They are called Bai Ze also known as Hakutaku in Japan. Bai Ze are intelligent and can understand human speech. They have been revered since ancient times as holy beast who ward off evil spirits. They come in many forms, buts are most often depicted with human heads and ox-like bodies, magnificent beards, three eyes in their heads and six in their bodies, and two horns on their heads and four on their bodies. They are also sometimes portrayed with the face of a tiger and the body of a lion.