Foo Dogs Meaning

Chinese guardian lions (石獅; Shíshī), traditional Chinese architectural ornament known in colloquial English as Foo Dogs or lion dogs. The words fo and fu mean "Buddha" in Chinese, and foo dogs resemble two Chinese dog breeds associated with lions: the shih tzu ("lion dog") and the chow chow ("puffy lion dog"). And so, foo + dog became foo dog. More accurately, though, they're "guardian lions," and should be referred to as such.

 

Foo Dogs are Chinese protection symbols of feng shui that typically “guard” the entranceways to buildings and homes. Ironically, they don't actually depict dogs, but rather lions. They are always presented in pairs and are traditionally carved from granite, marble or some other decorative stone.

 

Why do Foo Dogs come in pairs?

Foo dogs are meant to be a pair.

The female represents yin, and symbolically protects the people dwelling inside the home, while the male statue, representing yang, protects the structure itself.

 

Each detail of the is symbolic. You can tell their gender by examining what’s beneath the paws. The male holds a ball, the female holds a puppy. The ball represents the world and the puppy represents nature or a nurturing spirit. If it has an open mouth and the other has closed one, this may represent the in-and-out breath, or the sound of “om.”

 

There is a right way and a wrong way to position the pair. When you’re facing a pair of foo dogs, the most auspicious placement according to feng shui is with the female on the left and the male on the right. And if you have a pair displaying them together rather than in different rooms is the way to go.

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