狛犬

Koma Inu

from 高麗こま (Koma, “Goguryeo; Korea”) + 犬いぬ (inu, “dog”)

A lion-dog or shrine dog; a guardian statue seen in temples. Usually found in pairs, one on either side of an entryway, one with the mouth open to represent the syllable a or the start of things, and the other with the mouth closed to represent the syllable un or the end of things (similar to the phrase alpha and omega).

狛こま犬いぬ 

(komainu)

狛犬 the Koma Inu are holy animals employed as guardians of ancient sites. Due to their appearance and name the English translation for the title of this 妖怪 (yōkai, “ghost, phantom” any of various supernatural monsters, sometimes shapeshifters, in Japanese folklore.) is "lion dog". 狛犬 Koma Inu came to Japan from Korea, which then came from China, but originated in India. Originally 狛犬 Koma Inu were considered protectors of 仏ぶっ教きょう Buddhist temples, however, over time they shifted to 神社 Shinto shrines. 狛犬―Koma Inu―are found in male and female pairs, one with an open mouth and one closed. The female usually guards those living inside, while the male guards the structure itself. The two forms are called a-gyō (阿形, lit. "a" shape) and ''un-gyō (吽形, lit. "un" shape) or referred to collectively as "a-un" which (A-un 阿吽, lit. "Om") is the transliteration in Japanese of the two syllables "a" and "hūṃ", written in Devanagari as अहूँ (the syllable, Om). The original Sanskrit term is composed of two letters, the first and the last (Anusvara) of the Sanskrit alphabet. Together, they symbolically represent the beginning and the end of all things. In Japanese Mikkyō Buddhism, the letters represent the beginning and the end of the universe. This appears in Greek as Alpha-&-Omega, similarly adopted by Christianity to symbolize Christ as the beginning and end of all.

The term is also used in 神道／しんとう ^Shintō and Buddhist architecture to describe the paired statues common in Japanese religious settings, most notably the Niō (仁王) or Kongōrikishi (金剛力士) and 狛犬, the komainu. In most cases, one of the two, the right one, has its mouth open to pronounce the sound "a", while the other has it closed to utter the sound "um". The symbolism is the same already seen. The generic name for statues with an open mouth is agyō (阿形, lit. "a" shape), that for those with a closed mouth ungyō (吽形, lit. "un" shape").

  

In India, the original Sanscrit "a-huṁ" or simply "Om" is used as a mantra for meditation. The open mouth is meant to be forming the sound あ (a), while the closed mouth is forming the sound うん (un). Combined, they form the word a-un, the Japanese rendition of the Indian word ॐ (om). Which was a word that originated in Hinduism and was adopted by Buddhism. The meaning of ॐ (om) is sometimes described as the name of god or the sound of the vibration of the universe.

The term a-un is used figuratively in some Japanese expressions as "a-un breathing" (阿吽の呼吸, a-un no kokyū) or "a-un relationship" (阿吽の仲, a-un no naka), indicating an inherently harmonious relationship or non-verbal communication.

  

狛犬 (Komainu), statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the 本殿, honden, main hall, also called shinden (神殿), or sometimes shōden (昇殿), or inner shrine of many 神社, jinja (archaic: shinsha, meaning: "place of the god(s)") Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the public. The first type, born during the Edo period, is called sandō komainu (参道狛犬, visiting road Komainu), the second and much older type jinnai komainu (陣内狛犬, shrine inside komainu). They can sometimes be found also at Buddhist temples, nobility residences or even private homes.

狛犬 Komainu strongly resemble 石獅、shíshī, Chinese guardian lions and in fact, originate from 唐朝 Tang dynasty. 獅(子) or 瑞獅 (auspicious lion, Ruìshī) referring to གངས་སེང་གེ་ (gangs seng ge: 雪獅) the Tibetan Snow Lion or good fortune lion, the Chinese guardian lions are believed to have been influenced by Asiatic lion pelts and lion depictions introduced through trade from either the Middle East or India, countries where the lion existed and was a symbol of strength. During its transportation along the Silkroad, however, the symbol changed, acquiring a distinctive look. The first lion statue in India appears around the 3rd century BCE on top of a column erected by 𑀅𑀰𑁄𑀓, Aśōka, King Ashoka. The tradition later arrived in China where it developed into the guardian lion that was later exported to Korea, Japan, and Okinawa.

