Talk:Shisa

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Shiisaa yaibin!

waNya, « NO DUH » diiyoon.

Contents 1 Shisa and Christianity 2 Shishi and koma-inu 3 The title 4 Merge proposal

[edit] Shisa and Christianity

Concerning the following posted by anonymous (70.180.138.227):

"(independant source)

A less published idea connects the history of the Shisa to early Christianity. Christ is known in the Apocolypse as The Alpha and the Omega, or the Beginning and the End. The Shisa with mouth open is in essence saying "aw" - the beginning of the Japanese phonetic language. The mouth closed shisa is thus saying "nn" or "mm" as the end of the same alphabet. There is little evidence supporting this theory, but the unique similarities are striking. It is possible that the Japanese and other parts of Asia have deeper roots to the Western world than archeological records indicate. The Bible indicates that shortly after Christ's death and during the initial growth of the church, missionaries were sent abroad to spread the Gospel. It is possible some of these reached deep into Asia and even convinced many that the Alpha and Omega would save them. This belief could have been lost in traslation and modified into the current idea of two shisa dogs protecting a household."

I have never heard or read this story concerning their open and shut mouths. The paragraph reads waaaaay too much like "this is what I've heard" or something from Mormon propaganda/teaching materials. It REEKS of cultural imperialism. I think it is "less published" because it's patently false. This is pseudohistory that manages to get things wrong concerning the histories of art, religion, and the Ryukyu Islands.

I am removing this, and think it should stay removed until someone can verify this story. A cursory glance through Google turned up nothing of the sort when searching for "shisa" and "Christianity". Turly-burly 06:31, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

I've heard the idea of the two shiisa with their mouths open and closed representing the "a" sound and the "n" sound, respectively the first and the last sound in the Japanese syllabary. If you put them together, you get a sound 'an', which is believed to be the equivilant of the symbol 'Aum' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum), which originated in India and was bought to Japan as part of Buddhism. Shiisa, as well as other statues of gaurdian deities found in Buddhist temples in mainland Japan often come in pairs, one with the mouth open, one with the mouth closed. The similarity with the Christian concept of Alpha and Omega is certainly interesting, though.

[edit] Shishi and koma-inu

I am surprised to discover that (a) Koma-inu redirects here - there are stone lions/dogs throughout Japan, and taking a somewhat different form than in Okinawa, and (b) that there does not appear to be any article for the related mythological shishi (獅子). Does anyone know if this article does exist, and if so, what it might be listed under? Thanks. LordAmeth 18:23, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The title

Shouldn't this article be moved from “Shisa” to “Shīsā”? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.35.16.144 (talk) 17:22, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Merge proposal

Shisa and Shisaa appear to be the same thing. Pfhreak (talk) 01:33, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

• Agree shisaa is only a few sentences long and is more along the lines of Shisa in pop culture... Ancientanubis, talk Editor Review 06:11, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

• Agree McJeff (talk) 01:54, 20 April 2008 (UTC)