AboutRaphael Heng Expertise Anything about Big Cats, especially Tigers. You can also ask me any questions or doubts you have about the organisation Save China's Tigers as i am a volunteer there, How the tigers affect the ecosystem in Africa etc. Questions about any feline re-wilding projects could be ask here, eg: Asiatic lion re-wilding. I can answer questions in both Chinese and English, questions on interspecies conflict regarding felines can also be answered.
Experience I am a volunteer of the Charitable Organisation, Save China's Tigers. The Organisation aims to save the South China Tiger via re-wilding training in Africa and releasing captive trained tigers back into the China's wild.
Organizations Save China's Tigers
Publications Wikipedia.
Education/Credentials Student, currently studying about Animal biology, specifically on felines.
Both the dragon and the tiger have impacted the Chinese culture greatly. However i believe that if you actually have a Poll in China to ask who would win between A chinese dragon or a chinese Tiger, more chinese would probably vote for Dragons as it is obvious that mythical creatures are thought to be stronger.
However in my opinion, i believe that they are evenly matched, both of them are are as influential as the other in terms of the Chinese culture and thus i believe none of both is superior.
2) I have a long list of this, and even the Save China's Tigers homepage have great information on this topic, however i would just copy and paste some information from the Save China's Tigers webpage.
Background information of the tiger
The tiger has been common in the southern provinces of China and in Manchuria in northeast China and revered by the Chinese as a creature with many symbolic attributes. Each direction of the compass is traditionally believed to be ruled by a mythical creature; the White Tiger is the ruler of the West. The tiger is also associated with autumn, when it comes down from the mountains into villages, and is personified by the constellation Orion, which is prominent in autumn. In Chinese astrology, the start Alpha of the Great Bear constellation gave birth to the first tiger. The tiger represents the masculine principle in nature and is king of all the animals, as shown by the four stripes on his forehead which form the character Wang, or Prince. The tiger is regarded as one of the four super-intelligent creatures, along with the dragon, phoenix and tortoise; for centuries, the four have been a major design motif in Chinese art. In southern China, on the tiger's birthday on the second moon in the lunar calendar, fixed in the Western calendar as March 6, women worship the White Tiger. They place paper images of the tiger in their homes to keep away rats and snakes and prevent quarrels. On this date, effigies of the tiger are also put in front of temple buildings for people to make offerings. The God of Wealth, the deified Marshal Chao Gongming (Ch'ao Kung-ming), is depicted riding a black tiger and holding a silver ingot. The Chinese call an able general a tiger general and a brave solider a tiger warrior.
In Chinese folktales, tigers kill evil men and protect good men. Tiger charms are used to keep away disease and evil, and babies are given colourfully embroidered tiger shoes for protection. Tigers frequently decorate children's clothing and tops. The "Tiger Claw" (hu chao) amulet is believed to ward off sudden fright and give the wearer the courage of the tiger. Because the tiger wards off disasters, it is popular as one of the nine gods worshiped at the New Year Festival. Tiger images are painted on the walls of homes and temples to keep away evil spirits. Dragon-Tiger Mountain is the name for the palace of the hereditary head of the Daoist religion, located in the Dragon Tiger Mountains of Jiangxi Province, east of the capital city of Nanchang. Zhang Daoling (Chang Tao-ling), the "First Master of Heaven" in the Daoist religion, is depicted riding a tiger and carrying a demon-dispelling sword as he escorts the dead to their final destination. A Daoist legend tells of two brothers who took on the role of protecting human beings by capturing demons and throwing them to tigers.
As the enemies of evil spirits, especially those who torment the dead, tigers are carved on tombs and monuments. The Chinese system of feng shui (geomancy) requires that a burial site be higher on the right side, the stronger side of the body, so that the White Tiger can guard it; the Azure Dragon guards the left side, the body's weaker side. The tiger is the third animal in the 12-year animal zodiac. People born in the Year of the Tiger are thought to be brave, strong, stubborn and sympathetic. The tiger represents the greatest earthly power as well as protection over human life. It chases away the so-called "three disasters": fire, thieves and ghosts.
Prince Sa Chui
The pre-existance of Buddha was the third Prince of Da che Kingdom.
His name was Sa Chui. One day, these three princes made a trip in the mountain and saw a tiger mother with several tiger cubs. The mother was so hungry that it had to eat its cubs. The Third Prince could not bear this. To save tigers' life, he decided to sacrifice himself. He lied to his brothers and pulled them away. Then he took off his clothes and jumped off the cliff to put himself in front of the tiger. But the mother tiger was too weak to bite him. So Prince Sa Chui went back on the cliff again and punctured his own throat by branch before he jumped off again. This time the hungry tiger could drink his blood and eat his body.
