The lion's appearance in art followed the spread of Buddhism to the country during the fourth and fifth centuries, when Buddhist statues carved with lion figures inspired the Chinese to create imitations of their own.
至於藝術品使用獅子的造型，則是佛教傳入中國時，刻有獅子的佛像也隨之流入，才引起中國人模仿與創作的靈感。