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. However, Chinese reference to the guardian lions are seldom prefixed with 佛 or 福, and more importantly never referred to as 'dogs'. The term ' Fo' or ' Fu' may be transliterations to the words 佛 ( pinyin: fó) or 福 ( pinyin: fú), which means 'Buddha' or 'prosperity' in Chinese, respectively. In English and several Western languages, the guardian lions are often referred in a multitude of name such as: 'Fu Dogs', 'Foo Dogs', 'Fu Lions', 'Fo Lions', and 'Lion Dogs'. In Tibet: known as a Snow Lion or Gangs-seng-ge (གངས་སེང་གེ་).In Thailand: known as Singha or s̄ingh̄̒ ( สิงห์).In Sri Lanka: known as Singha ( සිංහ මූර්ති).In Cambodia: known as Singha or Sing ( សឹង្ហ).In Myanmar and Laos: known as Chinthe and gave their name to the World War II Chindit soldiers.In Japan: the lion figures are known as Shishi ( 獅子, lion) or Komainu ( 狛犬, lion dogs).Lioness and cubs from the Yuan Dynasty discovered inside Peking's city walls Auspicious lion ( 瑞獅 Ruìshī): referring to the Tibetan Snow Lion or good fortune.Bronze lion ( 銅獅 Tóngshī): for a bronze sculpture.Stone lion ( 石獅 Shíshī): for a stone sculpture or.Today the guardian lions are more usually specified by reference to the medium or material, for example: Lions were first presented to the Han court by emissaries from Central Asia and Persia, and were already popularly depicted as guardian figures by the sixth century AD. In Chinese they are traditionally called simply shi ( Chinese: 獅 pinyin: shī) meaning lion-the word shi itself is thought to be derived from the Persian word šer. Guardian lions are referred to in various ways depending on language and context. When used as statuary the pair would consist of a male leaning his paw upon an embroidered ball (in imperial contexts, representing supremacy over the world) and a female restraining a playful cub that is on its back (representing nurture). Pairs of guardian lion statues are still common and symbolic elements at the entrances to restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and other structures, with one sitting on each side of the entrance, in China and in other places around the world where the Chinese people have immigrated and settled, especially in local Chinatowns. They are also used in other artistic contexts, for example on door-knockers, and in pottery. Statues of guardian lions have traditionally stood in front of Chinese Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, government offices, temples, and the homes of government officials and the wealthy, and were believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits.

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