Oct 12th, '11, 13:25
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by eugene_b » Oct 12th, '11, 13:25
I've been to some tea houses and during gongfu cha ceremony they've been using a small clay figurine which they refer to as a Tea God. During the ceremony they usually pour some tea on it. Anyway, I've noticed that one figurine is particularly popular and practically every vendor/tea house has it. I quite like the look of it and I eventually purchased it for myself but now I wonder what it means
May be it's some well-known creature from Chinese folk stories or mythology or something like that. Here are some photos
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14241787/IMG_0684.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14241787/IMG_0688.JPG
Please let me know if you know the story behind this figurine.
Oct 12th, '11, 13:37
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by DarkenedSun » Oct 12th, '11, 13:37
Oct 12th, '11, 13:56
Posts: 45
Joined: Dec 25th, '10, 18:21
by eugene_b » Oct 12th, '11, 13:56
Well, the guys who sold me this told that these are sons of dragon playing with pearl
They had figurines grouped by themes and this one was together with Pixiu (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixiu ) figurines. Wiki says that Pixiu is a creature that resembles lion which fits the description at chinese-tea-culture. However wiki also suggests that Pixiu has a horn (and all the figurines really had it) while these two lions/dragons don't have it. So I am not 100% sure it's one of those. Anyway, may be it's just a figurine of two random creatures playing with pearl/ball : ))
Oct 12th, '11, 14:03
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by brandon » Oct 12th, '11, 14:03
Oct 12th, '11, 14:15
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by eugene_b » Oct 12th, '11, 14:15
Yeah, these lions really look very similar. I guess I'll assume that these are lions after all ))
Oct 12th, '11, 23:37
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by Ostara » Oct 12th, '11, 23:37
ether way its a beautiful piece
i wish i had read up on Chinese lore more
Oct 12th, '11, 23:40
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by IPT » Oct 12th, '11, 23:40
Those are definitely lions. Even here, people sometimes mistakenly call them dragons. It is a very ancient subject for art and is supposed to bring luck. You can find lions playing with balls on the beams of many ancient houses and beds.
Oct 13th, '11, 17:11
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Joined: Dec 25th, '10, 18:21
by eugene_b » Oct 13th, '11, 17:11
I've read the wiki article and this figurine is indeed described there.
Other styles have both lions with a single large pearl in each of their partially opened mouths. The pearl is carved so that it can roll about in the lion's mouth but sized just large enough so that it can never be removed.
So I guess the mystery is solved. Thanks everyone for help!
Oct 13th, '11, 20:05
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by nrstooge » Oct 13th, '11, 20:05
Love these.... hmmmm... may have to go on a search.. unless IPT has those too...
Oct 13th, '11, 22:14
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by IPT » Oct 13th, '11, 22:14
He does.
Oct 14th, '11, 00:31
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by gingkoseto » Oct 14th, '11, 00:31
In this figure, those are lions (although it could look similar to other beasts). The name of the figure (狮来运转) is pronounced almost the same as a Chinese idiom "best time and best fortune". In feng shui theories, this figure brings money and good luck in career
Pixiu and lions theoretically aren't the same but practically are often used in the same way. Most of the guardian lions in Chinese architecture were meant to be pixiu, but eventually everybody calls them lions anyway
