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King of Yimbou 1972, Yimbou is the name of a town in vicinity of Dali (Photograph provided by Mr. Li Fook Wah)
Old folk songs
Historical events, memories, descriptions are often preserved in myth, folk song, lore, lyric, story, fable, poem etc. Images and memories are kept alive for generations in this manner.
To understand how people look at Shar-pei in old days, old Chinese folk songs sung by old Chinese dog people around southern Guangdong area can help us understand and imagine what a traditional bone mouth Shar-pei would look like.
Counting from the time Charles Darwin published his ground breaking paper On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection in 1859, the history of canine breed concept is only about 150 years old. The folk songs can go beyond this time frame and therefore we must use the information contained with discretion. Similar to interpreting any old myths, stories and writings, care must be taken not to over interpret these old records as direct word for word presentation of Shar-pei. However, the song can provide us with a background on how the Chinese thought about their local dogs and this in turn can be the "selective force" in eventually shaping the Shar-pei.
Two old Chinese folk songs are recorded here. I am sure there may be other variations of these two folk songs and hopefully someone may continue to record down these precious cultural heritage. Younger generation in Hong Kong and China probably have not heard about these songs so they are indeed spoken history of Shar-pei. We are extremely lucky to be able to record here the full Chinese text with special thanks to Mr. Phillip King Kwok Wong, who bother to spent the extra effort in transcribing these two songs in his note and kept the history alive. He recorded these songs in the late 1980's and was published in the official journal of the Midland Shar Pei Club " Simply Shar Pei " (2007, issue no. 40 and 42).
In retrospect, these are old Chinese breed standards!
[i] Southern Guangdong means the Pearl River delta area including Guangzhou, Dali, Macau, and Hong Kong.
(Presented and translated with permission from Mr. Phillip K. K. Wong )
First folk song describing a good Chinese hunting dog and scenting dog.
(In original Chinese text)
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I have translated in such a manner to preserve the original meaning as much as possible and therefore disregarded the rhyming and song structure which can only make sense in its original Chinese local Cantonese dialect. Even in such a condition, many of the old expressions are difficult to grasp today if not verbally explained by Mr. Phillip K. K. Wong. The full English translation of this Chinese folk song on hunting and scenting dogs as follows:
Head like calabash, body like a fork.
Tail like holding a spear and hip like a shrimp.
Hairs like arrows, mostly short and hard, make a broken coat.
Foot of garlic and nose coarse and rough.
Tail thick and rotten like a grass mantle,
A fantastic hunter drilling through the wilderness.
Coat thin and sparse to withstand the heat,
going after the beast fast like flying.
A hunting dog should not excite and cry prematurely.
A bark makes the game run away,
just like firing a cannon before seeing the enemy,
A hunting trip return with sure disappointment.
Two eyes clear and bright and deeply set,
hunting animals in the mountain chasing after clues.
Eyes free from harm in the wilderness,
catching animals in the brushes.
A hunting dog neck bold and large,
catching animals with bite and claws.
Two ears pointed and erect, keeping alert in hearing.
Bulky jaws, hair ridge extended to the root of the ears,
make way through brushes and drill through wilderness.
Going through wilderness like eel drilling into earth,
going into the bushes dividing grasses.
Corner of mouth wide and deep,
killing beast��s heart in one bite.
Marching ahead of the hunters,
life of beast already in heaven.
Middle slit of nose running straight to the top,
Horizontal whiskers slant in cracks.
One dragon, two tiger, three leopard,
Loop of nose like flesh of snail, thin and moving.
Translucent nose is the most rare,
not sneezing in the wilderness,
Tip of nose coarse like sand but soft like lips.
Front chest wide and forequarter straight.
Hindquarter straight in cart pushing motion.
When walking, gait is light like floating on water.
Garlic paws quick in swinging a turn,
tail extended straight in wilderness not hooked and bent.
Keeping a hunting dog need not worry becoming poor,
go hunting in mountain everyday.
If grass and hair inhaled by dog into the lung,
feed often hot boiled blood of swine.
In the old days as early as the 1940`s, dogs in Southern China (mainly Guangzhou, Macau and Hong Kong) in the fighting rings were not all Shar-Pei. According to three independent testimonies from three important Shar-pei persons, Wong King Kwok, Li Fook Wah, and Li Ka Ding, all of them who had lived through those times, they all have mentioned that most Chinese fighting dogs were actually Tang dogs.
��Wong King Kwok estimated a Tang to Shar-Pei ratio of roughly 6 to 4��, Li Fook Wah estimated even less of 7 to 3 and finally, Li Ka Ding estimated "very little". This estimation is credible by the fact that Li Fook Wah has a stricter criteria for traditional Shar-Pei than Wong, and Li Ka Ding has the most narrow definition of all. This by itself tells that Tang dogs and Shar-Pei are often referred to interchangeably in many circumstances in those good old days. This explains why Hong Kong Kennel Club in the 70��s still registered Shar-Pei as ��Chinese Fighting Dog�� and there were so much confusion on the type that the Club decided to ��stopped issuing pedigrees of this breed and excluded them from their dog shows until they are of the correct type". Therefore, it does no justice to Shar-pei if we only talk about it as a gladiator dog.
Keeping in mind that Shar-Pei evolved from vast gene pool of the Tang dogs, we now look at the folk song in details.
Head like calabash, body like a fork.
Fresh fruit of calabash compared with a head of Shar-Pei is quite straight forward!
The second part ��body like a fork�� needs clarification. First of all, we need to clarify what exactly a ��fork�� means in those days and what is it's appearance.
