Records of cultural artifacts from the T'ang dynasty (618 to 907) show the lion as the steed of Manjusri, the Buddha's chief disciple. And because the Chinese word for lion is a homonym for two of the chief ministerial positions in the ancient bureaucratic system, it also came to stand for high rank in office.
在唐朝的文物記載中，我們還能發現文殊菩薩的坐騎正是一隻獅子。又，按周代的官制，太師（獅）、少師（獅）分別是三公、三孤的首席，因此獅子又被引喻為高官顯爵的意思。