Stone Carving (Leizhou Stone Dog)

Leizhou stone dogs are the fruit of ancient Yue totem worship blended with Han culture, placed for generations at village entrances, crossroads, fords, temples and doorways across the peninsula as guardian spirits and lucky charms. In 2008 stone carving (Leizhou stone dog) entered the second national ICH list under code Ⅶ-56 as a traditional art.

The dogs are carved from local basalt with hammer and chisel, archaic in form and varied in expression—crouching or lying, laughing or scowling—carvers shaping each to its stone, blending the lifelike with the exaggerated, with tens of thousands surviving in Leizhou city alone.

Hailed as the "terracotta army of the south" and a wonder of Chinese folk art, Leizhou stone dogs carry ancient Yue totem belief and Leizhou folklore, valuable for studying Lingnan folk art and cultural fusion.

Leizhou stone dogs and their carving can be seen and tried at the old city of Leizhou and the Leizhou Stone Dog Hall.