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Description
as promised, have some guardian lion (aka "fu/foo dog", which I refuse to directly call them) art! and a little factsheet of course.

'Fu' does mean prosperity or fortune in Mandarin Chinese (and interestingly enough, 'fu gou' or 'fu dog' if you will is apparently a common name for the Pekingese breed), but these guardian lion statues are known as shi-shi (stone lions) or rui-shi (auspicious lions). 'Foo Dog' is, I believe, a corruption of 'Dog of Fo', or 'Dog of Buddha'.

The lion dogs always come in mated pairs, the male to the right of the entrance and the female to the left (when facing the entrance from the outside). You can tell them apart thus: the male has a stone ball under his paw while the female has a cub, representing the Flower of Life and the Cycle of Life respectively.
Sometimes the male will have his mouth open and the female hers closed, which is supposed to represent the beginning and the end, or the concept of AUM in Buddhism and other Eastern religions. I find the yin-and-yang concept of the lion dogs fascinating, personally, and it irritates me when they're mistakenly represented with two male dogs (Mulan, I love you, but I'm looking at you again).

The appearance of Chinese dog breeds such as the Chow Chow and the Pekingese were quite obviously looked to for reference when it came to designing these lions, as many people in China at the time had never seen a real lion but nonetheless admired them for their strength and power.

I may develop these guys into characters.

Description
as promised, have some guardian lion (aka "fu/foo dog", which I refuse to directly call them) art! and a little factsheet of course.

'Fu' does mean prosperity or fortune in Mandarin Chinese (and interestingly enough, 'fu gou' or 'fu dog' if you will is apparently a common name for the Pekingese breed), but these guardian lion statues are known as shi-shi (stone lions) or rui-shi (auspicious lions). 'Foo Dog' is, I believe, a corruption of 'Dog of Fo', or 'Dog of Buddha'.

The lion dogs always come in mated pairs, the male to the right of the entrance and the female to the left (when facing the entrance from the outside). You can tell them apart thus: the male has a stone ball under his paw while the female has a cub, representing the Flower of Life and the Cycle of Life respectively.
Sometimes the male will have his mouth open and the female hers closed, which is supposed to represent the beginning and the end, or the concept of AUM in Buddhism and other Eastern religions. I find the yin-and-yang concept of the lion dogs fascinating, personally, and it irritates me when they're mistakenly represented with two male dogs (Mulan, I love you, but I'm looking at you again).

The appearance of Chinese dog breeds such as the Chow Chow and the Pekingese were quite obviously looked to for reference when it came to designing these lions, as many people in China at the time had never seen a real lion but nonetheless admired them for their strength and power.

I may develop these guys into characters.