On 4 September 1907 in the capital of the Russian Empire – St. Petersburg, on the Neva river appeared unusual for Russian sculpture and statues – a pair of lions (chin. "Shi-CSA"). According to Chinese mythology, they are the Champions of family well-being. One of the sculptures – mother-lioness and lion cub, the second – lion-father, symbolizing knowledge. According to ancient beliefs, the ball, which he holds in his paw, dispels the darkness into light and fulfills all wishes.

Before become an ornament to the banks of the Neva river, Shi-CSA stood in the city of Jilin in Manchuria. They were intended for a new Church-chapel, erected by order of the Governor – General Chang. After his death, the new ruler gyrina decided to make a gift to the Governor General of the Amur region N. And. Grodekovo, who passed statues in St. Petersburg. He did this on his own means, spending on transportation about a thousand rubles.

In 1903 in St. Petersburg was reconstructed embankment. According to the intention of the engineer F. G. Zbrozek and architect L. I. Novikova, Neva was dressed in granite, and near the house of Peter I was made a scenic descent to the river. It was there that, on the recommendation of the architect L. N. Benoit, who believed that the statues are of great artistic value, on massive pedestals and it was decided to install the gift Grodekov. The presenter's name is immortalized in the inscription: "the Gift of General of infantry N. And. Grodekovo".

The statue is made of solid pieces of granite. The weight of each of them – about 2, 5 tons, height is more than four meters. Shi-CSA is an inscription made by one of the Chinese dialects. It says: "This lion is made in Jilin happy day in 10 months 32 years (according to our reckoning in 1906) is now the reigning Emperor of the dynasty Dai Qing, the reign of which are called Guang-Xu, or the continuation of a glorious reign".

The lions are not usually very little resemblance to the real thing. Head Chi-zza very large, the muzzle is disproportionately wide, exaggerated strong chest and legs. The home of the statues in Imperial China, such fantastic creatures adorned the temples, the gates of the Imperial palaces or tombs, residences, administrative buildings, since the time of the Han dynasty. Nowadays they are an indispensable attribute of Buddhist temples and shrines in sintesti, distributed as a symbol of authority, power and justice in komicheskih beliefs, for example similar to Chi-CSA lion vahana is riding an animal Lord Manjushri.

According to the beliefs, Shi-CSA is the protector of the law and guardian. He is the symbol of infinite power, strength, success. In Korea Shih-Tzu conformed to the image of a dog, there was thought that the armor is made from the skin of a lion is much stronger than the others, in Japan, Chi-CSA was a mixture of Korean dogs and Chinese lion.

According to historical tradition, the guardians of Shi-CSA located on both sides of the entrance to the sanctuary. On the right is always a lion, and a lioness with cub. Usually, a lion paw holds a ball, which in Buddhism is called Tama, which translated from Japanese means knowledge, treasure, light is brought into darkness. The lioness usually holds the lion by his paw. If the pieces are together, one of them mouth open and the other closed. One interpretation of the symbols of the birth of new life and death, according to another interpretation are symbols of openness to the good and rejection of evil, according to the third – jaws symbolize the first and last letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. In General it is considered that the open mouth of repels evil and demonic forces, and the closed protects the good and keeps justice.