Donggyeongi

Donggyengi is a bob-tailed local dog in Korea, which is also called daing gyen or Donggyeong gae.

Etymology

Donggyeong (동경, 東京) was the name of the capital of the medieval Korean dynasty, Gyeongju. This Donggyeong is nothing related with the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

Appearance

Donggyeongi has a very short or no tails, which is coincided with the old record such as Donggyeong Jabgi《동경잡기(東京雜記)》, Jwngbomunhunbigo《증보문헌비고(增補文獻備考)》, as well as the excavated clay dolls of the sixth century Shilla's capital, Donggyeong.^[1] Its face is similar with another natural heritage dong, Jindo dog.^[2]

History

Donggyeong was easily seen around Gyeongju and was considered to be worth preserving for its national characteristics; however the dogs were slaughtered during the Japanese colonial era just because of its alleged similarity to ‘Komainu’, the dog seen in the Japanese royal families or shrines. Jindo breeds, Sapsal dogs and Donggyeong were endangered as the skins were mass-produced for making clothes. Even after the Liberation, Donggyeong dongs were despised or killed just because ‘they don’t have tails’ and people thought they brought ‘bad luck’ or they are ‘deformed’ therefore the number of the dogs was drastically decreased. Also hybridization with other breeds made the situation worse until breed preservation and designation effort started.<Korea^[3]

See also

• Bobtail (disambiguation)
• Old English Sheepdog
• Jindo Dog
• Sapsali
• Nureongi

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Donggyeong Dog.