The most popular dog breed during the Qing dynasty was the small hound, a type of ancient Chinese hunting dog. Sometimes called the Chinese Saluki, it served as the prototype for the mythical Howling Celestial Dog and is now quite rare. The Empress Dowager Cixi had a preference for Pekinese, Skye Terriers, and Shih-Tzus. Puyi was particularly fond of Western dog breeds, and he procured large British Bulldogs from England and German Shepherds from Germany.

Nowadays, we often give our pets a name of their own, and the ancient Chinese did the same. The Emperor Yongzheng called his favourite dogs Good Luck and A Hundred Blessings, revealing his wish to bestow luck and blessings on his people; the Empress Dowager Cixi called hers Autumn Leaves, Amber, Frosted Persimmon, and Sea Dragon, unleashing her elegance; and Puyi named his kennel of dogs Taige (a transliteration of “tiger”), Pengte (a transliteration of “punt”), Balagu, San’er (meaning The Third One), and Hedian (Radiant Standard), representing himself as the model example of East meets West. The different dog names seem to reflect the different characteristics of their owners!

So, how were the imperial dogs pampered? The officials of the imperial kennels treated them with the utmost care, while the Imperial Workshop made clothes, dog cages, and mats and even paint portraits especially for them. The Yongzheng Emperor would love his dogs dressed up as tigers or qilins (Chinese unicorns) and ordered artisans to make exquisite garments for them.

The dogs’ homes are equally majestic. This is a cloisonné dog cage from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, decorated with jade rings and gold. It goes without saying that the imperial family pampered the cage’s occupant.

The Qianlong Emperor ordered Western painters, such as Giuseppe Castiglione and Ignatius Sichelbart, to paint Ten Fine Dogs to document their majestic appearances and had his ministers compose poems about them. These ten dogs accompanied the emperor on his hunting expeditions; they were named Snow Paw Black, Spotted Lacquer Dog with Triplets, Sudden-Flight Magpie, Frosted Harrier, Blue Water Horned Dragon, Glittering Star Wolf, Gold-Winged Long Snouted Dog, Black Jade Hornless Dragon, Spotted Tiger, and Tawny-Yellow Leopard.