Common evil spirits in China traditional culture. Sculpture with artistic and ornamental value carved from stone into a lion. There are usually a pair of stone lions or bronze lions outside the gate, which are generally used to match buildings as evil spirits or decorations. The earliest existing stone lion is the stone lion in front of Gaoyi tomb in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Stone lion outside the palace gate
There are usually a pair of stone lions or bronze lions outside the palace gate, which have the function of ward off evil spirits.
There are usually a pair of stone lions or bronze lions outside the palace gate. According to the architectural orientation, the paired stone lions in front of the ancient palace are generally left men and right women (the stone lions at the door are placed according to the direction of people coming out of the gate), which is in line with China's traditional philosophy of Yin and Yang. Lions placed on the left side of the door are generally carved into right front paws to play with hydrangeas (some are carved with their mouths open); The lioness on the right side of the door is carved into a left front paw to touch the cub (some are carved into a closed mouth). You can also see from what is under the lion's paw: if there is a ball under the paw, which symbolizes the unity and supreme power of the whole world, it must be a lion. The cubs stand under their paws, symbolizing the continuation of their children and grandchildren. This is a lioness. And because the lion is the king of beasts, a domineering beast. So it has the functions of "dignity" and "majesty". Today, it has extended from palaces and yamen to government agencies at all levels and even private houses. In front of the door, people like to use stone lions to ward off evil spirits. Of course, not every household is suitable for placing stone lions. Without the boldness of vision of the emperor's family, his domineering can not be completely suppressed, but may be hurt by his domineering.
On the land of China, there are also southern lions and northern lions. The northern lion is magnificent and mighty, while the southern lion is lively and interesting. There is also the so-called "Three Kings Lion", because the lion is the king of all animals, and the stone carving where the lion crouches is carved with phoenix and peony. Phoenix is the king of birds and peony is the king of flowers, so it is known as the "Three Kings and Lions".
(Image taken from Baidu Encyclopedia)