![]() The lions are always presented in pairs, a manifestation of yin and yang, the female representing yin and the male yang. However, in modern times less expensive lions, mass-produced in concrete and resin, have become available and their use is therefore no longer restricted to the elite. Indeed, a traditional symbol of a family's wealth or social status was the placement of guardian lions in front of the family home. Because of the high cost of these materials and the labor required to produce them, private use of guardian lions was traditionally reserved for wealthy or elite families. The lions are traditionally carved from decorative stone, such as marble or granite, or cast in bronze or iron. 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 sōngshī quǎn 'puffy-lion dog') or Pekingese ( 獅子狗 Shīzi Gǒu 'lion dog'). 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 by a multitude of names such as: "Fu Dogs", "Foo Dogs", "Fu Lions", "Fo Lions", and "Lion Dogs".
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