There is archaeological evidence that a 'dog' very similar to the Chow as we know it to-day was known during the Siberian Bronze Age and was used by the barbarian tribes in central Asia. Much later, around the eleventh century BC, it is thought they were brought into China from the Mongolia region by the Tartars who used these 'massive lion-like dogs' as warrior dogs. .After the wars and peace prevailed these same 'warrior dogs' who it was noted were very powerful, very square, fierce looking, lion-like and well covered in hair and which rarely barked except when in a hunting chase, were used to hunt, guard stock, for food, and sometimes kept in the height of luxury in the Emperors Palace. 

The same squareness, black mouths and gums, straight stifles, and stilted gait, the same aloofness, broad heads and muzzles all remain essential parts of the Chow Chow breeders standard to-day, as they should be. It would be a tragedy to lose these characteristics when they have been handed down over thousands of years. 

The Chow made his first appearance in the United Kingdom about 1780, believed to have been brought back as a curiosity by sailors on merchant ships from China.  Little was known about the Chow until the late 1800s when the Earl of Lonsdale took up the breed, followed by his daughter Lady Granville Gordon, who successfully had the breed recognized by the Kennel Club. In turn her daughter, Lady Faudel Phillips founded the famous Amwell Kennels and the Chow can now be found in most parts of the world.

A Chinese tale tells us how the Chow got his blue tongue: