Shishi is a kind of lion to ward off evil spirits. It is a mascot revered and believed by China people, with the implication of restraining evil, resisting evil and praying for happiness.
The stone lions, which originated from architectural decoration in the Han Dynasty, were developed under the influence of real lions who paid tribute in ancient Persian countries. According to "Biography of the Western Regions in the Later Han Dynasty", "In the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 87) ... Yue (now Kashmir, Afghanistan) sent envoys to help pull out the division (lion)"; "In the winter of October of the second year of Zhanghe River, Xi Guo (the name of ancient Persia) sent an envoy to offer a teacher (lion) to help pull out."
Stone lions are mostly decorated in ancient tombs, ancestral temples, temples, memorial archways and other places, as evil spirits guarding the door. There are many shapes of stone lions, such as squatting, squatting, standing horizontally, jumping and climbing backwards. Shapes are large and small, each with its own shape, mostly based on round carving techniques, supplemented by relief and line carving. Its stone materials include bluestone, white marble, marble and white jade.
There are differences in the styles of stone lions between the north and the south. In the history of stone carving in China, the Sui and Tang Dynasties were the most prosperous period of stone lion art, and the plastic arts of stone lions in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties tended to be solemn and gorgeous, and developed in a delicate and slender direction, forming different styles in the North and South.
The stone lions in the south are mainly distributed in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, with delicate, rounded and dynamic shapes. The stone lions in the north are simple, rough, mighty, strong and fierce, including Qin Yu, Jinlu and Beijing. But generally speaking, the northern stone lions are the authentic source of China stone lions, especially the Beijing stone lions, which are mostly guarded court lions. They are dignified and well-behaved. Generally, the head and neck are carved with manes, the tail sticks up to the thigh, the neck is tied with embroidered ribbons, the chest is hung with bells, and then a wreath is tied. Their images are vivid, powerful and solid. A typical example is two pairs of large stone lions in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. As a guardian, this stone lion is carved from a whole piece of white marble, with gorgeous decoration and exquisite carving, showing its royal style.
Shishi culture has great inner charm. China has a vast territory and different folk customs. Therefore, in addition to all kinds of architectural stone lions, the ancients also derived some practical stone lions out of their worship of lions, but they are relatively few. Such as paperweight lion, shed lion and curtain lion. It is said that in the rural areas around Luochuan in northern Shaanxi, a kind of "pit-headed lion" was popular in the old days, that is, a small lion was tied to a children's pit to seek shelter from wild animals. Most of these small stone lions are childish, simple, exquisite and smart, and have great inner charm, thus creating a colorful stone lion culture.