The most powerful god in the city

The bronze statue of the 12 zodiac animal heads in the Old Summer Palace was originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Old Summer Palace, and was a red bronze statue in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. In 1860, the British and French forces invaded the Celestial Empire and burned the Old Summer Palace, and the bronze statue of the beast's head began to be lost overseas.

Lang Shining originally wanted to build a nude female sculpture with Western characteristics, but the Qianlong Emperor felt that this was against the ethics of the Heavenly Empire, so he ordered a redesign. Therefore, Lang Shining took into account the folk culture of the Celestial Empire, so he replaced the human sculptures commonly used in Western fountain design with the seated statues of the 12 zodiac signs.