V PEKINGESE DOGS AND GOLD AND SILVER FISH

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PEKING has been for centuries not a producer but a consumer: tribute white wax and copper come there yearly from Szechuan and the remote mountain table-land of Yunnan; the looms of Hang-chow and Soochow send thither their finest products, those with five-clawed dragons for the wear of the Emperor alone; the Ordos tribes their carpets, Mongolia its ponies, and all China its choicest table delicacies, together with all the necessaries of life.

But there are certain articles that Peking itself manufactures, and among these Peking dogs must take highest rank, being prized throughout the eighteen provinces, even sometimes regarded as sacred or quasi-sacred.

There are Peking pugs with smooth coats and funny faces, and there are Peking spaniels with long silky hair and equally strange faces; there are also Sleeve dogs, regarded by some but as diminutive specimens in the first instance, still further diminished by artificial selection, by others held to be a different variety. Of late it has become the fashion in England to breed-Peking dogs, but it is doubtful whether the original pair first sent to England were of the finest quality, and the type must somewhat have fallen off from the great difficulty in procuring suitable sires at the right time, from interbreeding, and from ignorance as to the special points to be aimed at. A few words on this latter subject may therefore be useful to those who cannot see these dogs in their original home, as, being a manufactured article, they may easily revert to their original wild type unless fitting care be bestowed upon them.

Already in most specimens the back is too long and weak. The best Pekingese dogs are remarkably strong and sturdily built for their size, and though they have a waist the hind quarters are well developed. Their distinguishing feature, common to all Pekingese dogs, is their lion port and haughty, not to say arrogant, bearing. A Chinese connoisseur, Mr. Wang Yun, attached to the Legation, has lately pronounced that the head should be large, the chest wide, the ears big, the neck short, the eyes prominent, the legs short, the two front ones bent so as to form a circle, the tail curled upwards and not inclining to either side, the nose also turned upwards. He considers yellow and white and black and white the best colours ; next to these he puts the altogether black and altogether yellow, which last Chinese call Golden-coated Lions. After these come red and fox or wolf colours. Chinese say a dog has a jade button, the mark of high rank, when it has a small round white mark just over the top of the head. When it has four white paws they call it " stood in the snow Colonel Prendergast, R.E., who was so fortunate as to bring back from the Peking Palace one of the finest dogs yet seen in England, and whose Pekingese dogs have been specially admired on the few occasions on which they have been exhibited in England, gives the characteristics of his typical specimen of the sun or lion dog thus: "Chungkwo Prince Ching may be described briefly as of a pale yellow colour, nose very short and flat (a most important point), very large, dark, protruding eyes, with strongly-marked spectacles, heavy coat, with a mane that swept the ground, short body, short, thick bowed legs, weight 12 lbs." He also writes to the Illustrated Kennel News: "Spaniels of other colours, including the deep red, were found in the Forbidden City in 1900, but they were considered of little value in Chinese eyes, compared with the yellow, or biscuit 'Sun' dog."

Mr. Douglas Murray, who in 1896 got a pair direct from the Palace, writes: "There can be no possible doubt as to the true type of Pekingese.... There is no mistaking his short legs, slightly bent, his compact body, yet possessed of a waist, his large eyes, and broad forehead, his ears well set on, and his tail arched over his back like a squirrel's." He attaches little importance to colour in comparison with shape, but there seems to be little doubt but that, at all events of late years, cinnamon-coloured dogs have been preferred to black in China, and have been the special pets of the Dowager Empress. These dogs approach nearest to the Imperial yellow of China, and the spectacles and other distinctive markings of the face are best seen upon this colour. Spectacles, it may be noted, are an indication of learning and breeding, and thus a rank distinction in China.

