Abstract：China is not the birthplace of lions, but lions are a household name to Chinese people. They have special auspicious meanings in traditional Chinese culture. Their images are ubiquitous in paintings, sculptures and architecture; and their status is even higher than that of tigers, the ferocious beasts which are common in China. The the traditional Chinese lion image is influenced by three sources, the first being various lion artworks introduced from the Western Regions. The lion image in Buddhist stone carvings since Wei and Jin Dynasties, could always be found to have originated from those in Central Asia, South Asia and other places. Secondly, while tigers and leopards and other large beasts are common in China; it is rare to see a real lion. Therefore, Chinese artists often refer to images of tigers and leopards while creating lion art pieces, a practice which was quite popular before the Tang Dynasty. Thirdly, a small number of tribute lions from the Western Regions were kept in royal palaces. In many ways, the image of the lion in China reflects the characteristics of tribute lions, to which not much academic attention was paid in the past. Quite different from wild lions, tribute lions had certain features. First, they were all adults, not cubs. The main reason for this was to ensure the survival rate in the transportation and to obtain greater rewards. Second, tribute lions were tamed since childhood again for the convenience of transportation and management. Third, most tribute lions were trained to perform dances and play with balls. Fourth, tribute lions were exclusively adult males, who were considered handsome and attractive, and who could not breed more lions in China, thus protecting the lion trade. Even with these distinctive features, tribute lions were the only kind of real lions that could be seen in China, and exerted profound influences on the shaping of the traditional Chinese lion image. The lack of distinction between sexes in traditional Chinese lion images was related to the fact that tribute lions were all adult males. The absence of lionesses or cubs among tribute lions led Chinese artists mistakenly to believe that lions were similar to tigers and leopards, in which the male, female and cub bore the same appearance, and confer the androgynous characteristics to the Chinese lion image. After the Liao and Song dynasties, male and female lions were distinguished by supplying females with cubs and males with colorful balls. The toys and decorations usually seen with Chinese lion images, such as bells and embroidered balls, are directly derived from the performances of tribute lions, and not imagined by Chinese artists. Last of all, the appearance of the lion-keepers, who came to China with the lions and settled down to feed them, proved the fact that those infant lions were hand-fed. In ancient Chinese history, whenever tribute lions came, realistic lion artworks also appeared, similar to the images of the real lions, but these images were mostly confined to court art. Due to the rareness of tribute lions, realistic lion artworks never entered the mainstream of Chinese lion art works and did not change the fixed Chinese lion images fundamentally except that these artworks may have made the viewers who were unable to see the real lions sigh that they were so different from the popular lion image.
引用本文:
赵晶. 丝路瑞兽：中国狮子形象中的贡狮影响[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2020, 6(5): 120-.
Zhao Jing. Auspicious Beast: The Traditional Chinese Lion Image from Tribute Lions along the Silk Road. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2020, 6(5): 120-.