During 奈良時代, Nara jidai, the Nara period (710–794), as in the rest of Asia, the pair always consisted of two lions. Used only indoors until the 14th century, they were made mainly of wood. They were referred to as dogs due to the misidentification of the guardian lion figures as representing certain Chinese dog breeds such as the Chow Chow (鬆獅犬; sōngshī quǎn; 'puffy-lion dog') or Pekingese (獅子狗; Shīzi Gǒu; 'lion dog').

Asiatic lions are believed to be the ones depicted by the guardian lions in Chinese culture. 獅: shī, meaning lion—the word shī itself is thought to be derived from the Persian word šer. Lions were first presented to the Han court (漢朝: Hàncháo) by emissaries from Central Asia and Persia and were already popularly depicted as guardian figures by the sixth century AD. With increased trade during the Han dynasty and cultural exchanges through the Silk Road, lions were introduced into China from the ancient states of Central Asia by peoples of Sogdiana, Samarkand, and the Yuezhi (月氏) in the form of pelts and live tribute, along with stories about them from Buddhist priests and travellers of the time.

Several instances of lions as imperial tributes from Central Asia were recorded in the document Book of the Later Han (後漢書) written from 25-220 CE. On one particular event, on the eleventh lunar month of 87 CE, "... an envoy from Parthia offered as tribute a lion and an ostrich" to the Han court. Indeed, the lion was associated by the Han Chinese to earlier venerated creatures of the ancient Chinese, most notably by the monk Huilin (慧琳) who stated that "the mythic suan-ni (狻猊) is actually the lion, coming from the Western Regions" (狻猊即狮子也，出西域). The 佛 Buddhist version of the Lion was originally introduced to Han China as the protector of dharma and these lions have been found in religious art as early as 208 BCE. Gradually they were incorporated as guardians of the Chinese Imperial dharm. Lions seemed appropriately regal beasts to guard the emperor's gates and have been used as such since. There are various styles of guardian lions reflecting influences from different time periods, imperial dynasties, and regions of China. These styles vary in their artistic detail and adornment as well as in the depiction of the lions from fierce to serene.

Although the form of the Chinese guardian lion was quite varied during its early history in China, the appearance, pose, and accessories of the lions eventually became standardized and formalized during the Ming and Qing dynasties into more or less its present form. The lions are always presented in pairs, a manifestation of yin and yang, the female representing yin and the male yang.

• The right side statue represents Yang force, male, positive, bring, carry a ball. The male lion has its right front paw on a type of cloth ball[citation needed] simply called an "embroidered ball" (绣球; xiù qiú), which is sometimes carved with a geometric pattern.
• The female is essentially identical, but has a cub under the left paw, representing the cycle of life. The left side statue represents Yin force, female, negative, take, carry a cub. Symbolically, the female lion protects those dwelling inside (the living soul within), while the male guards the structure (the external material elements). Sometimes the female has her mouth closed, and the male open. This symbolizes the enunciation of the sacred word "om". However, Japanese adaptations state that the male is inhaling, representing life, while the female exhales, representing death. Other styles have both lions with a single large pearl in each of their partially opened mouths. The pearl is carved so that it can roll about in the lion's mouth but sized just large enough so that it can never be removed. 
• According to 風水, feng shui, also known as Chinese geomancy, the correct placement of the lions is important to ensure their beneficial effect. When looking at the entrance from outside the building, facing the lions, the male lion with the ball is on the right, and the female with the cub is on the left.

Chinese lions are intended to reflect the emotion of the animal as opposed to the reality of the lion. This is in distinct opposition to the traditional English lion which is a lifelike depiction of the animal. The claws, teeth and eyes of the Chinese lion represent power. Few if any muscles are visible in the Chinese lion whereas the English lion shows its power through its life-like characteristics rather than through stylized representation.

四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十，四十四隻石獅子是死的 Sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shísì shì shísì, sìshí shì sìshí, sìshísì zhī shí shīzi shì sǐ de