The
mallard was probably
domesticated in China before 1000 AD. Force-feeding of ducks is documented from the tenth century, under the
Five Dynasties. Chinese people were sophisticated breeders of ducks. Among several breeds they created was one named
shi-chin-ya-tze, or roughly "ten-pound duck". In 1872 some birds of this type were imported to the United Kingdom by Walter Steward; others were taken to the United States by James E. Palmer, where they gave rise to the
American Pekin breed. Some soon reached Germany from the UK, possibly via France. In Germany the Chinese ducks were
cross-bred with upright white ducks brought from Japan by Dutch ships, resulting in birds with a steep body angle; those taken to the United States were crossed with
Aylesbury birds, which led to birds with a more horizontal stance. In Britain as in Germany, breeders in the early twentieth century tended to select for an upright body position. The modern British breed derives mostly from birds imported from Germany from about 1970. In 2017 the German Pekin was listed as "seriously endangered" in the
Rote Liste of the
Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, a German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered
domestic animal breeds. In 2025 its
conservation status in Germany was listed in
DAD-IS as "at risk/endangered",, while in the United Kingdom it was "not at risk". == Characteristics ==