在臺灣廟裡的各種建築裝飾藝術中，許多的圖飾是同時有著吉祥納福和驅邪制煞的功能，而型態各異的獅子是最常被拿來做爲雕飾的動物之一，其中廟前的石獅子可說是最具代表性的廟宇建築裝飾。臺灣雖然不產獅子，但隨著先民們由中國閩粵地區來到臺灣，因此廟前石獅大多也是承襲著閩粵地區的傳統而來。隨著不同年代的發展，石獅的形象也出現了不同的變化，本文以清代、日治時期和戰後三個階段的發展爲例，分別列舉出數對臺灣廟前石獅，進行體型、造型及石材上的討論及分析，並探討不同時期石獅造型的特色和其時代背景的關聯性，藉此來呈現出臺灣廟前石獅在形象轉變上的發展過程。從清代到戰後，臺灣廟前石獅的雕刻，無論是在雕刻的石材、技藝、工法，或是石獅身上的雕飾物、肢體動作的刻劃等，都反應出不同時代的變化，而唯一不變就是人們在精神信仰的層面中都希望能吉祥納福和驅邪制煞的精神意義了。

Many building decorations in Taiwan's temples represent luck and exorcism. In Taiwan, lions with various images are popular and often used to decorate temples. Stone lions set at the front gates of temples are famous and best representatives in Taiwan's temple decorations.Although lions are not native animals in Taiwan, the tradition of making stone lions was still brought to Taiwan by ancestors from Fujian and Guangdong, and spread throughout the whole island. The images of stone lions developed and changed in different periods. Therefore, this article discusses three historical periods: the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese ruling period, and the postwar time, analyzes several pairs of stone lions by examining their shapes and stone materials to understand relationships between modeling features and historical backgrounds, and demonstrates different stages of transformations of stone lions.From the Qing to the postwar time, the art of stone lions echoed with the changes of times and revealed spirits of each period. However, no matter how different stone lions would be, there is still one thing to be remained forever: people make stone lions because they believe in their spiritual meanings and mysterious power for bringing lucks and protecting them from bad omens.