DOGS OF CHINA AND JAPAN 



demons. They are then made to follow a large knitted ball 

 to some eminence, where they sport with it to the delighted 

 applause of large audiences. 



These plays are known as " Shuah Shih-tzu " or " Exer- 

 cizing the Lions." They are promoted by the pious for 

 collecting charitable subscriptions and at the same time 

 acquiring religious merit. They are comparable to the old 

 English mystery plays. Several temples in Peking possess 

 lion-mask counterfeits of the pair of lions guarding the 

 temple entrance. The embroidered ball of the monuments 

 is represented in these plays by a coloured cloth attached to 

 a staff. In the illustrations the player on the right will be 

 seen holding this emblem. 



Although Buddha is now known to have been born about 

 550 B.C., the cosmogonical form of Indian Buddhism, as 

 early as the first century A.D., was set forth as existent from 

 all eternity. It was therefore easy to incorporate sun-myths, 

 and the importation of these into Buddhism from a foreign 

 source was largely influenced by the science of astronomy, in 

 which the Chaldeans and Egyptians were remarkably advanced 

 as early as 4000 years before the Christian era. 



To a sun-myth is probably due the representation of an 

 embroidered ball under the paw of the male Lamaist lion in 

 the temple-door monuments. This lion-and-embroidered- 

 ball (" Shih-tzu Kun Hsiu Chiu ") design is the commonest 

 motif in Chinese art and, as illustrating the triumph of wit 

 over brute force, supplies one of the most frequently used 

 proverbs in the language. Ancient pictures of tribute em- 

 bassies almost invariably show the King of Beasts tamely 

 following an embroidered ball. 



It may be recalled that each of the Swedish heraldic lions 

 rests a forepaw upon a globe, and the lion of St. Mark rests 

 its right paw upon a copy of the Gospel. There are two lion 

 116 



