The Pekingese – Where They Came From

by Lee Connor

The late great reggae singer, Bob Marley, summed it up most succinctly with these few lines in his iconic song, ‘Buffalo Soldier’; ‘If you know your history, then you would know where you coming from.’

And one of the best things about our world of pedigree dogs is that, on the whole, we are able to trace our various breeds’ special heritage right back through the ages and encounter all the fascinating stories and characters that have contributed to them on their journey through to the present day.

One breed that can rightfully lay claim to having one of the most captivating histories in dogdom has to be the extraordinary Pekingese. It is a breed that has always fascinated me.

So many contradictory stories, myths and legends have swirled around the ‘discovery’ of this little dog.

In Cornwall, in the far southwest of Britain, we have the legend of the ‘Daisy Dog’ – a centuries-old tale of a peculiar-looking, snub-nosed dog from China and the only survivor of a wicked mutiny that saw his Imperial Chinese owners cruelly murdered and the poor little creature being washed up on a remote Cornish beach. This myth predates the more widely acceptable dates of Pekingese discovery by 200 years.

However, the most popular, acceptable yet equally romantic story dates from 1860 and is relayed to us by the dashing Admiral Lord John Hay who was present on active service at the looting of the Summer Palace in Pekin.

He allegedly states that he discovered several of these unique little dogs in a part of the garden frequented by an aunt of the Emperor, who had committed suicide on the approach of the Allied Forces.

Another tale slightly differs from the above account and claims that during the looting of the palace three young officers came upon a pavilion, apparently deserted but with a shuttered room that was tightly locked. Frantic barking could be heard within and on bursting in, the officers found the body of a court lady (sometimes described as a princess) who had committed suicide rather than fall into enemy hands.

Yet another story (along the same lines) tells of the discovery of fourteen of the palace dogs, ‘found drowned in a palace well to prevent them falling into barbarian hands’. Interestingly the same number of dogs, fourteen, gets mentioned in yet another account relayed to us by doyenne of the breed, Miss Queenie Verity-Steele, in ‘The Book on Pekingese: The authentic history of the breed from 1860-1900’ (founded on facts). She writes;

It is also claimed – but not generally known – that at the time Lord John Hay and other naval officers found the little dogs in the Summer Palace, Pekin, an officer in the Dragoon Guards (whose regiment was first to enter Pekin in 1860) found, on bursting open a locked door in the palace, fourteen of the odd looking little dogs. Two of these dogs he brought to England in 1863 and the last of their descendants died in 1880.

These stories get repeated in most of the early books on the Pekingese however breed expert Rumer Godden dispelled this version of events in her book, ‘The Butterfly Lions’. She could find no mention of it in any letter or diaries written by anyone who took part in the looting and goes on to state that two of the officers who were supposedly involved in the looting were actually naval officers and that all warships had been strictly ordered to stay out in the river guarding the entrance to Pekin so the officers couldn’t have possibly been in the Summer Palace.

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Posted by Alex on Nov 1 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.