Goldfish are a specialty of my country. Because of their charmingly clumsy yet graceful appearance, diverse forms, and vibrant colors, they have been a popular ornamental fish throughout history.
There are approximately 100 varieties of goldfish, including black, yellow, red, blue, and multicolored varieties. They can be broadly categorized into four main types: crucian carp, wen (a type of goldfish), dragon eye, and egg-shaped goldfish. Among these, bubble-eye, egg-shaped, lionhead, clam-head, bulb-eye, various colored dragon-eye, and various colored high-head goldfish are considered extremely beautiful and prized. In ancient times, goldfish were also known as "fire fish" or "golden crucian carp."
Around 968 AD, during the Northern Song Dynasty, people discovered a rare red and yellow fish in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Nanping Mountain in Zhejiang Province. People were amazed by its vibrant colors. After being caught, many people couldn't bear to kill and eat it, so they released it into ponds to raise. Later, some scholars and literati gave this fish a beautiful name—golden carp, commonly known as goldfish.
After the Jin army invaded, Emperor Zhao Gou of the Song Dynasty was forced to move the capital to Hangzhou. Soon after, Zhao Gou heard that the goldfish in Hangzhou were exceptionally beautiful, so he ordered a fishpond to be built and released the goldfish he caught into it, specifically for his own enjoyment and appreciation. From then on, Zhao Gou set a precedent for domesticating goldfish, and subsequently, many of the imperial relatives and brothers-in-law of the Southern Song Dynasty built ponds to raise fish, creating a goldfish-keeping craze that spread to almost the entire city of Hangzhou.
