Introduction to Dali, the origin of Shar-pei
Dali is said to be the original place of the traditional Shar-pei.
The official address of Dali today is:
Dali, Nanhai District,
Foshan City, Guangdong Province,
People's Republic of China.
Over the past two centuries, the place has gone through many changes:
-
Until the late
17th century, Dali is still an isolated
agricultural community with limited
communication with the outside world. The closest city is
Panyu.
-
From late 18th
century to early 19th century, the 13 Hong's
(trading houses) in Canton were already well developed in Guangzhou
area trading with the western world. Trading with overseas brought wealth and changes to
the vicinity of
Guangzhou. The opening of
Hong Kong as a free
trade port in 1841 (after the Opium War) further brought trade and wealth to
the region.
-
During the Republican time
(1911-1949), the region continued to grow. Further development in Guangzhou and Hong Kong created
further economic
opportunity for Dali.
-
After the Communist took over
China in
1949, and especially during the Cultural revolution (1967), all private
agricultural and business activities were either stopped or abolished.
-
and finally the period of
fast economic growth after death of Chairman Mao in 1976. The new
market economy in China brought back new economic opportunities for the region.
In summary, the
development of Shar-pei must be seen in perspective within the economic
environment of the region. All the time before 1949 was a gradual
developing stage for Shar-pei. During the Republican time (1911-1949),
although still a very rural economy, Dali enjoyed an advantage of being close to
economic center of
Panyu and
Guangzhou. The farmers shipped their
agricultural products to Guangzhou for sale and in return they brought home the
necessities they bought in the city. Hong Kong as a free port of
trade under the British rule had a very important contribution to the
development of economies in the
Pearl River Delta region.
Affluence in the
cities is the social foundation for many cultural heritage. Not every
heritage is being preserved by affluences but it was the
affluence in the cities that people found dog fighting activity as an
entertainment pass time. This is for this reason that often the
fighting aspect of Shar-pei was being overly talked about in thesis and discussion we find today in
the Shar-pei circle.
In the 1980's Dali
was still a
small county near Nanhai City, and Nanhai City was a city adjacent to Foshan
City. Due to rapid growth in the area, the government in the area went through an on going process of
restructuring and recombination of jurisdiction. In 2002 the
Nanhai City was dissolved into its adjacent city of Foshan and became a district;
Dali became a part of Nanhai district.
Depending on the translation and pronunciation,
Dali is also written
in English as Dailek, Dailet, Tailek etc. in different literatures.
The official translation today is Dali.
(Refer to page on Geographical Names)
Introduction
