Meishan

This draft is prepared for the American Meishan Breeders Association. It is a Standard of Excellence: guidelines for breeders, and a reference if the Association later uses type in the show ring. It does not set herd-book qualifying rules. Registration remains a matter of documented pedigree and the Association’s existing procedures. Variation from the ideal is noted so members can select with a common picture of type. It is not, at this stage, a reason to refuse or cancel a pedigree.

The wording draws on Chinese official descriptions (especially GB/T 40156-2021 and conservation-farm selection notes) together with the Association’s published Breed Description. Where those accounts differ, the Chinese type character is treated as the ideal, and the wider range already recognized in the Association’s description is treated as acceptable. See Disputed Meishan breed traits for the underlying conflicts.

Choices, in brief:

• Wrinkles. Few or many on the forehead are both on type. Deep facial folds are typical of mature Medium animals, not a piglet requirement, and not a Shar-Pei extreme.
• White. Four white feet is the ideal. Missing socks are acceptable. A full or three-quarter white belt, and white on the back or sides, depart from type and should be avoided in breeding.
• Coat. Black to dark or bluish gray is preferred. Pale light gray is less desirable.
• Teats. Sixteen sound teats (eight pairs) is the recommended minimum for breeding stock; eighteen or more is preferred.
• Snout. Medium to relatively long; a short, turned-up snout is less desirable.
• Types. In China, Small and Medium are type-groups of one breed; the historic Large type is extinct. This proposal is for Medium Meishan only, which is the type imported to the United States in 1989. See Disputed Meishan breed traits for why the US herd is treated as Medium, and for the remaining Small-vs-Medium questions.

Standard of Excellence

MEISHAN

These are recommendations. Members should try to approach this type in their breeding programs. Animals will be assessed against it if the Association holds or sanctions shows. Nothing in this section is a condition of herd-book entry.

The Meishan is a Jianghai-type lard pig of the Taihu basin, kept for prolificacy, mothering ability, and richly marbled meat rather than for lean yield or speed of growth.

When two animals are compared, use this order: (1) soundness and the ability to walk; (2) mothering and litter size appropriate to age; (3) breed character (head, ears, body, legs, color); (4) cosmetic markings. Do not put a prettier, emptier pig over a plainer, more productive one.

Age of assessment

Judge the pig in front of you, not a photograph of an old show sow.

• Piglets and weaners are not expected to show mature facial folds, a deep let-down belly, or a settled X-set. Look at ears, coat, markings, underline, and general soundness.
• Replacements may be measured for weight and body size at about 6 months, as Chinese conservation farms do. Treat those figures as growth notes, not as adult type.
• Mature type (wrinkles, belly, fat cover, X-set) is fairest after the first farrowing, and clearer still by the second or third. A gilt that looks “too smooth” or “too small” at 8 months may be on type as a mature sow.

Character A combination of the following definitions denoting type, quality, and breeding; masculinity in boars and femininity in sows and gilts. Docile, even sedentary, in temperament. A quiet pig that does not hustle in the ring is not therefore a poor Meishan.

General Medium in scale (coarse-foot). In China a Small type (fine-foot) also exists: finer-boned, thinner-skinned, and less wrinkled. That type is not part of this proposal. The North American population descending from the 1989 importation is Medium. Adult Medium animals commonly mature at about 300-440 lb, in line with the Association’s published 250-400 lb range. Obesity in breeding sows is to be discouraged. Age, feed, and the three research bloodlines will move individuals around inside that range.

Head Medium size, forehead broad. Wrinkles on the forehead may be few or many; they typically deepen with age and with condition. Deep facial folds in a mature Medium pig are characteristic and should not be penalized. A completely smooth mature head is less typical. Wrinkles are not required in piglets. The head should not be coarse or overshot.

Jowl Medium to full and meaty. A light, trimmed jowl of the commercial or Berkshire sort is not Meishan type. Extra wasty jowl that interferes with movement is less desirable.

Nose Snout medium to relatively long, not short and not turned up. White or pink on the tip of the snout (jade nose) is acceptable and typical of some families.

Ears Large, thin, and soft, dropping forward (lop). Tips level with the corners of the mouth or extending beyond them. Erect or pricked ears depart from type.

Neck Short to medium, set cleanly on the shoulders.

Shoulders Medium width, in line with the ribs, not raised.

Chest Deep; heart room adequate.

Back Medium length, slightly concave along the back and loin. Should not be sharply roached or badly swayed.

Ribs Well sprung; body deep.

Loin Broad enough to carry the litter; not slack. Not a lean, heavily muscled commercial loin.

Sides Deep. Belly large and let down, without dragging in breeding condition.

Quarters Medium length. Rump may be slightly sloping and is not required to be plump in the commercial sense.

Hams and carcass Adequate hams, not heavily muscled in the lean-type manner. This is a lard carcass: more fat relative to lean than a commercial hog, with fine-grained, micro-marbled meat. Do not prefer the tightest, leanest, most “show-muscled” animal in the pen. Select for a productive breeding shape first and a quality lard carcass second, not for ham-loin score.

Legs and Feet Short to medium, thick and strong, set well apart, standing up on the toes.

Front: A moderate X-set (knees closer together than the feet, toes turned somewhat out), often called X-leg, is accepted type in Meishan and other Chinese lard breeds. It is not a fault when the pig walks freely and stays sound. Straight front legs in the Western commercial sense are not required and should not be preferred over a sound X-set.

Rear: A slightly sickle or under-set hind leg, common in Chinese lard types, is acceptable if the pig moves freely. Do not require a post-legged commercial rear.

Pasterns: Some flex and cushion is normal on pasture and in heritage and Chinese lard pigs. Soft pasterns that still keep the dewclaws off hard ground are not a fault. Collapsed pasterns, or dewclaws bearing weight on firm footing, are unsound.

White or pink socks on the extremities of the feet are the breed character (four white feet). The ideal is white or pink on all four feet. Socks on fewer than four feet, or their absence, are acceptable. Socks should remain on the extremities and should not run up into a belt. Hooves may be light-colored.

Skin Fine to slightly coarse; black or purplish red on the body. Abdominal skin commonly purplish red. Pink on the underside of the belly, not rising into a belt, is acceptable. Skin becomes more folded in the face with maturity, especially in the Medium type.

Hair Sparse, straight, of fine to moderate quality. Coat black, dark gray, or bluish gray.

Color The ideal is a black or dark gray pig with four white or pink feet, and optionally a white or pink snout tip, a white or pink tail tip, and a limited white or pink area on the underside of the belly. Pale light gray is less desirable than black or dark gray.

Preferred white or pink is limited to the feet, the tip of the snout, the underside of the belly, and the tip of the tail. A full or three-quarter white or pink belt (white or pink that fully or nearly encircles the body between the base of the ear and the base of the tail), white or other off-color on the back or sides above the underline, and a spotted or mottled pattern on the body above the elbow and flank, all depart from type and should be avoided when choosing breeding stock. Red, sandy, ginger, or a white body color likewise depart from type.

Underline Full. Sixteen or more sound, evenly spaced, well-placed teats starting well forward are recommended; eighteen or more (nine pairs) are preferred. Pin teats and inverted nipples are not counted as sound. For boars, teats should be present in front of the sheath.

Prolificacy and mothering This is the breed’s chief excellence. By the second or third farrowing, double-digit litters are expected; about 12-18 pigs born is consistent with the Association’s published description and with Chinese third-parity figures. First litters are often smaller and should not be judged as if they were third litters. Sows should raise a high share of what they farrow. Early puberty (often around 90 days) is characteristic; Chinese farm practice still waits until about 6-7 months to breed. Record litters (20, 28, 42) are not a target and are not required.

Sexual characteristics

Boars should look like boars: stronger head and neck with age, well-developed testicles of even size and carriage, a deeper forehand, and at least sixteen sound teats. A compact belly is preferred to a slack one. Uneven testicles, a single testicle, or a flabby low scrotum are unsound.

Sows and gilts should look like females: no coarseness of head, length of body enough to carry a litter, a normally developed vulva, and at least sixteen sound, even, well-forward teats. Cull from the breeding pen (not from the herd book) gilts with a very small or infantile vulva, or with inverted or blind teats.

Tail Set neither extremely high nor extremely low; a white or pink tip is acceptable.

Action Firm, free, and unhurried. A sedentary pig that wakes and walks soundly is on type.

Points to avoid in breeding programs

These are selection notes, not herd-book bars.

Ears Short, thick, cabbage-leafed, not reaching the corners of the mouth, or carried erect. Head Short, turned-up snout. Narrow forehead. Light, trimmed jowl. Coat Pale light gray. Dense or curly coat. Bristly mane. Color White or pink socks running above the hock or knee toward the body. Extensive white on the belly approaching a belt. Belting, body spots, or off-colors as described under Color. Skin Completely unwrinkled mature head. Exaggerated, unsound folds that interfere with vision or with suckling. Back Straight commercial topline; severely swayed back. Legs Collapsed pasterns; dewclaws bearing weight on firm ground; extra dewclaws; legs so unsound that the pig cannot walk freely. A moderate front X-set, a slightly sickle rear, and some pastern flex are accepted type, not something to avoid. Teats Uneven, unsound, inverted, or fewer than sixteen sound teats on a breeding animal. Carcass Selecting for extreme leanness or show muscle at the expense of lard type and mothering. Condition Excessive fat in breeding animals, to the detriment of fertility. Temperament Aggressive or unmanageable. Soundness Hernias, atresia ani, cryptorchidism, monorchidism, hermaphroditism, and similar congenital defects.

Adult measurements (targets, not limits)

Medium figures below are the excellence targets for this proposal. They are drawn from Chinese published Medium Meishan numbers (Zhongguo Meishan Zhu / germplasm records) and the Association’s published mature range of about 250-400 lb. They are not pass/fail limits and do not affect registration. Medium body length was not in the public GB/T preview. Chinese Small-type numbers are in Disputed Meishan breed traits for comparison only.

The Association’s 250-400 lb published range sits in the lower-to-middle part of this Medium column. Age, feed, and bloodline will move individuals. Animals substantially outside these bands should be judged on conformation and production, not discarded for weight alone.