The stone lion is a decoration often used in traditional Chinese architecture, whether it is in palaces, temples, stupas, or even bridges. Of course, the most common place for stone lions to appear is on the left and right sides of the gate. However, as we all know, China is not the source of lions, and people have never seen lions before the Han Dynasty. So, how did the stone lion become an important factor in traditional Chinese architecture and be used in a large number of ways? Why do people put two stone lions in the doorway?
To know the answer to this question, one needs to trace the history of lions in ancient China. The lion first appeared in historical texts after the Western Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian was ordered to send an envoy to the Western Regions, opening the passage from the Western Regions to the Western Han Dynasty, and after this, lions began to appear in China. Book of the Later Han Dynasty. The Biography of the Western Regions records: "In the first year of Emperor Zhang and the first year (87 AD), (the State of Rest) sent envoys to offer the master (lion) and Fu Ba. "Needless to say, the lion here is a hornless animal that resembles a unicorn. After the lion came to the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, it could be described as an empty alley, and countless dignitaries and dignitaries and ordinary people came to watch.
In ancient Chinese mythology, there is a kind of sacred beast called the fox, which is recorded in the Biography of Mu Tianzi: "The famous beast makes the foot walk thousands of miles, and the fox and the wild horse walk five hundred miles." "Whether the fox here is a lion or not can no longer be investigated, but after the Western Han Dynasty, the lions in the western region entered China, and people naturally regarded it as a fox." Under the influence of traditional mythology, people worship the lion as a "beast" and elevate it to the same status as the tiger, the king of the hundred beasts. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" said: "The lion goes out of the countries of the Western Regions and is the head of a hundred beasts. ”
Lions had such a status in the Western Han Dynasty, and were naturally widely used by princes and nobles in various fields. In front of the tombs of emperors and nobles during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the figure of stone lions began to appear. Some Shinto also worship lions as sacred beasts, placing stone lions and stone horses together to show their lofty status and play a deterrent role.
After the Tang and Song dynasties, the stone lion gradually went to the folk. During the Tang Dynasty, the capital was divided into "fangs", and the fangmen were usually made in the archway style. At the foot of the pillar, a pair of large stones will be placed to prevent wind and earthquakes. Craftsmen carved these stones into the shape of various sacred beasts, including stone lions. After the factory system was broken, people could plan the mansion independently, and many wealthy families liked to place two stone lions at the door to show the status of the nobles and take the beautiful meaning of Nafu Zhaorui. This custom gradually became a fashion and began to become popular in ancient China.
The stone lions of different dynasties have different styles, such as the stone lions of the Tang Dynasty, the solemn and solemn stone lions of the Song Dynasty, and the stone lions after the Qing Dynasty. Until now, the stone lion has become part of traditional Chinese architectural culture. With the advancement of science and technology, people no longer regard the stone lion as a sacred beast, but the beautiful meaning it contains still exists. Therefore, people like to place two stone lions on both sides of the door.