Ever wondered why there are elephants and lions on the eaves of Japanese Buddhist temples and Shintõ shrines?
On both Japanese Shintõ shrines and Buddhist temples one can usually see two lions and two elephants. These are usually at either end of the main entrance and represent the Buddha and his teachings.
The lion is the symbol of the Buddha and is found right across Asia at Buddhist temples and in places where Buddhism is (or once was) practiced. Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha) sat on a lion’s throne and proclaimed his teaching with a lion’s roar. The lion dance is still performed in China and Japan and originated with the festivals celebrating the teachings of the Buddha. A lion statue is placed at either side of the entrance to Buddhist temples and Shintõ shrines.
Shishi. 獅子
The shishi or lion represents the Buddha. The teaching of the Buddha Dharma was likened to the lion’s roar. Shishi is written 獅子. The first character means lion, the second means the founder of a school of thought, a master, a philosopher and also a child. So it has the meaning of “child of the Buddha” (represented by the lion), or the “philosophy of the Buddha.” Shishi can be found at both Buddhist temples, where they are placed at either side of steps or gates, and at Shintõ shrines at either side of the Shintõ torii (sacred gate).
Zõ. 象
The Elephant signifies the spreading of the Buddha’s teachings. Elephants were the primary mode of transportation in ancient India and represented travelling. It became customary to represent the spread of the Buddha’s teachings with an elephant.
So why do Shintõ shrines have lions and elephants?
Between the eighth and fourteenth centuries, Shintõ was nearly totally absorbed by Buddhism, becoming known as Ryōbu Shintõ. Buddhist lions were placed in the shrines to announce the protection of the native kami by the teachings of the Buddha. Lions and elephants were carved on shrines representing the Buddha and his dharma and the ideal that the kami were native manifestations of the bodhisattvas of Buddhism.
I hear the term koma inu used, what does that mean?
Koma inu means Korean dog. The Japanese had never seen a lion, and when Buddhism was first introduced to Japan via Korea the Japanese mistook the Korean representations (themselves copies of Chinese representations) as being dogs. When Buddhism was abolished in the Meiji period and the government ordered that all Buddhist temples be disassociated with native Shintõ, the term koma inu became popular, and helped in protecting the lion statues that would have otherwise been destroyed.
The shishi on either side of the torii at a Shintõ shrine are both one and the same lion (as are the two carved at the top of doorways). It is sometimes incorrectly claimed that one is a koma inu and one a shishi - this is incorrect. The term koma inu is a Shintõ term.
References:
A dictionary of Japanese Buddhist terms, H. Inagaki. Kyoto: Nagata Bunshodo 1985
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit dictionary, F. Edgerton. New haven and London 1953
A Sanskrit and Chinese Dictionary, E.J. Eitel & K. Takakawa. Chinese Studies Printing 1976
Ancient India, Motilal Barnarsidass. Majumbar Delhi 1962
Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India, D. Sukumar. George Allen and Unwin 1962