The photo above is a wooden fork unearthed in 1995 in the Xinjiang Province, China. This fork is estimated to be around the Han to Jin period (206 BC to AD420) and 100 cm in length. (Hong Kong Heritage Museum on the occasion of ��The Silk Road: Treasures from Xinjiang�� exhibition, December 21, 2005 to March 19, 2006)
Wooden fork catapult of more recent time also look similar in construction. Therefore, we can imagine a hunting dog body in hunting condition can be depicted by a fork configuration.
 
The two photos above show two dogs in chase and alert mode out in the wood and within its territory.
Second folk songs appraising a good Chinese dog (Tang Dog).
(In original Chinese, full text pending English translation)
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Praising a good Chinese dog
Dogs born in spring body smell fishy, summer dogs often attract stinky flies.�@
Autumn dogs frequently bark erratically, dogs born in winter are the most intelligent.�@
Dogs born in summer and autumn are aggressive in temper,
Dogs born in spring and winter understand emotion well.�@
Dog with broken brain (head) has no luck with life,
--skull dented in the middle, cavity on top.
A home guarding dog has hard top skull,
-- ears thick, dropping down and round top skull.
Dogs with teary blur eyes annoyingly bark,
-- responding nervously on sound of the wind,
--suspicious on every movement of grass, and howl in the longest night.
A blank face with protruding jaw is a sign of bite:
-- eyes triangular, red and strained
--often staring at people sideways with eye whites,
--slowly, stalking in silence.
A guard dog should have an intelligent look;
-- eyes deeply set but clear like water.
Dog with deep eyes discern people best,
-- discerning people far and near and who��s kin.
Dogs with protruding eyes often looks mean, treating owner like thief.
Thick neck, long fangs, thick coat at withers and folded corner of lips.
Four legs straight and strong with protruding chest,
-- fighting like tiger preying on goat.
A dog with pointed nose, muzzle, ears and tail,
-- stealing food and dislike by man.
White dog iron tongue do not eat stool,
-- black dog red tongue good at guarding doors.
-- spotted tongue dogs like to steal chicken and duck.
-- iron tongue silver fangs good in fighting.
Dogs with bushy tails are not precious, tails uneven like flowers of reeds,
-- bring misfortune to home; use a stick and send it back to heaven.
Coin tail coiled to the left is good,
-- open your door and sleep without lock.
Sickle tail leaning to the right,
-- courageous gladiator of harden temperament.
Tails set on back pointing to the front,
-- animal away from nest (at large) busy keeping it��s live.
Black and white velvet dogs common on earth,
-- but black dogs with white chest must send quickly away from home,
-- they invite bad luck and put owners life in danger.�@
Yellow and red velvet dogs uncommon to see;
-- looks like a lion guarding homes,
-- thief wanting to steal but in vain.
Five-point yellow is a dog loyal to home and master,
-- visitor must find kin to pick-up thing,
-- intruder will be bitten trousers and sleeves.
-- the bite released only when thing returned in place.
White dog yellow head and body with prints.
Black dog yellow ears are renowned far and near,
-- both are dogs of good appearance,
-- can discriminate evils, and who is who.
Here is where you find prosperity and fame.
If we selectively filter some of the verses relevant to ��Chinese fighting dog��, we almost see a Shar-pei in the background!
A home guarding dog has hard top skull,
-- ears thick, dropping down and round top skull.
A blank face with protruding jaw is a sign of bite:
-- eyes triangular, red and strained
--often staring at people sideways with eye whites,
--slowly, stalking in silence.
A guard dog should have an intelligent look;
-- eyes deeply set but clear like water.
Dog with deep eyes discern people best,
-- discerning people far and near and who��s kin.
Thick neck, long fangs, thick coat at withers and folded corner of lips.
Four legs straight and strong with protruding chest,
-- fighting like tiger preying on goat.
-- iron tongue silver fangs good in fighting.
Coin tail coiled to the left is good (right photo),
-- open your door and sleep without lock.
Sickle tail leaning to the right,
-- courageous gladiator of harden temperament.
Tails set on back pointing to the front,
-- animal away from nest (at large) busy keeping it��s live.
Then we have the color description on the Tang dog:
White dog iron tongue do not eat stool,
-- black dog red tongue good at guarding doors.
-- spotted tongue dogs like to steal chicken and duck.
Black and white velvet dogs common on earth,
Yellow and red velvet dogs (right photo) uncommon to see;
-- looks like a lion guarding homes,
-- thief wanting to steal but in vain.
Five points yellow is a dog loyal to home and master,
-- visitor must find kin to pick-up thing,
-- intruder will be bitten trouser and sleeve.
-- the bite released only when thing returned in place.
White dog yellow head and body with prints (left photo).
Black dog yellow ears (right photo) are renowned far and near,
-- both are dogs of good appearance,
-- can discriminate evils, and who is who.
Here is where you find prosperity and fame.
�@
The term "velvet" should refer to a short soft coat. There is no exact definition of long and short coat for Tang dog as defined in a standard. When people talk about a short coat Tang dog, it commonly refers to a coat longer than that of Shar-Pei. Chow Chow has a long coat; Siberian Husky, Akita, Shiba has a short coat, and Shar-Pei has a very short coat. Some traditional Shar-Pei breeder recalled that Shar-Pei long ago has a much harder coat than those we see today. How much harder is undetermined because we do not have a comparative objective index. But there is a special old Chinese term for this very harsh and short coat of Shar-Pei called "Jeen Mou", or literally translated as "arrow hair".
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Introduction
Old Chinese folk songs
