Chinese guardian lions

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Chinese guardian lions
A Ming-era guardian lion in the Forbidden City
A Qing-era guardian lion pair in the Forbidden City. Note the different appearance of the face and details in the decorative items, compared to the earlier Ming version.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	獅(子)
Simplified Chinese	狮(子)
Literal meaning	lion
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin shī(zi) Wade–Giles shi(-tzu)
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	石獅(子)
Simplified Chinese	石狮(子)
Literal meaning	stone lion
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin shíshī(zi) Wade–Giles shih-shih(-tzu)
Khmer name
Khmer	សឹង្ហ singha
Thai name
Thai	สิงห์ sǐng
Sinhala name
Sinhala	සිංහ siṁha
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit	सिंहः sinha
Burmese name
Burmese	ခြင်္သေ့ chinthe
Tibetan name
Tibetan	གངས་སེང་གེ gangs-seng-ge

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Chinese guardian lions, or imperial guardian lions, are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament. Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi (石獅; shíshī). They are known in colloquial English as lion dogs or foo dogs / fu dogs. The concept, which originated and became popular in Chinese Buddhism, features a pair of highly stylized Asiatic lions—often one male with a ball which represents the material elements and one female with a cub which represents the element of spirit— that were thought to protect the building from harmful spiritual influences and harmful people that might be a threat. Used in imperial Chinese palaces and tombs, the lions subsequently spread to other parts of Asia including Japan (see komainu), Korea, the Philippines, Tibet, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia.