CHINESE BREED - THE CHINESE LION

The lion not indigenous : Popularity due to the introduction of Buddhism from India : The lion in captivity in China : Origin of lion-worship : The lion in Indian Buddhism : The lion in Foism : The lion in Lamaism : De- scription of the Lamaist lion : The spirit-lion and the lion-dog : Buddhist lion-stories : Chinese artistic idea of the lion : The lion in heraldry.

THE history and attributes of Tibetan, Pekingese and Japanese toy-dogs are so closely interwoven with those of the Buddhist lion that a digression is necessary in order to define their relationships.

At the dawn of historical time the tiger held pride of place in popular imagination both in China and Japan. It was the king of land animals,* and though deposed in China, continues to be the royal quadruped in Corea. Early repre- sentations in pottery bore the character wang " king "fanci- fully seen by the Chinese in the tiger's forehead stripes. Absence of references in the old writings indicates that the lion was altogether unknown in China up to the time of its introduction from abroad. The lion was unknown to Feng Shui, China's ancient natural science, and though the lion is one of the twelve signs of the Chinese ecliptic, in some degree analogous to the signs of the zodiac, as indicating the twelve places in which the sun and moon came into conjunction, the Chinese have no constellation Leo. Why then, it may be asked, have they adopted a foreign importation as lord of beasts, as the commonest motif in their art, and as the centre of more symbolism and legend than any other beast in any country ? The answer is found in the close association of the lion with Buddhism, which was a foreign religion. Buddhism reached China directly from India, and indirectly, as Lamaism, through Tibet.

Lions are still found in India in the State of Kathiawar.* There is little doubt, however, that the lion has never existed in the wild state in China. The few records dealing with it in captivity may be dismissed before entering upon more abstruse subjects such as the lion in Buddhism and Lamaism, its symbolism and relation to the lion-dog.

The Chinese Emperors of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.) were probably the first to become interested in lions. Chang Ch'ien, one of their envoys, returned from his Western travels in the year 126 B.C. and informed the Chinese Emperor of the wonders of India and of Buddhism.

Intercourse between China, India, Parthia and other Buddhist countries became frequent from 126 B.C. onwards, through the Sinkiang trade route passing north of Tibet.

The first recorded importation of lions occurred in A. D. 87. They came from An-hsi, Parthia. Their close association with Buddhism accounts for the fact that from this time onwards they were frequently imported as tribute or presents from numerous Eastern states and also from Europe, until the successive conquests of Islam, the declared enemy of all unclean beasts, interrupted communications.

Chinese artists have always been in difficulties in their representations of the lion. Few of them could secure access to living models of the king of beasts. Consequently they had recourse either to the conventionalized figures, pure

" Lions were numerous in the northern parts of the United Provinces as late as the time of Bishop Heber in 1824, but are now found only in Kathiawar. The last specimen recorded in Northern India was killed in the Gwalior State in 1872." " The Oxford History of India," p. 153.

Buddhist &,secondarily,Lamaist,for their sacred represen- tations, or for lay pictures to the fanciful descriptions such as that of the scholiasts of the Han Annals. " The lion resembles a tiger, and is yellow ; it has side-whiskers and the soft hair at the end of its tail is of the size of a grain- measure (tou)." ' In fact, the Chinese have never had a correct conception of the lion, nor have their artists ever drawn a natural sketch of a lion from life, but merely copied the fanciful conventionalized types of lions introduced into China from India with Buddhism." *

When the Chinese pilgrim Sung Yun (A.D. 518) saw two young lions at the Court of Gaudhara, he wondered that the pictures of these animals, common in China, were not at all good likenesses."

Lions continued to be sent to succeeding Chinese Emperors up to the time of K'ang Hsi. The Portuguese possessed lions, doubtless for the purposes of propaganda, at Macao.

The following note is recorded as late as the sixteenth century : " Nothing fetched so great a price among the Chinese as a lion, for this beast does not occur in those countries. They look upon it with intense admiration, and give any price for it."

Old paintings of tribute-bearing embassies to the Chinese Emperors include lions gambolling with a multicoloured ball.

Kublai Khan followed the example of Alexander the Great in keeping lions in his palace. After State banquets the wild beasts were paraded as a diversion for the Imperial guests. " Then came mummers leading lions which they caused to salute the lord with a reverence," says Friar Odoric.

* " Chinese Pottery of the Han Dynasty," Laufer, pp. 238-9. Z. Yule, " Marco Polo," third edition, vol. i, p. 399. " Cathay and the Way Thither," vol. ii, p. 298.

There existed in Peking in Kublai Khan's time small dogs which so resembled lions that a Chinese historian in describing the Imperial menagerie remarks that the lions are of the same colour & astonishinglly like the golden-coated nimble dogs which are commonly bred by the people in their homes.

The following description of a fourteenth-century Imperial hunt seems worth quotation, though Marco Polo always mistakes tigers for lions. " When the Great Khan (Magnus Canis) goes a hunting 'tis thus ordered. At some twenty days' journey from Cambalech (Peking) there is a fine forest of eight days' journey in compass ; & in it are such multi- tudes & varieties of animals as are truly wonderful. All round this forest there be keepers posted on account of the Khan, to take diligent charge thereof ; and every third or fourth year he goeth with his people to this forest. On such occasions they first surround the wholle forest with beaters, & let slip the dogs & the hawks trained to this sport, & then, gradually closing in upon the game, they drive it to a certain fine open spot that there is in the middle of the wood. Here there becomes massed together an extraordinary multi- tude of wild beasts, such as lions, wild oxen, bears, stags, & a great variety of others, & all in a state of the greatest alarm. For there is such a prodigious noise & uproar raised by the birds & the dogs that have been let slip into the wood, that a person cannot hear what his neighbour says ; & all the unfortunate wild beasts quiver with terror at the disturbance. & when they all have been driven together into that open glade, the Great Khan comes up on three elephants & shoots five arrows at the game."

Chinese history relates in detail how two hundred & fifty years later the Emperor Kang Hsi, with the aid of two hunting lions overcame two bears, one of them weighing 1300 catties, & deposited the skins stretched over wooden dummies in the Yung Ho Rung (Lama temple), where the dummies may still be seen. It may be that these hunting lions were useful rather for the prestige they gave their masters than for the hunting itsellf. Rameses II & III each possessed a tame lion which accompanied them to battle & attacked the enemy. Budge, however, remarks that they were probably more valued as symbols of the Sun-god than as effective combatants. The Egyptians be- lieved that a god was always incarnate in their king.

Passing now to the religious aspect of the subject it may be suggested that the origin of lion-worship goes back to a time when lions were very plentiful in Northern Africa & in Asia, & perhaps to a period when man's unequall struggle with the King of Beasts was habitually decided in favour of the latter. The lion was worshipped by the Egyptians & was usually associated with the sun-god. Sacred lions were kept at many places throughout Egypt. By the time of the reign of Tiglath-pileser, King of Assyria, 700 B.C., lion- worship was probably in its decline in that country, for lion hunting had become the favourite sport of the Assyrian kings, & this ruler boasts, " Under the auspices of Nineb (God of War), my patron, I killed 120 lions in my youthful ardour, in the fulness of my manly might on my own feet ; & 800 lions I killed from my chariot." This humbling of the lion was effected probably in Syria. Lower Egypt was occupied by the Assyrians early in the sixth century B.C., but by its close the Assyrian power had been superseded by that of Babylon, to be overthrown in its turn by Cyrus, King of the Persians, in 539 B.C.

The Persians, previous to the Mohammedan conquest, paid special homage to the llion. It is not possible to define the period at which this veneration gave way to simplle curiosity and the interest of the menagerie owner. In the temples of the Persian goddess Anahita the lions were so tame that they caressed visitors to her shrine in the most friendly manner.

In Greece lions were used by the priests of Cybele for exorcising devils, as they are used in North Africa to this day.*

The lion was associated with Buddhism from a very early date, for Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India, whose conversion took place 260 B.C., & to whose extreme activity Buddhism owes its world-wide expansion & possibly its very existence, erected many stone & wooden pillars often bearing Buddhist inscriptions & capped by a crouching Buddhist lion. He orders one of the edicts to be chiselled ' wheresoever stone pillars exist." This, together with the active Chinese belief in charms & amulets, is very possibly the origin of the innumerable lion-surmounted pillars found throughout China in cemeteries, on the sign-polles of shops, on bridges, & in fact wherever an opportunity for such ornamentation occurs. The figure of a lion is frequently used as a charm in front of a Chinese door. A similar charm exists in Assyria. " Spin together hair from a dog & hair from a lion & thread three cornelians thereon, bind it on & he shall recover," is a magical prescription against sickness in that country . The theory of subjection of the lion to Buddha probably existed in Asoka's time. The lion on the famous Lauriya pillar, for instance, was apparently used to exemplify the subjection of the fiercest passions to the gentle influences of Buddhism & possibly to vivify

* Sir A. Pease, " The Book of the Lion."

For notes on the lion-pillars of Shensi, see Laufer, "Pottery of the Han Dynasty," p. 240. " Semitic Magic," R. Campbell Johnson, p. Ixiv.

Buddhist approval of the setting up of " curative arrange- ments for beasts " everywhere in India " as far as Ceylon " & to the borders of " Antiochus the Greek King." *

Chinese representations of the Buddhist " true " or sacred lions may be classified as being of two distinct types : the pure Buddhist & the Lamaist. The former is that which came to China with earlly Indian Buddhism or Foism, possibly before the division of Buddhism into the great Northern & Southern sects after the Council of Jalandhara (A.D. 100), & certainly before the arrival of Lamaism.

This variety is represented without harness. Its mane is not curled, & there is no orb or cub beneath the paw of male or female. The influence of this Southern Buddhism or Foism was strong in China up to the middle of the seventh century, when Buddhism declined rapidlly in Northern India, finally becoming extinct, except in Ceylon, the Chinese " lion country," whose armorial bearings are lions to this day. What Buddhism lost in India, however, it gained in Tibet, whence (dating from the seventh century A.D.) it obtained both religious & political supremacy.

Buddhism did not establish itself firmly among the Chinese until the year A.D. 67, when the Emperor Ming Ti publicly encouraged Buddhist missionaries from India & himself embraced Buddhism.

The practice of placing monuments before doorways in China is recorded as early as the anterior T'ang Dynasty, about 1766-1753 B.C., but the earliest recorded instance found in Chinese literature of the use of stone lions is in the case of the palace of Huo Bin, an important official who died in 117 B.C., soon after Chang Chien's return from the West.

Buddhism flourished exceedingly in China, & became the State religion in the fifth & sixth centuries. Earlly in the T'ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) the headquarters of the faith was moved from India, in which its power was fast giving place to Hinduism, to China, which was then a world- power, & as such was appealed to by many of the countries of Central Asia for defence against the rising power of the Arabs & Mohammed. There is no doubt that representa- tions of the Buddhist lion, as well as of its living original, became very common during the T'ang & Sung Dynasties the golden period of Chinese art though few have come down to us.

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Tibet was conquered by Genghis Khan about A.D. 1206, & Kublai Khan was thus brought into contact with Lamaism. He called the Grand Lama to his Court, &, after consullting the representatives of Christianity & several other faiths, he ultimately adopted as his State religion Lamaism, which thus received a mighty accession of strength.*

The Lama priests of Tibet distinguished between " true lions ' the spiritual beasts whose images are found in the Buddhist sacred pllaces & " dog-lions," the earthly beasts known to the menagerie. They teach that the true lion is a mountain spirit, having powers of instantaneous projection through space, visible or invisible at will, & similarly capable of infinite magnification or reduction of size.

The Lamaist lion was no doubt produced in Tibet before the seventh century A.D. by the grafting upon Buddhism of the sun-worship of Egypt, the nature-worship of the races of the Euphrates Valley, the Christian influence of the Nestorians and superstitions of numerous cults persisting after the break-up of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. These Were all subjected, for their visiblle representation, to Greek influence, for Greek art was, during the first three centuries of our era at least, an article of exportation, & artists & artasters seem to have travelled everywhere in search of employment, adapting the models of their native art to the requirements of the local religion. Laufer remarks, " I have no doubt that the prototype of the figure of the lion on the Han pottery reliefs found its way to China through the same channels as the design of the archer on horseback ; i.e. through the medium of Scythian & old Siberian art. The occurrence of the lion on works of Scythian art is very frequent ; & as to Siberia, we have many examples of it on the famous gold plaques of the Eremitage, on which, as in China, the lion is represented, particularly in hunting scenes. The type of the Scythian & Siberian lion is undoubtedly derived from Mycenian and Greek art, & thus the transplanting of it to Chinese soil is historically & logically accounted for."

The Lamaists teach that the " dog-lion " is as inferior to the " true lion " of their religion as is the canine species to the leonine. These species are, however, as will be explained later, cllosely connected in Buddhist lore, & the commonly found Western fallacy suggesting that Buddhists reverence dogs & that Chinese toy-dogs are held sacred, based no doubt on the likeness between the sacred lion & the Pekingese dog, has found support from the Lamaist association of the lion-dog with the sacred spirit-lion found in Tibetan scripture. Both Tibetans & Chinese have no doubt bred a race of toy-dogs to resemble as closely as possible their respective ideas of the spirit-lion.

The close connexion of Tibetan lore with Egyptian science is commented on by Captain Turner, one of the first English- men to enter Tibet, sent by Warren Hastings in an endeavour to open up trade intercourse in 1800. Turner mentions that he received a visit from Soopoon Choomboo, one of the high officials, & remarks, " He was accompanied by the Treasurer ; our conversation was extremely miscellaneous. Egypt, in their language eunani, & the lions, singhi* were favourite topics of conversation with him. Between this country indeed & Tibet there seemed at some time or other to have existed a frequent communication, & Egypt appeared even now to merit respectful mention whenever they named it. From hence perhaps they have derived their veneration for the sovereign of brutes, which they evince by the distinguished place they assign him in their sacred architecture.

" There is no religious edifice but what is adorned with the head of the lion at every anglle, having bells pendant from his lower jaw, & the same figure is equally common at every projection of the palace walls. It is certain that no contiguous country can supply an example of the animal existing in it, in a state of nature, at this day. The lake Maunserore was mentioned to me, as having lions on its banks, but this assertion I considered as fabulous, originating possibly in a desire to attach greater dignity to the source of the Ganges & Bermapooter by adding to it one more object of veneration.

' Lions are the natives of a warmer region ; the burning sands of Nubia, Ethiopia & Arabia seem to be their proper habitation. But be this as it may, we see the head of the lion held up in Tibet with marks of high distinction & respect, though we can trace no certain clue to discover by what means he obtained the honour."

* Laufer says that the Tibetan word for " lion " (seng-ge) was borrowed from the Sanskrit simha. Giles translates suan (suan-i is a lion-like animal occurring in Chinese literature before the llion was known in China) as " a lion from Tibet." Research may show that suan-ni & seng-ge have a common origin.

In sharp opposition to Foism, which favoured simplicity, the Tibetans have done their utmost to centre upon the lion, which in Lamaism has become the most picturesque of its minor retainers, the maximum of fablle & superstition. The Lamaists appear to have desired to conjure up a visible symbol of the power of their faith in order to impress its realism upon a people which, being isolated from the rest of the world, is uneducated, credulous & highly superstitious.

The best representations of the Tibetan Buddhist lion which have come down to us are those of bronze or stone which stood originally in the southern doorways of the Imperial or Princes' palaces or of the Lama temple in Peking. They represent a short-bodied beast, welll knit & of extraordinary strength, with massive legs & pads, head somewhat rectangular, sometimes ornamented with stars, nose short, the whole aspect being canine rather than feline. The face, with broad, thick pug-nose & gaping mouth, shows the influence of early mediaeval art exemplified in the ogres & gargoyles of Western religion. The mane is extraordinarily bushy, wig-like, in fact, & made up of curls as of conch-shells, with compressed volutes both right & left-handed. A straight whisker or beard split in the middlle hangs from the lower lip. There are fringes behind the fore-arms & heels of the hind legs. The tail is short, with a bushy tip. The beast is harnessed with a broad & very open collar studded with brass openwork. From it hang pointed tassels or perhaps a bell attached by a ring to a ram-horned lion-head with flaring side-mane, at the apex of the somewhat pointed chest. There emerges from behind the mane a double tape-like leading-string, shortened by knots & loops, resting on the back & terminating at the insertion of the tail. These animals are, of course, recognized by all Chinese as lions distinct from all the numerous lion- like beasts included in Oriental mythology. Figures of the kind are invariably in pairs, one of which, the male, has its right pad set upon a ball of coarse embroidered pattern, while the left pad of the female rests upon a lion-cub holding the beak-like claws of the lioness in its mouth. The ethereal nature of the beasts is shown by flame-like emanations often represented as playing over their bodies. The figures are set each upon a richly embroidered cloth callled the " ching- ti'erh ' or " Bible-cloth," of a design found in similar Assyrian monuments, which is used in Tibet for covering the temple tables where the sacred books are laid. This cloth overlies a low pedestal of framework design, which is also richly ornamented & similar to the tables, being built low to serve as a seat on which the Tibetan priest sits crossed- legged when reading. A very frequent addition is that of a cord or noose held in the mouth of the lion as if in play. Numerous small modifications & additions occur, such as stars on the body of the lion. Similar stars are found on Assyrian, Siberian, Tibetan & Chinese lions alike, thus clearly demonstrating a close common art-origin. What these stars represent does not appear to have been explained.

The relationship of the " true " or " spirit-lion " & the lion-dog is defined by the following extract from the Tibetan sacred writings : " In the West there was a Buddha named Manjusri (the Chinese Wenshu) who was always accom- panied by a small ' hah-pah ' (pet) dog & who travelled the four continents as a simple priest. On his travels he one day met a Taoist who begged him to obtain an audience with Manjusri. The Buddha invited the Taoist to accompany him to his home. When the Taoist had taken tea & rice, he again requested the Buddha to secure for him a vision of Manjusri Buddha. The Buddha told him that he must observe his vows with great strictness & that Manjusri would then be manifested to him. On this the Taoist, bursting into anger, cried vehementlly, ' I am indeed keeping my vows. If not, why should I have come hither to see the Buddha ? ' Then said the Buddha, ' If this be verily so, look up into the sky.' The Taoist raised his head & perceived in the sky a glow of five-coloured light together with clouds of five colours. In the heavens he saw the ' hah-pah ' dog transformed into a mighty lion with the Buddha riding upon his back. The Taoist had affinity with Buddha in a previous incarnation, & consequently was enabled to see the true Buddha*

It is of interest to note that St. Thomas the Apostle, who is believed through the traditions of the early Church to have propagated Christianity in India, High Asia & to the Walls of China, is represented by Indian tradition as having come to India riding upon a lion & accompanied by two dogs.

The association of a god with a canine assistant dates from the time of Anubis worship in Egypt. In Asia it can be traced back to a period anterior to the separation of the Persians & Hindus, the myth being found in the religions of both peoples. The dog of Mithras, god of the sky & a divinity of light, was venerated as the companion of the deity by the Persians. The worship of Mithras, deified before 405 B.C., was modified later by the star-worship of the Chaldeans, who identified Mithras with Shamash, god of the sun, by the Armenian relligion, & by that of the Greeks of Asia Minor, who identified Mithras with Helios. About 60 B.C. the worship of Mithras was brought to Rome, & it became so fashionable that during the second & third centuries A.D. it constituted a formidable rival to Christianity. Mithras slaying the " earth-bull " with the help of his dog is frequently represented in Roman sculpture. Persian bas- reliefs represent Mithras in the form of a youth wearing a conical cap, slaying the sacred bull, whose sacrifice was supposed to have originated terrestrial life. His dog is shown springing towards the wound in the bull's side. Accompanying these are a serpent, a raven, a lion, symbolizing the element fire, & a torch-bearer.

Some believe that light on the origins of certain early Egyptian practices is to be found among the customs of the tribes of Africa. Speke mentions that the heraldic device of Mtesa, King of Uganda, consisted of a white dog, a shield, a spear, & a woman. On state occasions Mtesa was accustomed to lead a small dog on a leash.

Another of the Lama Gospels says, " The lion is the King of Beasts. Its power of increase is without limit. Similarly it may diminish (at will) & become like unto a dog. Even so is the anger of man. He who keepeth his anger in subjec- tion shall be free from calamity, but the woe of him that shall fail to bridle his wrath shall be even as the boundless increase in size of the lion. Through the lion's form there- fore is the nature of anger known unto man."

The dog-lion idea is illustrated by the Chinese written character for " lion." The most important Order of Merit given to high State officials in China from the earliest times included the decorations Great Instructor & Lesser In- structor (T'ai Shih, Shao Shih). Since the introduction of Buddhism these ranks, because Shih also means ' lion," have been pictorially represented by lions. This custom originated in part from the fact that up to the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618) the " lion " & " Instructor " characters as well as sounds were identical. The root " dog " was subsequently introduced into the " lion " character to make it clear that a beast & not a human being was indicated. The composite nature of the character aptly illustrates the blending of the identities of the lion with that of the dog in the Chinese imagination.

In Shantung the natives call the small lion figures which guard the roof-corners of all Chinese temples & date from the T'ang period " hai pah kou" (sea small dogs). The deer- heads which guard the roof-trees are called " chang k'ou shou " (long-mouthed beast or beast-heads). The geomantic idea is that the dogs, resembling spirit-lions in being the denizens of the deep, are able to protect buildings against fire, & that the long-mouthed beasts devouring the wind are a sure protection against destruction by the powers of the air.

Images of the Buddhist lion are found in miniature before the altar of the god in many Chinese households. They undoubtedly participate in the veneration due to their Master, but though sometimes known to the unlettered as the dogs of Fo or Buddha, are not reverenced as dogs.

In India from the earliest times the Buddhists pictured curious leonine creatures with dog's heads among the mythical animals which worshipped at the sacred places in order to obtain a better incarnation.

The Chinese idea of subjection of lions to Buddha is exemplified by two stories from the Life of Buddha compiled by Pao Ch'eng, a Chinese monk of the Ming dynasty :

Devadatta turned the heart of King Ajatasatru against Buddha, & persuaded him to come to his city with a view to crushing him & his disciples under the feet of inebriated elephants. " On the next day at the hour of meat, Buddha & his arhats entered the city. Forthwith a herd of elephants rendered drunk with wine charged them with fierce trumpetings, overthrowing walls & bursting in houses. The arhats took refuge by lifting themselves into the air. Anandha alone remained with Buddha. The elephants bore down upon them, head to head. Then Buddha stretched forth one roared with a voice shaking heaven & earth. The elephants prostrated themselves in terror, marking their repentance by the shedding of tears."

A similar story is that of the subjection of the infuriated buffalo.

