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T
he lion is well-known in China
as a symbol of the mighty pow-
er of the emperor. For a long
time, those in business believed
that this power could be embodied in
a stone lion statue and bestow good
fortune on their firms. Master Monk,
Thich Thanh Phuong, explains: “Busi-
nessmen used to believe that putting
such mighty and powerful lions in front
of their buildings would help their busi-
ness prosper and make them become
wealthy.”
However, after the world finan-
cial crisis affected Vietnam, trade went
rapidly downhill. This led many busi-
nesspeople to question the wisdom
of using the lion statues; in fact, they
began to suspect that they actually
hindered their businesses and caused
their losses.
“By taking those lions to the pago-
das, people hoped to halt their decline
and misfortune,” says Master Phuong.
“Our pagoda cannot refuse their dona-
tions, so we have resigned ourselves to
making space for them.”
Master Phuong’s pagoda, Hung
Phuc, in Hanoi’s Thanh Tri district, is
home to a pair of ancient stone lions.
In Gia Lam district, in the east of
Hanoi, Ba Tam pagoda houses many
stone lions. Both the pagoda and its
lions have been recognised as some of
the most important remnants of the an-
cient Ly Dynasty (10th-13th centuries)
which ruled Dai Viet, the former name
of Vietnam.
Here, Queen Regent Y Lan (1044-
1117 AD) is worshipped. Y Lan twice
acted as regent to fight foreign invaders
at the border, and was one of the most
powerful women during Vietnam’s feu-
dal times.
The intact stone lions were crafted
about one thousand years ago. Carved
from sandstone, the lions crouch under
the main altar in the pagoda, holding
large jade balls in their mouths. The Han
Chinese character for ‘king’ is engraved
on their foreheads, confirming their sta-
tus in the animal kingdom. The lions of-
ten come in pairs, and those at Ba Tam
are two of the rarest in Southeast Asia.
The carving is particularly exqui-
site - graceful, yet powerful. Every
detail hints that the lions possess su-
perpowers, from the giant eyes under
the bushy eyebrows and open mouths,
to the neatly carved teeth and strong
paws with sharp nails.
“The details around their mouths
and the small flower patterning on their
LIVING
At temples and pagodas throughout the capital, guardian lion sculptures are a
common sight.
Duc Hanh
traces their history.
THE LION’S TALE