Systematic excavation of Shang tombs around Anyang since 1928 have revealed a large number of animal and human sacrifices.
At one site, Xiaotong, the bones of a total of 825 human victims, 15 horses, 10 oxen, 18 sheep and 35 dogs were unearthed.
Small bells with clappers, called ling (鈴) have sometimes been found attached to the necks of dogs or horses.
In the nan (難) sacrifice to drive away pestilence, a dog was dismembered and his remains buried in front of the main gates of the capital.
The ba (軷) sacrifice to ward off evil required the Son of Heaven, riding in a jade chariot, to crush a dog under the wheels of his carriage.
It is written with the radical for chariot (車) and a phonetic element which originally meant an animal whose legs had been bound (发).
Dogs, along with pigs, constituted the major source of animal protein in ancient China[citation needed].
Dog butchers who rose to prominence include the strongman Zhu Hai, the musician Gao Jianli, and general Fan Kuai (all circa third century BC).
The Old Chinese character meaning "to burn" or "to roast" showed dog meat on top of a fire (然).
[citation needed] At the banquets of feudal lords a dish of dog's broth and glutinous rice was considered a great delicacy.
The Shang kings recognised "Dog Officers" (犬) who were involved in hunting in a specific area beyond the royal domain.
One oracle bone records: "If the king joins with Qin, the Dog Officer at Cheng, there will be no regrets and he will have no disasters."
There is one reference to dogs in the Shi Jing, China's earliest anthology of poetry: Swiftly runs the crafty hare, But it is caught by the hound.
Because of their importance and numbers, there was at Shanglin an "inspector of kennels" (狗監; goujian) who oversaw the raising and training of the hunting dogs for the Han court.
There is pictorial evidence from early Han tomb tiles of large dogs with collars in the typical pointing position - the body in a slightly crouching position, neck extended horizontally, and one forepaw being under and raised several inches above ground - standing before a flock of geese in flight and several running deer.
"[8]Nevertheless, classical literature usually qualified dogs as hui treacherous, jiao crafty and si restless[citation needed].
The Quanrong (犬戎), literally "Dog nomad-tribe", were enemies of the settled civilizations from the time of the Zhou dynasty onwards.
In order to save the sun from demise, ancient people formed the habit of beating drums and gongs at the critical moment to drive away the dogs.