Chinese guardian lions However, Chinese reference to the guardian lions are seldom prefixed with 佛 or 福, and more importantly never referred to as "dogs". Reference to guardian lions as dogs in Western cultures may be due to the Japanese reference to them as "Korean dogs" (狛犬・高麗犬) due to their transmission from China through Korea into Japan. It may also be due to the misidentification of the guardian lion figures as representing certain Chinese dog breeds such as the Chow Chow (鬆獅犬, Pinyin: sōngshī quǎn, lit. "puffy-lion dog") or Pekingese (獅子狗; Pinyin: Shīzi Gǒu, lit. "lion dog"). The lions are traditionally carved from
Li Shishi Dynasty poet Chao Chongzhi described Li Shishi's dancing and singing talents as follows: "Watch her dance to "Nichang Yuyi Qu", listen to her recite / sing "Yushu Houting Hua"." (看舞霓裳羽衣曲，聽歌玉樹後庭花) Southern Song era poet Zhu Dunru (朱敦儒; 1081-1159) wrote: "Performing an interpretation of "Yangguan" in another tone and style, in the previous dynasty only Madam Li (Li Shishi) was capable of doing that." (解唱《陽關》別調聲，前朝惟有李夫人) Li Shishi Li Shishi was a courtesan (角妓 / 角伎) in Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty, and Emperor Huizong was a regular client of hers. She fled to Zhejiang or Hunan after the Jingkang