DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



Chinese custom of wearing a piece of jade or other precious 

 stone in the front of the hat. The wearing of pearls in this 

 way to mark official rank was a special prerogative of the 

 Manchu Emperors, and can be traced to the T'ang Dynasty 

 (A.D. 618). The Emperors of that and other periods gave 

 official rank to their most prized specimens, and perpetuation 

 of the " Ting-Tzu " (official button) thus becomes easy of 

 explanation. A variation of the white spot is the case " T'ung 

 T'ien Bai " (" White [spot] leading to heaven ") in which the 

 spot spreads to a broad blaze on the forehead, sometimes 

 continuing well over the back. 



It has been suggested that, because Chinese officials and 

 literati were inordinately proud of their huge horn-bound 

 spectacles, the breeding of " spectacles " into the race of 

 " Pekingese " may have been favoured in China. It is pos- 

 sible, however, that the recurrence of " spectacled " (" Sze 

 Yen ") dogs was not subject to as much encouragement as is 

 found among European breeders. The epithet " four eyes," 

 applied to a man, carries more stigma in China than in 

 Europe. In addition to its connotation of all that is crooked, 

 it bears a special omen of bad luck, derived from Fengshui, 

 and an implied comparison to the canine race. Among 

 the common people the term is also applied to the prig who 

 wears spectacles to ape the wisdom of the short-sighted old 

 man or of the too studious professor. The wearing of spec- 

 tacles is a comparatively modern custom, and has never been 

 an official sign of rank. It is, therefore, possible that, as in 

 the case of the white " shirt-front " which is a point of 

 minor importance in Chinese specimens, having no imagina- 

 tive meaning in China this matter of the " spectacles " is 

 liable to greater encouragement in Europe than it ever had in 

 China. Chinese breeders distinguish between specimens 

 having the spectacle marks poorly developed (" an ") and those 

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