The name translates as Lion Dog, so named because the dog was bred to resemble "the lion as depicted in traditional oriental art,"such as the Chinese guardian lions. The Shih Tzu is also often known as the "Xi Shi quan", based on the name of Xi Shi, regarded as the most beautiful woman of ancient China, and, less often, the Chrysanthemum Dog, a nickname coined in England in the 1930s. The dog may also be called the Tibetan Lion Dog.
