SYMBOLISM BUDDHIST AND LAMAIST LION 



gods in the ancient Egyptian ritual. They support the sun 

 and are attached to the limits of heaven, the extreme bounds 

 of the sun's journeys.* The ancient Egyptian gods, " Shu 

 with his sister Tefnut," are types of the dual lion. They are 

 the servants of the sun-god. The one lion is a god of the 

 Southern heaven and the horizon of the West supporting the 

 sun as it sinks, the other of the northern heaven and the 

 horizon of the East pushing forward the sun as it rises." * 

 It is interesting to note that the lions before Buddhist door- 

 ways are almost invariably ranged east and west east to 

 typify the Yang or male influence, and west to characterize 

 the Yin or female influence. 



In Japanese astronomy the Chinese lion symbol occurs as 

 the eleventh of the twelve celestial signs. It is also commonly 

 found in Japanese art. The Japanese, however, refer to this 

 sign as that of the dog. This error appears to be due to a 

 curious misunderstanding of Foist lore on the part of the 

 Japanese Buddhists, who derived their religion from China 

 through Corea. This may perhaps be an instance of the 

 Egyptian influence which favoured dog-worship and appears 

 to have had no small importance in Japanese sun-worship 

 in Shintoism. The Chinese gave the dog no place 

 among the twelve celestial signs, but at a date which must 

 have been posterior to the introduction of Buddhism did 

 give a place to the lion, which, of course, only became 

 known to them with Buddhism .f The Japanese appear to 

 have mistaken the fanciful Chinese Foist representations of 

 the lion for dogs, calling them the " dogs of Fo." They 

 adopted the same forms, the pair Koma Inu (Dog of Corea) 

 and Ama Inu (heavenly dog), practically identical in shape 



* " Book of the Beginnings," G. Massey. 



f Except perhaps in art of the Han period. See Laufer's " Chinese Pottery of the 

 Han Dynasty," p. 242. 



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