V 北京犬與金銀魚

北京幾個世紀以來一直不是生產者，而是消費者：每年都會有來自四川和遙遠的雲南高原的白蠟和銅貢品運到這裡；杭州和蘇州的織機送來最好的產品，那些有五爪龍紋的衣物專供皇帝穿戴；鄂爾多斯部落貢獻他們的地毯，蒙古提供他們的小馬，以及全中國最精美的餐桌美食和各種生活必需品。

然而，北京自己也生產某些物品，其中北京犬（Pekingese dogs）被公認為最為珍貴，並且在十八個省份中廣受推崇，有時甚至被視為神聖或準神聖的存在。

北京犬包括有光滑毛皮和滑稽面容的北京哈巴狗（Peking pugs），以及有長長絲綢般毛髮和同樣奇怪面容的北京獅子狗（Peking spaniels）；還有袖珍犬（Sleeve dogs），有人認為它們起初只是小型的品種，經過人工選擇進一步縮小，而另一些人則認為它們是不同的品種。近年來，英國開始流行繁殖北京犬，但最早送往英國的那對北京犬是否為最優品質尚存疑問，由於在適當時機獲取合適的種犬非常困難，加上近親繁殖和對品種特點的不了解，使得這個品種有所退化。因此，對於那些無法在原產地看到這些犬隻的人來說，了解一些相關知識是有用的，因為作為人工培育的品種，除非給予適當的照顧，否則它們很容易恢復到原始的野生類型。

目前大多數的北京犬標本背部過長且虛弱。最好的北京犬體型結實，儘管它們有腰部，但後肢發育良好。北京犬的一個共同特徵是它們有獅子般的姿態和傲慢的舉止，甚至可以說是高傲的。最近，一位名叫王云（Wang Yun）的中國鑑賞家在公使館任職，他指出，北京犬的頭部應該大，胸部寬，耳朵大，脖子短，眼睛突出，前腿短小，兩條前腿彎曲形成圓形，尾巴向上捲曲而不偏向任何一側，鼻子也向上翹。他認為，黃白相間和黑白相間的毛色是最好的；其次是全黑和全黃色的毛色，後者在中國被稱為「金毛獅子狗」。再之後是紅色以及狐狸或狼的毛色。中國人說，當狗的頭頂上方有一個小小的圓形白色標記時，這表示它擁有高貴的地位，這被稱為「玉鈕」；當它有四隻白色的爪子時，則稱之為「立雪」。

普倫德加斯特上校（Colonel Prendergast，R.E.）非常幸運，能從北京宮殿帶回一隻在英國所見過的最好的北京犬，其北京犬在英國展出時備受讚賞。他描述他典型的太陽犬或獅子犬標本為：「中國親王慶親王（Chungkwo Prince Ching）可以簡要描述為淡黃色，鼻子非常短且平坦（這是一個非常重要的特點），眼睛非常大，黑色，突出，帶有明顯的眼鏡標記，毛皮厚重，鬃毛拖地，身體短小，腿短且粗壯，彎曲，體重12磅。」他還寫信給《插圖犬舍新聞》（Illustrated Kennel News）：「其他顏色的獅子狗，包括深紅色的，曾在1900年於紫禁城中發現，但在中國人的眼中，它們的價值遠不及黃色或淡褐色的『太陽犬』。」

1896年直接從宮殿獲得一對北京犬的道格拉斯·穆雷（Mr. Douglas Murray）寫道：「北京犬的正宗品種毫無疑問……其短腿、略微彎曲的體型，雖然體型緊湊，但仍有腰部，其大眼睛和寬闊的額頭，耳朵位置良好，尾巴如松鼠般彎曲在背上，這些特徵都無可錯認。」他對顏色的重視程度不及形狀，但近年來，肉桂色的犬隻在中國比黑色犬隻更受青睞，並成為慈禧太后特別寵愛的寵物。這些狗最接近中國皇家黃色，並且在此顏色上最能看到眼鏡標記和其他獨特的面部標記。值得注意的是，眼鏡標記通常被視為學識和良好繁育的象徵，因此在中國是等級區分的一個標誌。

84 ROUND ABOUT PEKING

Each palace dog is said to have a slave-girl told off to wait upon it and massage its nose into the requisite flatness. Another way that Chinese try to accomplish this is by hanging up a piece of very dry meat against a wall. The dog then springs at it, and tries and tries to bite off something, but always in vain, only succeeding in flattening its nose in the process, its eyes more and more starting out of its head with eagerness and increased desire.

It may be from their having for centuries been confined either in houses or in small courtyards that these little dogs have lost the power of seeing at any distance, and that their eyes have become increasingly convex. Those born in England and taken out for walks seem to be gaining a longer sight. Their eyes are also far smaller, less prominent, and decidedly less lustrous than the eyes of the dogs brought out of the Peking Palace. It is to be feared that if treated like ordinary dogs the race may gradually lose many of the peculiar features developed by a long course of petting and seclusion.