Cangzhou Iron Lion

The Cangzhou Iron Lion is located in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, China. It is a large cast iron artwork from the Later Zhou Dynasty of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, cast in 953 AD. It is the oldest and largest cast iron lion in China, weighing about 40 tons, 2.6 meters high, 3.8 meters long, and 1.8 meters wide. The iron lion was originally used to guard the sea, symbolizing strength and protection, and is also an outstanding representative of ancient metallurgical technology. After a thousand years of wind and rain, the iron lion has become a symbolic relic of Cangzhou and an important historical and cultural heritage.