, this pretended dog 

 used as food is nothing but the otter, an animal which 

 European naturalists have also included in the canine 

 species." * 



Father Cibot's authority is, no doubt, the remark of an early 

 Chinese commentator dealing with a quotation from the 

 " Book of Rites." He remarks that " dogs are of three kinds : 

 hunting-dogs, watch-dogs, and those used for culinary 

 purposes, commonly known as edible dogs." f 



The endeavours to relieve the ancient Chinese of the 

 supposed stigma of eating canine flesh is more ingenious than 

 convincing, for the otter is not commonly found in China, is 

 not classed as a dog, and has no special reputation as a table 

 delicacy. Nor is the otter an animal which readily lends 

 itself to fattening. The " Book of Rites " further enjoins that 

 all animal gifts offered on sacred occasions shall be in a fitting 

 state of plumpness, and remarks : "When a dog is offered at 

 the sacrifices of the ancestral temples it is to be called ' Keng- 

 hsien.' ; The commentator solemnly explains that " Keng- 

 hsien " is a soup made from a fat dog. Dog-flesh, on the other 

 hand, is known by tradition to have been, from time im- 

 memorial, the food of man in China, and to have been- 

 considered, under certain conditions, a delicacy. The Chinese 

 have no cause to be unduly sensitive on account of the tastes 

 of their ancestors, for, writing at the same time as Father 

 Grosier, another author remarks : ' In America, the flesh of 

 the dog is eaten, and it is to be found commonly with other 

 kinds of meat and game in the public markets. The ancients 

 also reckoned a young and fat dog excellent food. Hippoc- 

 rates classed it with mutton and pork. The Romans 



* " Grosier de la Chine," 1819, vol. iv, p. 244. 

 f " Book of Rites," vol. i. 



