The Beauty of Yuanshan

Introducing the beauty and back story of the building of Grand hotel ~~

The Beauty of the Grand Hotel~~ South-North Stone Lions

Name: South-North Stone Lions (Park Dog, Tang Lion)   Name Origin: It is not hard to surmise the origin of the name of the South-North stone lions. A stone lion is placed in the north and another placed in the south of the building, hence the name South-North stone lions.

 

History, change:

There are three pairs of stone lions in Grand Hotel, which means there are six in total. Why are they in the hotel? This question is worth investigating! According to our sources, the three pairs of stone lions are not located in the same place. One pair of stone lions (also called Komainu), were given to Taiwan Temple by the governor Kura Ishizuka Hide on Dec, 28, 1930. They are now located inside Jian Tan park. The other two pairs of stone lions are the ones contributed by Mr. Lin Ben Yuan from Banciao in garden plaza and the new stone lions outside Grand Hotel monument.

 

Appearance:

Hundred year stone lions: when we pass by the garden of Grand Hotel, we saw a pair of stone lions that looked ancient. This pair has been here for a hundred years! Judging from the outside, the one on the left is the male one with a string of coins on his foot. The one on the left, after a long observation, we guessed it’s a female holding a baby stone lion. The lions only have four toes which is quite special.

 

New stone lion:

We guessed the one on the right is male and the one on the left is female. The male’s right foot is stepping on something similar to a roll of silk. The female’s left foot is stepping on a small stone lion. The two lions are at the foot of the monument with symmetrical movement, which feels majestic.

 

Komainu:

At the entrance of Jian Tan park, there is a pair of sculptures that everyone suspects to be stone lions. But they are not Chinese lions but Komainu from Japan.

Komainu originally came from the prairie of China, later from Korea. It was passed on to Japan in Year 781~1192. Therefore the Japanese called it Tang Dog. It was later sculptured to guard temples.

 

Meaning for the hotel:

We thought they’re only for decoration because there doesn’t seem to be any functions for stone lions. Usually stone lions are placed outside temple to be use as guardian gods to eliminate bad spirits.

 

 

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