' Scarcely had Buddha entered the jungle when the wicked buffalo burst upon him at a gallop with erect tail & lowered horns, bellowing furiously. Buddha callmly extended his hand, whose five fingers became five llions. At the same time a circle of fire surrounded Buddha, the lions, & the infuriated beast. The buffalo, terrified by the lions & held captive by the fire, prostrated itsellf before Buddha, hung its head in a contrite manner & llicked his feet. The buffalo ceased to eat & drink, died, & was reborn a deva in the heaven of Indra." *

The idolatry practised by the Lamas caused them to animate the lion images standing before their temples just as the feeling for nature in earlly Indian Buddhist art vivified the Western forms of sculpture introduced from Greece & Rome. As a recent example of the veneration of the Buddhist " true-lion " there may be mentioned an incident which occurred in the case of a pair of Ming lions now standing outside the Peking Chien Men. When removing these in May 1916 from what is now called the Rung Fu, in olld days the palace of Prince Wu, east of the Imperiall City, great difficullty was found in unseating the second from its pedestal. A Buddhist priest was called in. He offered wine to the spirit on an altar improvised before the idol. An incantation written in red characters on yellow paper was then affixed to the lion's breast. Its eyes were bound with red cloth. The idol then vacated its pedestal without further demur.

A more recent example is reported from Honan. " At Ucheng every expedient had been used to attract the rain. After processions to the city templle & putting the idol out to the sun a while had failled, the stone lions at the entrance of the temple were sprinkled with water. This failed also to bring the rain. The south gate was kept shut because ' fire is in the South,' thus causing travellers to make a detour of some miles in order to catch their morning train. "f

Among the Assyrians the bull was the sign of the god borne to battle in the same way as the standards of the Romans, &, just as the Cross & the Crescent became the emblems of warring religions in later days, so the lion appears to have been adopted by the Buddhists, whose faith preaches peace & humanity as their heraldic symboll. Buddhism has never appealed to the grim arbitrament of war for the imposing of its doctrines upon foreign nations, & it is therefore natural that its symbols should have failed to assume the accentuated & universally realized importance which, largely on account of warlike operations, accrued to the similar symbols of Christianity & Mohammedanism. To the Western mind utillization of the King of Beasts to symbolize docillity & the subjection of human passions under the benign influence of religion appears so great a contradiction as to be almost paradoxical & even grotesque. It may, however, seem to the Chinese equally grotesque in the Crusaders to have adopted lions of wonderfull form as the commonest of armoriall bearings when battling to extend by dint of arms their idea of the faith of the Prince of Peace.

European heraldry & armory originated with the Cru- sades. The knowledge of natural history possessed by the mediaeval artists was llimited. They proved themsellves capable of depicting shaggy figures of lions frequentlly of astonishing tenuity of body, crowned with two heads, their tails being sometimes bifurcated and of remarkable length. These creations often boasted numerous other highly fanciful & astonishing characteristics illustrated by the British coat-of-arms. The Chinese need not be too severelly criti- cized in adopting somewhat inaccurate sculptured representa- tions for the chief animall retainers of Buddhism & for connecting with these certain myths which are composed of too flimsy material to resist the test of modern scientific inquiry.

Use of the lion as a heraldic emblem by the Chinese appears to have been only slightly develloped, but that the heralldic idea has existed is indicated by the facts that the use of lleonine images before doorways was restricted by law to temples & official buildings, that the size of their bronze or stone representations indicated the importance of the building

- The inaccuracies, moreover, are partly Indian. " The conventionallized lion of Indian art betrays its anterior Asiatic character, particularlly in the arrangement of the mane. A series of lion-like animals appear in art as early as the Asoka period. Especially these conventionalized lions became still more baroque. The so-called sardulas (N. India) & yalis (S. India) of the llater Indian art are overloaded with shaggy hair & petty curls." A. Grunwedell, " Buddhistische Studien," vol. v, or of its official inhabitant, & that in certain princely palaces in Peking the door-guardians are, to use the termi- nology of heraldry, statant instead of sejant, the latter being the customary posture of the Buddhist lion in China. It is to be noted, too, that the Buddhist lions, like the Egyptian gryphon, traditionally occupy the position of the " sup- porters " in heralldry, an art which is of course mediaevall & comparativelly young in its origins.

