Goldfish, whose birthplace is in China, was bred successfully from wide golden crucian carps after several centuries' genetic evolution.

Tracing back to Jin Dynasty, Chinese had records of gold carps. When Hwantsong in Jin Dynasty visited Lushan Mountain, he saw red fish in a lake. It was gold crucian carps, but the golden carps at that time were not bred in family or as the ornamental fish. Affected by the thought of protecting living animals in Buddhism, culture people put the fish captured into "Let Go" ponds in Tang Dynasty, which gave birth to goldfish.

In 1127, Zhaogou, an emperor of South Song Dynasty, kept more than forty gardens in HangZhou. In one of them, there is bred goldfish. It was just the beginning of family cultivation. To cater to the interest of rich people, professional breeding named "fish job" then appeared in loyal house. Gradually, some new varieties with different colors came out, such as golden, silver, hawksbill goldfish etc. Late Ming Dynasty was the glorious time to raise goldfish in tub as pets. Many fantastic varieties were brought out just like calico, double tails, long fins, pompons and short body. During this course, the first book on goldfish also appeared, which was entitled 'Scarlet Fish' in Ming Dynasty. This book made it possible to improve goldfish quality and introduced goldfish all over the world.

During late Qing Dynasty, more and more people kept goldfish as pets and thus more varieties were obtained, including Lionhead, Celestial eye, Oranda, Egg-fish and Curled operculum. People accumulated rich experiences in terms of selecting goldfish and healthy fries, breeding goldfish nearly reaching its perfection.

After 1925, the method of hybridization was applied widely, which made it possible for goldfish to inherit several characters from other goldfish. Now goldfish has become so popular that it is loved all over the world as a favorite pet.