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Guardian lions

Chinese guardian lions
ImperialMaleLionGuard.jpg
A Ming Dynasty guardian lion in the Forbidden City
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Literal meaning lion
Korean name
Hangul 해태
Hanja 海泰
Japanese name
Kanji 狛犬
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese Sư tử đá
Shí shīzi
Thai name
Thai สิงห์
S̄ingh̄̒
Sinhalese name
Sinhalese සිංහ
siṁha
Burmese name
Burmese ခြင်္သေ့
hkyin sae
Tibetan name
Tibetan གངས་སེང་གེ་
gangs seng ge

Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lions, traditionally known in Chinese simply as Shi (Chinese: ; pinyin: shī; literally: "lion"), and often called "" in the West, are a common representation of the lion in imperial China. The concept which originated in China, subsequently spread to other parts of Asia including, Japan, Korea, Tibet, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia and Laos.

Since the introduction of the lion symbolism from Indian culture especially through Buddhist symbolism, statues of guardian lions have traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, government offices, temples, and the homes of government officials and the wealthy, from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and were believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits. They are also used in other artistic contexts, for example on door-knockers, and in pottery. Pairs of guardian lion statues are still common decorative and symbolic elements at the entrances to restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and other structures, with one sitting on each side of the entrance, in China and in other places around the world where the Chinese people have immigrated and settled, especially in local Chinatowns.

The lions are usually depicted in pairs. When used as statuary the pair would consist of a male leaning his paw upon an embroidered ball (in imperial contexts, representing supremacy over the world ) and a female restraining a playful cub that is on its back (representing nurture ).

Guardian lions are referred to in various ways depending on language and context. In Chinese they are traditionally called simply shi (獅, Pinyin: shī) meaning lion — the word shi itself is thought to be derived from the Persian word šer. Lions were first presented to the Han court by emissaries from Central Asia and Persia, and by the sixth century AD they were already popularly depicted as guardian figures. Today the guardian lions are more usually specified by reference to the medium or material, for example:


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