Traditional Chinese structures often feature mythical creatures as decorative figures on the ends of roof ridges as residence guardians.
Typically, on glazed-tile eaves – compared to unglazed-tile eaves, it indicates the rank of both the structure and its owner alike – the alignment on a sloping roof ridge starts with an immortal riding a phoenix at the lowest end, followed by a group of mythical beasts, referred to as "processional beasts" (zou shou), and ends with a hanging-ridge beast.
In the official-style architecture of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the number of these beasts should be odd, varying from one to nine, and it indicates the significance of the building – the greater the number of beasts, the greater the importance of the building.
