The Stone Lion in Tangshun Tomb,Tang Dynasty

The lion is known as the king of animals. The first lion was presented to China during the EasternHan Dynastyby a king from the Western Regions.

The earliest stone lion was discovered in a Eastern Han Dynasty tomb in Ya'an,Sichuan Province. Thestone lionsin Liang Chao's Tomb in Jurong County,Jiangsu Province, are 1400 years old. Those in the Tangshun Tomb in Shengyang City, Shaanxi Province, were built by the Tang Empress,Wu Zetian, for her mother They are the most representative of all existing stone lions. During the Ming Dynastystone lions were placed in front of palaces, government buildings, temples and even some rich family mansions to display power Later, stone lion designs were carved as decoration on important architectural features such as door lintels and eaves.

Beijingnow has many stone lions made during the Ming and Qing dynasties. These lions do not seem powerful and wild, but rather are kindly and gentle. on the well-known Lugou Bridgebuilt in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), there are 140 engraved stone columns on each side. Each column has a lively stone lion on its top, and nine small stone lions are hidden under the big lion. It is difficult to make an accurate count of the stone lions on the Lugou Bridge. In 1961, however, archeologists numbered each one and calculated there are altogether 485 stone lions in the bridge.