DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



the hare with dogs was a pastime current among the ancient 

 Chinese. The breeds in use were, no doubt, adapted to 

 some extent to counter the ferocity, strength, speed, and 

 elusive powers of each quarry respectively in a land which was 

 gradually being denuded of forests and entering a state of 

 close cultivation. 



The name of the chow breed of dog appears to have 

 originated from " pidgin " English, which, now rapidly 

 disappearing, was a trade language composed of a mixture 

 of the most easily intelligible English and Chinese words 

 used in early trade intercourse in South China. In this 

 mixture there was originally a large element of Portuguese. 

 Some suggest that the word originated as pidgin Portuguese, 

 derived from " che," the Chinese for " to eat," used as the 

 first word in the customary Chinese greeting, which means 

 " Have you eaten rice ? ' At one period the Chinese, whose 

 trade in ginger, or ' chow-chow," with Europeans was 

 important, became known by the name of chow. It is, 

 therefore, probable that the name chow, as applied to the 

 dog commonly found in Canton, simply means a Chinese 

 dog, and does not refer to its having been used for food. 



To the Western observer, the Chinese appear to have been 

 far more successful in modifying the colour and form of 

 canine breeds than in improving the powers of scent and 

 sporting qualities of their dogs. This is no doubt largely 

 due to the fact that for the last hundred years China has, 

 from the point of view of sport, gone backwards. The 

 Imperial hunts have been given up, preservation of the 

 Imperial hunting-parks and game protection have ceased 

 throughout China. The shot-gun, known to the Emperor 

 Ch'ien Lung to whom a specimen now to be seen in the 

 National museum in Peking was sent by George III of 

 England though made in 'China is used for commercial 



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