DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



the siege of Peking in 1867 or 1868, and were brought to 

 England by the then Marquis of Wellesley, I think. Anyhow, 

 they were given to a Mrs. St. John, who brought them 

 several times to our house. Alike as two peas, they were 

 solid apricot fawn, without a suspicion of white ; had lovely 

 heads and expressions ; but, unlike their son, they were 

 close to the ground, and a shade long in body." 



A later importation which is well known, is that of black 

 pug-dogs brought in 1886 from the East by Lord and Lady 

 Brassey in the Sunbeam. 



It is possible that the Chinese name for this breed is 

 connected with the city of Lokiang, or Lochiang, about 

 thirty miles north of Chengtu, the capital of Ssuchuan, which 

 was famous for its dogs from the eighth to the eleventh 

 centuries. Recent inquiries in Ssuchuan indicate that the 

 name of the breed has been forgotten in its birthplace, and 

 that even in this distant province the common name for the 

 small short-nosed dogs is now " Ching-kou " or " Pekingese." 

 One of the most important characteristics of the Chinese 

 Lo-sze dog, is, in addition to universal shortness of coat, 

 elasticity of skin existing in a far greater degree than with the 

 " Pekingese." The point most sought after by Chinese 

 breeders was the " Prince " mark, formed by three wrinkles 

 on the forehead with a vertical bar in imitation of the Chinese 

 character for " Prince." This same character is distinguished 

 by the Chinese in the stripes on the forehead of the tiger, 

 which, in consequence, is the object of superstitious venera- 

 tion among the ignorant. The button, or white blaze, on 

 the forehead was also encouraged in the Lo-sze dog, but was 

 not of the same importance as the wrinkles. Other points 

 such as compactness of body, flatness of face, squareness 

 of jaw and soundness of bone are similar to those of 

 " Pekingese," except as regards the ears, which were small 

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