Monday 13 June 2016

Chinese Lion


Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lions, traditionally known in Chinese simply as Shi , and often called "Foo Dogs" in the West, are a common representation of the lion in imperial China.
Statues of guardian lions have traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, government offices, temples, and the homes of government officials and the wealthy, from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and were believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits. They are also used in other artistic contexts, for example on door-knockers, and in pottery. Pairs of guardian lion statues are still common decorative and symbolic elements at the entrances to restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and other structures, with one sitting on each side of the entrance, in China and in other places around the world where the Chinese people have immigrated and settled, especially in local Chinatowns.
The lions are usually depicted in pairs. When used as statuary the pair would consist of a male leaning his paw upon an embroidered ball (in imperial contexts, representing supremacy over the world ) and a female restraining a playful cub that is on its back (representing nurture)
Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Zhou He for the swap. 
Love the fact that the stamp was made into a bigger version of a postcard :)
Sent: 6 May 2016   Received: 26 May 2016   Travelled: 20 days

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