Modern assessments of a well-known sign in a Shanghai park that
stated “Dogs and Chinese Not Admitted” have established that the dog aspect of
it was not true, but the sign remains highly visible in the Chinese historiography
of Western imperialism. Such reassessments do not seem to recognize that the
sign might have meant something considerably different to Chinese and
foreigners in late Qing Shanghai than it would have in later periods of modern
Chinese history. Dog–human relations had changed through a mix of two
processes: dog-keeping as a social practice and the challenges of rabies in the
management of urban space. Under the rule of the Shanghai Municipal Council,
animals, health, and imperialism converged in the Shanghai International
Settlement to destabilize the traditional roles of dogs and introduce modernity
through the disciplining of both animal and human bodies and the demarcation
and management of new urban spaces.