The male Lion of Fu guards the Sims Memorial Library and the
knowledge inside. His mouth is open in an inhale to represent
life. His supremacy over the world is asserted by the embroidered
ball on which he rests his paw. Sometimes the lions have a free-
floating but unremovable pearl in their mouth to symbolize potential.  
The Lion’s Roar / Megan Simon 

Many have taken the lion statues outside the library for granted, passing by without a second glance, but if you look close enough, you may notice a touch of Chinese culture in the library landscaping. The lion statues are representative of mythological guardians once important in Chinese architecture.

The statues were donated by the Wong family, the owners of the Chinese restaurant Trey Yuen. They were added to the inventory list in November 1987, a year after the library opened.  

The statues stationed at the front of the building are known as Chinese guardian lions or Lions of Fu. In Chinese, they are simply called “shi,” which means lion. Traditionally, these statues are used for guarding more than knowledge and the campus library that houses it; they stood in front of Chinese imperial palaces, imperial tombs, government offices, temples and homes of government officials and the wealthy.

Due to the statues being carved from costly materials, such as marble and granite, they represented the social status and wealth of the families who had them. However, they are no longer restricted to the elite, having been mass-produced in concrete and resin.

They are normally seen in pairs, one being male and the other  female. The male, stationed on the right of the entrance to the library, has one of his paws resting on an embroidered ball, representing supremacy over the world. The female, stationed at the left of the entrance to the library, is playfully holding down a cub, which symbolizes the act of nurturing. Sometimes the lions have their mouths open, which was believed to have stood for the enunciation of the word “om.” This word is the most sacred mantra of one of China’s primary religions, Buddhism. It represents the essence of life. However, Japanese adaptations stated the male was inhaling, representing life, while the female was exhaling, representing death. 

Even the notion of the statue always being in pairs has symbolization, representing as Yin and Yang, the Chinese principles for dark and feminine (Yin) and light and masculine (Yang).

Despite being used for aesthetic pleasure, such as pottery and door-knockers, the lions were thought to have powerful protection abilities.

“I like the lion statues. I think they give an air of authority to the front of the building,” said Eric Johnson, director of the Sims Memorial Library. “I also like the fact that symbolically the female, the one on the right, protects everyone inside the building while the male guards the building, keeping not only the users but the knowledge inside safe.”

Even though the protective power of the lions is no longer  commonly believed, pairs of guardian lion statues are still common decorative and symbolic elements at entrances of many structures in both China and other places around the world.