TOY DOGS IN CHINESE ART 



History stated that the Sung Dynasty was able to boast the 

 remarkable circumstance of nine generations in one family of 

 the name of Chang living under the same roof in peace and 

 quietness. This wish is often imparted to the recipient by 

 means of a picture of chrysanthemums and " Pekingese " 

 dogs or lions. There may be simply lions or dogs, nine in 

 number, representing a pun on the word " generations," 

 which in the vernacular has approximately the same tone. 

 The Chinese for chrysanthemums in Peking vernacular is 

 " Chiu-hua," literally " nine flowers," on account of their 

 flowering in the ninth moon. 



Wu Shih Toong T'ang. 

 (" May five generations live together in the same home.") 



The feat performed by the Chang family is considered, 

 even among the peace-loving Chinese, to have been so 

 extraordinary that in the present age of drooping filial piety 

 a minor wish is sufficient to express the utmost good augury 

 convey able in a polite hope. The wish is usually pictured by 

 means of one big and four small lions. Snuff-bottles pictur- 

 ing five " Pekingese " dogs and expressing the same wish 

 are also found. 



In the Chow period, which dates from about 1000 B.C., 

 the highest literary degrees (" Imperial Instructor ") were six 

 in number and were divided into two classes, the chief of the 

 first being the " T'ai Shih," and of the second the " Shao 

 Shih." The meaning is " may you attain the higher grade 

 of Imperial Instructor, or at least the lower." This picture 

 is very frequently found on Chinese porcelain dating to the 

 beginning of the nineteenth century, in which the phrase has 

 become a little less apposite on account of a slight change in 

 the chief literary titles. 



Other pictures allude simply to some historical incident or 



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