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An small outdoor Chinese shrine in worship of the God of the Land. Red is the main color theme
A few words on the red color in Chinese culture
The Chinese like the color red, a religious color for them, is probably as old as the culture itself. Red is one of the oldest color they revered and mastered in their craftsmanship. Red is the main color used in the temples, shrines, place of worship of their ancestors. Therefore, do not mistaken red for communist. It didn't start by the communist and "red" China is simply a historical coincidence in color.
Red is an auspicious color representing growth, prosperity, and grand ideal. Therefore the most welcomed color of the Chinese people. In a traditional Chinese marriage, red is the main theme color for decoration.
Five Point Red
Five Point Red in Cantonese is "Ng Hoong". "Ng" is five and "Hoong" means red. The Five Point is defined as eyes, nose, tongue, anus, and paws. It can also be said as a diluted color, such as the liver color in the Western terms. In any culture, description of color is always a subjective term. Care must always be taken when discussion of color in comparison between cultures. A red in one culture may mean brown in other. A blue in one culture may mean grey in other. In Cantonese, people specifically use the color term Chu ghon sik to describe the Five Point Red color. "Chu" for pig, "ghon" for liver, and "sik" for color, meaning pig liver color. It should be a reddish liver color.
A Five Point Red Shar-Pei is believed to be that it can bring good fortune to a house.
Traditional Chinese Shar-pei standard can be found in the Sharpei Club Hong Kong website.
Tiananmen at night
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 Tiananmen at day time.
Walls all red, pillars all red, lanterns all red...
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 Foundation as a fortress laid by Fublai Khan (1272) and rennovated in Ming Dynasty by Emperor Yung Le (1403-1424) to this scale we see today. Walls all red,
Entrance to a Shrine, pillars all red.
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All red
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 Interior of an ancestor shrine. Altar, ribbon decoration, frames all red.
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Armor shield of an infantry warrior
Used in China dating back to the Waring Period
(402 BC-222 BC)
Color selected for best protection from demons and devils... red. Construction red Chinese lacquer painted over thick leather surface.
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A rare photo of Five Point Red. This dog is appreciated by many bone mouth people in Hong Kong owned by a Lady in China nicknamed "Feipo" (Fat Lady). Feipo is at the background.
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Pink red tongue vs. blue black tongue
Red being defined culturally, how do we reconcile with the blue black tongue? According to the present Shar-Pei breed specification, a solid red pink tongue is a disqualification. We should look at the issue similar to the Chamfa ears. Although we can not show this dog because of its color, but we do know that this color combination can be traced back to much earlier days and selected in gene pool. If a specimen happens to be a good bone mouth specimen, a Five Point Red should be allowed to maintain in the breeding stock. Because blue black tongue is such a strong and dominant hereditary trait, it is not difficult to get back a good bone-mouth Shar-Pei in the next generation.
In short, we should not weed out a Five Point Red just because of its color. As a matter of fact, a good skeletal structure is by far one of the most important consideration in compare with the color of the tongue. So far, we do not see any correlation between tongue color and hereditary disease.
Both Chow Chow and Shar-Pei belongs to the family of Tang dogs in Southern China. According to oral testimony from Phillip Wong, King Kwok and other older Chinese, in old days in the country, meaning roughly the early 20th century, pink or red tongue was preferred over a black tongue. Some older Chinese of the last generation even believed that a black tongued dog can be more "poisonous", meaning more prone to get infection if bitten by a black tongued dog than by a pink tongued dog. Of course we know today that this is not the case but that was a myth believed by the Chinese in those old days. Again, this color orientation probably may be more religious and cultural in nature as explained in the beginning of this section, than anything practical.
Tang dog itself has a wide range of blue and pink tongue color. From observation, both pink and blue tongue are equally common, with pink tongue statistically and culturally favored. It began with Chow Chow and then Shar-Pei this time, that these breeds are doomed in the show ring simply because of the color of the tongue. So many dogs of good conformation must have been lost from the breeding program just because they have not the right color of the tongue as specified by human being. No western breed on earth has this cultural shackle and burden. A blue tongue can be preferred over a pink tongue as the standard says, but a pink tongue should not be disqualified for any Tang dogs. Discrimination of blue and pink tongue for dogs is similar to discrimination of human being by skin color.
More photo of "Feipo" Five Point Red. Please refer to the color of the eyes. It is red as fire.
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"Feipo" Five Point Red as seen from the back. A Red anus is clearly visible.
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This is another Five Point Red, picture taken in 80's.
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A second Five Point Red
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Introduction
Five Point Red
