Stone mortuary couches appeared in tombs in northern China during the fifth and sixth centuries. The function of these couches is not entirely clear; they may have been couches designed to support a coffin (guan chuang) or to serve the spirit of the deceased when it periodically revisited the tomb. This is the frontal base of such a couch. Protective creatures are found on each of the three legs: the head of a fantastic beast with bulging eyes and curly mane carved in high relief appears in the center, while two guardian beasts seated in landscape settings appear on the two outer supports. The horizontal area above the legs is decorated with nine mythical beasts and monsters carved in low relief below a border of lotus-petal lappets. The presence of the lotus decoration, which came with Buddhism to China, reflects the pervasiveness of Buddhism in Chinese society by the early sixth century.