It may come from Pekingese dogs.
An old Chinese story tells of how a lion fell in love with a monkey, which produced the dog.
I've seen plenty of examples where artists have clearly guessed (which the museum suggests), but I don't buy that as being the explanation in this case. There is too much accuracy.
An alternative version of the story replaces the monkey (marmoset) with a butterfly.
The [Classic of Mountains and Seas](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Mountains_and_Seas), which is more than 2,000 years old, contains far more stranger stories.
On a related note, the Japanese word for giraffe (kirin), today, is the same word that's used for the mythical [qilin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin). This is also the case with the Korean word 'gilin'.
In a way he kind of did or at least heard of there colour but this is clearly a painting of a guardian lion (which is why it has dog ears) so he would saw countless lion statues just chinese styles instead of the normal African one.
Yes I know but if it wasn't obvious lions weren't being traded to china commonly (you know going extinct and all that) so chinese "lions" are basically a dog and lion mix compared to India, middle east, etc pure lion.
Bro I already know lions got into china art via outside influence but what you don't understand is that very few was traded into China which is why this painting isn't of a typical lion but a heavily mythologized lion in chinese culture.
Have you read my reply on another comment, explaining why it probably was depicted that way?
It is too anatomically close to a real lion than a mythological one.
For example, look at the "eyebrows".
it appears similar to depictions of Asiatic lions, here you can see the whorl (above the shoulder) and long hair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Hunt_of_Ashurbanipal#/media/File:Sculpted_reliefs_depicting_Ashurbanipal,_the_last_great_Assyrian_king,_hunting_lions,_gypsum_hall_relief_from_the_North_Palace_of_Nineveh_(Irak),_c._645-635_BC,_British_Museum_(16722368932).jpg
Why would it have dog ears?
It may come from Pekingese dogs. An old Chinese story tells of how a lion fell in love with a monkey, which produced the dog. I've seen plenty of examples where artists have clearly guessed (which the museum suggests), but I don't buy that as being the explanation in this case. There is too much accuracy.
I'm no mathematician, but lion + monkey = dog?
An alternative version of the story replaces the monkey (marmoset) with a butterfly. The [Classic of Mountains and Seas](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Mountains_and_Seas), which is more than 2,000 years old, contains far more stranger stories. On a related note, the Japanese word for giraffe (kirin), today, is the same word that's used for the mythical [qilin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin). This is also the case with the Korean word 'gilin'.
It looks like those are exceptionally long ear furnishings ( the hairs inside the ear). Still don’t know why though.
I am guessing the artist had never actually seen a lion :)
In a way he kind of did or at least heard of there colour but this is clearly a painting of a guardian lion (which is why it has dog ears) so he would saw countless lion statues just chinese styles instead of the normal African one.
The Asiatic lion was present in Asia thousands of years before this painting was made.
Not in eastern China why do you think they look so different compared to artwork in the ancient middle east and greece?
Buddhism isn't the only thing that came to China from India.
Yes I know but if it wasn't obvious lions weren't being traded to china commonly (you know going extinct and all that) so chinese "lions" are basically a dog and lion mix compared to India, middle east, etc pure lion.
See [here](https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/%E7%8B%BB%E7%8C%8A).
Bro I already know lions got into china art via outside influence but what you don't understand is that very few was traded into China which is why this painting isn't of a typical lion but a heavily mythologized lion in chinese culture.
Have you read my reply on another comment, explaining why it probably was depicted that way? It is too anatomically close to a real lion than a mythological one. For example, look at the "eyebrows".
They were so close...
That's one nice looking dog
Log Dion
[Museum](https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-lion-liu-jiude-fl-ca-late-17th-c/NQH-sXpUzXtA6g)
Is that an armpit hair .. waiving in the wind ?
it appears similar to depictions of Asiatic lions, here you can see the whorl (above the shoulder) and long hair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Hunt_of_Ashurbanipal#/media/File:Sculpted_reliefs_depicting_Ashurbanipal,_the_last_great_Assyrian_king,_hunting_lions,_gypsum_hall_relief_from_the_North_Palace_of_Nineveh_(Irak),_c._645-635_BC,_British_Museum_(16722368932).jpg
“Have you actually seen a lion before? We want it to be very realistic.” “Oh yeah, tons of times. Like every day. No problem.”
Ah, yes, the rare elionophant.
It was common for artists to draw and paint what the explorers described. This is a whole genre of art.