POINTS OF THE CHINESE PEKINGESE TYPE 



Imperial masters, the rest being bred by eunuchs, who 

 bought and sold among themselves and occasionally presented 

 or sold their best specimens to Chinese officials. As an 

 instance of modification through fashion, it may be mentioned 

 that during the Tao Kuang period the practice of docking the 

 dogs' tails, almost invariably carried out during recent years 

 in the palace, was not always customary. This practice 

 appears to have originated under the late Empress Dowager 

 in the reign of Hsien Feng, after 1815. The change was 

 probably made with the object of obtaining greater resem- 

 blance to the Chinese idea of the lion, which is always a 

 " cur tail " beast. The custom of docking is useful as an 

 indicator of the period of Pekingese pictures. 



Another change in fashion was due to the Empress's ob- 

 jection to the so-called sleeve-dogs freaks whose pro- 

 duction must often have been the result of much pain. 



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