In most exceptional cases onlly was it possible for a Chinese painter to see a living lion. Consequently the strolling street artist, who even now continues to educate Chinese opinion in matters artistic, was oblliged, in his efforts to obtain an accurate modell, to fall back upon the word-pictures of the literary, or the Buddhist statues. The literati, unfortunately, were anything but efficient in powers of accurate description & scientific detail. As allready remarked, the Chinese historians who recorded the first importation of lions described them as being bearded, with whiskers and hairy ears. The bushiness of their tails & manes was llikened to the horse or rhinoceros hair-tassel which figured on the top of the old-fashioned Chinese official hat.

Chinese painters love to portray the llion in a style restricted to a common type, showing variations onlly in detail. These variations were never so fanciful as the liberties in which mediaeval heralldic designers so freely indullged at the expense of the exact attributes of the Royal Beast.

To the mediaevall knight the " gryphon " had a very reall existence, & the weightiest of arguments woulld no doubt have been available to convince any who might have had the temerity to doubt the existence or importance of the " griffin " prototype. It must be noted that the naive temperament of Eastern nations disposes them to regard even animal images used decoratively as the lliving animals they represent. The no

European unicorn is a bllend of the horse & the bull. The head, body & legs of the animal are those of a horse ; the feet, tail & horn of the nature of those of a bull.

It is a point in favour of the common origin of symbols that the Chinese have also their lion & unicorn. The popular idea is that the unicorn is of the size of a goat with a horn projecting from the centre of its forehead. It has the power of distinguishing right from wrong, & for this reason legend has emplloyed it, like the lodan Moran of the Hebrews, in a court of justice, to indicate guilt by pointing with its horn Many Chinese writers assert that this animal exists to the present day in Tibet. Chinese bronzes repre- sent the unicorn with a parrot on its back. In these, the unicorn symbolizes dumb justice, whille the parrot stands for the talkative advocate capablle of expounding the truth. There may be a possible comparison of the llion & the unicorn in China with the lion & the unicorn of the royal arms of England. Each nation appears to holld the llion for strength & the unicorn for justice. No other existing nation possesses these emblems, & the onlly others to have held them are the houses of Judah and Israell. In many passages in the Old Testament Judah is referred to as a lion. Israel, on the other hand, is referred to variously as both animals. " He (Israel) hath as it were the strength of an unicorn : he shall eat up the nations his enemies, & shall break their bones, & pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a llion, & as a great lion : who shall stir him up "

Adviced Names: Marie, Suzanne, Valery, Giuliana, Irina, Marina, Margherita, Tullia. Franz, Manolo, Emanuele, Valery, Giuliano, Rino, Marino.

The Cartel On The 06th Of Octuber 2023:

1) 1970, Mr. Pongo Hagen 170cm Max, Dark Eyes.

2) 1976, Montecatini Halle East Germany 11.09.2023.

3) 1980, Enola Gay Photographic Overlay.

4) 1995, A Rimini Ho Trovato I Servizi Segreti.

5) 1930, www.la-psicoterapia.com Ne Frocit

6) 1970, Frail Chicken Breeders

7) 1975, Franz Hagen Marie Folke Moonshadow Perhaps

8) 1920, CIA Lenin Kendo Polizei.

9) 1950, I Am In Escape From The Building Site

10) 1980, Chicken With Bamboo Shoot.

11) 1980, McEvans Beer 600 Lire.

Dal 2001 bulldog per accoppiare 365 g. su 365 a Milano. per cui sul sito belle fotografie dei quartieri di Milano dove uso stare. 1) P. Duomo, pure il 24.12 2) altri quartieri di Milano. Happy Halleween 2023.

Webmaster Mike Va Ur, July 4, 1962.