The Pekingese received its name from the ancient city of Peking, which is now called Beijing. They were considered sacred dogs regarded as a legendary Foo Dog that drove away spirits. They could only be owned by Chinese royalty and was regarded as semi-divine and if you stole one of these dogs you were put to death. People without noble rank had to bow to them. When an emperor died, his Pekingese was sacrificed so that the dog could go with him to give protection in the afterlife. During the reign of Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi, in order to gain prestige, she surrounded herself with diminutive "lion dogs," insisting that their resemblance to the lion be as close as possible. The great Lama Buddha was always accompanied by a small pet dog which, at will, became a lion on whose back the Buddha rode through the heavens, with power to call from his fingertips tiny lions which, in the hour of need, became great beasts and attacked his enemies. During the Second Opium War, in 1860, the British overtook the Chinese Imperial Palace. Chinese Imperial Guards were ordered to kill the little dogs to prevent them from falling into "unworthy", while the Emperor Xianfeng had fled with all of his court. However, an elderly aunt of the emperor remained. When the "foreign devils" entered, she committed suicide. She was found with her five Pekingese mourning her passing. These five Pekingese were given to Queen Victoria. It was from these five dogs that the modern day Pekingese descended.
And you can see they still hold their regal stature:
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