Post #377028 by sushiman on Tue, Apr 29, 2008 4:44 PM

On 2008-04-28 23:14, lynxwiler wrote:
Thanks for the translation sushiman!

I had suspected the written characters expressed a thought or greeting; something more than a noun. I'm surprised there's not more to it. What do you suppose they were used for?

If I find the nerve, I'll look up the property owner on the web and ask about them. There's four of these fellows by the roadside and two more further down the fenced driveway.

Bamboo stu: You may have lost your rum, but I nearly lost control of my car when I saw these eyes staring me down on the side of the road. They are creepy in a way, but I do like 'em a lot.

OK ! Did some research and got you info on these ! They are Korean ( Koreans use some Chinese kanji in their language ) and called " Changsung " , which means " village guardian " . They were usually placed at the outskirts of villages to mark boundaries and frighten away demons . Apparently,they were also worshipped as village gods ,too .

There are wood as well as stone versions .

Hope this helps !

Sushiman