His two brothers waited and waited but didn't see their younger brother
back, so they look for him back on the way. When they saw their younger brother was eaten up by the hungry tiger and there was only remains left, they cried to the body and fell into deep sorrow. At last they reported this to the King and build a temple to honour him.
This story later became one of the most described stories in Wall Paintings of Buddhism in China.
Xingfu Temple
Xingfu Temple is located at the north of Changshu, beside Yu Mountain. It was built in the South Qi Dynasty. A citizen named Mudeguang from Chen donated his house to build this temple with the first name Daci Temple, which means great mercy. It was said in the year of Zhenguan, there were two dragons mated here and made river cleave the mountain. So this temple was also named Cleave Mountain Temple. On the ninth year of Xiantong of Emperor Yizong, Tang Dynasty, the temple was awarded a big bell as well as the new name, Xingfu Temple.
There once been an honoured monk who named Yan Chen lived in this temple. He was a man of virtue and lived a simple life. One day when he on a pavilion, he saw a tiger hurt by an arrow was roaring on the ground. He went down to the pavilion immediately and carefully pulled out the arrow from the tiger. The tiger closed its eyes and lapped its blood out and then went away with a look to him. On the next morning, when the hunter came here on the track, Yan Chen showed him the arrow. The hunter at last realised and never hunted animals again. From then on this pavilion was named as Pavilion of Saving Tiger.
The origin of tiger people
The Tiger People of Lili Minority take tiger as their God. They never hunt tigers and it is said when they meet tigers, they won't be hurt too. Every Tiger Year, the leader of their clan will have sacrifice with all members to bow to wood-made tiger sculptures or tiger pictures. Then the old will sing a song in Muguabu tone, tell the story of the origin of Tiger People, so that no offspring will forget it. At last, they will drink and sing and dance together till the next morning.
Why they worship tigers so much? It has a story of that.
Long, long ago, when the mountain was covered by thick forest and the bank of Nu River was full of eryngoes, tigers often appeared here. At that time there were only a few families living on the small hill beside the forest. They made their living by open wasteland to plant buckwheat and hunt for birds and deer.
Among these people there was a young maid who lived in the foot of the hill alone. Her parents died very early and she had no brothers and sisters. One day when she was chopping firewood in the forest, a tiger suddenly appeared with a squall. The girl was so scared that she ran away crying. She ran and ran, her feet were lacerated by the stones, her hands were staved by the silver chain, her clothes were sweat, and her wind was lost. She run to the foot of a giant tree, and decided to climb up. At that time she looked back but only found a handsome young man standing behind her. She felt pleasantly surprised and asked, "Did you see a tiger just now?"
"No." The young man shook his head.
"Isn't that a tiger running outside the forest just now? I was so frightened that I left my chopping work and ran here."
"Just now it's me coming outside the forest. I saw you were working alone and wanted to help you. As to the tiger, may be you had a mistake."
The girl was still puzzled but the young man had seized her axe and helped with her chopping. They work together and talked with each other till the sunset. They chopped too much firewood for the girl to carry it by herself. The young man said, "It's going to be dark soon. Could I help you to carry the firewood back?"
The girl was a little bit worried, "There is nobody else in my home. What will other people say when they see us?"
The young man said cordially, "If you don't mind, you can tell others I am your husband."
The girl shyly nodded.
From then on they lived a happy life together. Everyday the husband hunted in the forest and brought deer or muntjac back and the wife cooked them at home. She soon found there were only imprint of grasp or bite on the prey, but no scar of knife or arrow. It was odd, but she didn't ask her husband how he hunted these animals particularly.
Several years later, they had their children. One day, the man went to the forest again and the woman weaved at home. One of her female friends in her youth came and asked her to pick mushrooms in the forest with her. So they went to the forest with her elder son and her younger daughter on her back. When they just came to the middle of the hill, they saw a tiger on the next hill running after a muntjac. It caught the muntjac at last on their hill. Suddenly, the tiger turned to a man, he carried the muntjac on his shoulder and came down the hill. The woman knew he was her husband when he came near. The man saw his wife, her friends and his children and asked happily, "Are you here to pick mushrooms?"
But they just looked at him in afraid and have no words to say. He looked back at the next hill and understood everything. Hence, he put the muntjac down and said sadly, "My secret is exposed and I can't live in the village anymore. I must go now." After these words, he peered at her wife and children in deep sorrow. Tears run down his cheeks. Then he ran back into the thick forest without looking back. The woman and her children regained their consciousness and cried to ask him back, but it was too late. The man had never returned.
When the children grew up, they were called Laba, which means Tiger People.
The tiger image in Chinese culture
By Xiaolin
The image of tiger are seen all over ancient songs and dramas like the Vari-Drama Card of Tiger Head in Yuan dynasty, the Romance Story and Kun Qu on the Tiger bags in Qing dynasty, the Peking Opera Tiger Jail, Sleeping Tiger Channel, Tiger Beauty etc. From all of these tiger stories there are two most exciting ones which describe human and tiger fighting. One is a Wrestling Skill Drama popular at Changan Area in Han Dynasty, called The Old Huang of Eastern Sea, which was particularly recorded in Xijing Notes, written by Gehong in Jing Dynasty.
It was said, "In the place named Eastern Sea there was a man called Old Huang who always wore bronze sword and bound his hair with red silk could tame tremendous snakes and tigers by magic arts in his youth. But when he got older, he drank too much to use his magic any more. In the late Qin Dynasty, a white tiger appeared in the Eastern Sea and he brought his bronze sword to kill it. For the magic failed he was killed by the tiger at last. Later this affair was made to a drama by People of Three Fu and the Emperor of Han also took it as a wrestling skill."
At this period of time people still look upon tiger with reverence and awe. Because even the magic skilled man like Old Huang in Eastern Sea is killed by the tiger at last. But the other story also describing human and tiger fighting which was changed to Peking opera and other kind of operas from Water Margin named Wusong's fight for the tiger has an absolutely different result: Wusong killed the tiger and became a hero. There are also a lot of derogatory senses for the phrases on tigers in Chinese. For example, Weihuzuochang, play the jackal to the tiger, means the people who was eaten by tigers will become a ghost to help the tiger to eat others; Hujiahuwei, bully people by flaunting one's powerful connections, tells the story of a clever fox threaten the tiger by using the tiger's power.
A wide-spread tale is called Tiger's Skill says, though the tiger is the most powerful animal in the forest, it has a biggest weakness: it can not climb the trees. That's because in the ancient times when the unskilled tiger learned from cat, the cat found it was quite inhumanity, so it didn't taught him all the skills.
After the tiger finished his courses, he really swooped to the cat in order to eat it. The cat climbed to a tree at once and avoided the attack. The tiger begged the cat to teach him the climbing skills under the tree but the cat refused. Hence from then on the tiger can't climb trees still.
The tiger in Chinese culture
King of the Beasts
The Tiger has always featured heavily in Chinese culture and tradition. It has long been revered as a symbol of strength and power, and a subject of awe and fear.
The Tiger is the third sign of the Chinese Zodiac, and is thought of as Ruler of the beasts on Earth. A person born in the year of the Tiger is courageous, optimistic, tolerant and generous. They can expect a long life, and were born to command, not to obey.
The Chinese have interpreted the marking on the tiger's forehead as the pictogram Wang, also a common family name, meaning "king". Or rather, because of the tiger's power as king of the forest and the marking on its head, the marking was adopted into the Chinese language meaning "king". The Tiger is a yang animal, and is associated with the powerful male principle of courage, bravery, dignity and austerity. The Tiger is also known as the King of the Mountain, and it is said that it has the power to drive away evil. In times of war a Tiger's head would be painted onto soldiers' shields to terrify the enemy.
In Chinese folklore, Tigers are believed to be such powerful creatures that they are endowed with the ability to ward off the three main household disasters -- fire, thieves and evil spirits. A painting of a Tiger is often hung on a wall inside a building facing the entrance to ensure that demons would be too afraid to enter. Even in modern China, children wear tiger-headed caps and shoes embroidered with tiger heads to ward off evil spirits and sleep on tiger-shaped pillows to make them robust. During the year of the tiger, children have the character Wang painted on their foreheads in wine and mercury to promote vigour and health.
In ancient China, the Tiger was the principal animal god and was known as the Guardian Spirit of Agriculture, believed to drive away the Drought Demon.
It was believed that after 500 years a Tiger would turn white, and could then live for 1,000 years. When a Tiger died its spirit would enter the earth and become Amber. The original term for Amber was 'Soul of the Tiger'.
The tiger symbolizes Dignity and Prestige: The sign in the courts of ancient China "Huipi Sujing" - meaning "Silence and Respect"; "Tiger Tally" - a tiger-shaped tally issued to generals as imperial authorization for troop movement, and the tiger skin covered seats of heads of bandits in ancient China all convey this aspect.
