New Years Tiger
While doing research, a day after drawing the tiger icon that decorates this post, I opened a book that I’ve failed to read or throw out- it appears as though this book has something to give, if only given the chance. So I’d like to share the following excerpt- from C. A. S. Williams, Outlines of Chinese Symbolism & Art Motives, C. A. S. Williams, pp. 398-400.
Tigers were very common in ancient times, and are still to be found in Kuangtung, Kuangsi, Fukien, Kiangsi, and Manchuria. The largest variety runs to twelve feet in length.
The written symbol for this animal consists of the radical hu ( 虎 ), which is representation of the tiger’s stripes, while the form jên ( ル ), man, below, implies that the beast rears up on its hind legs like a human being erect.
“The tiger is called by the Chinese the king of the wild beasts, and its real or imaginary qualities afford them matter for more metaphors than any other wild animal. It is taken as the emblem of magisterial dignity and sternness, as the model for the courage and fierceness which should characterize a soldier, and its presence or roar is synonymous with danger and terror. Its present scarceness has tended to magnify its prowess, until it has by degrees become invested with so many savage attributes that nothing can exceed it. Its head was formerly painted on the shields of soldiers, on the wooden covers of the port-holes of forts to terrify the enemy, on the bows of revenue cutters, and embroidered upon court robes as the insignia of some grades of military officers. The character hu has been numbered as one of the radicals of the language, and the words comprised under it are nearly all descriptive of some quality appertaining to the tiger…. Virtues are ascribed to the ashes of the bones, to the fat, skin, claws, liver, blood, and other parts of the tiger, in many diseases; the whiskers are said to be good for toothache… In the days of Marco Polo the multitude of tigers in the northern parts of the empire rendered traveling alone dangerous.”1
“Just as the dragon is chief of all aquatic creatures so is the tiger lord of all land animals. These two share the position of prime importance in the mysterious pseudo-science called FÊNG SHUI (q.v.). The tiger is figured on many of the most ancient bronzes, and its head is still reproduced as an ornament on the sides of bronze and porcelain vessels, often with a ring in its mouth. It frequently appears in a grotesque form which native archaeologists designate a 'quadruped' ( 獣 ). The tiger symbolizes military prowess. It is an object of special terror to demons, and is therefore painted on walls to scare malignant spirits away form the neighborhood of houses and temples.”2 The shoes of small children are often embroidered with tiger’s heads for the same reason. The God of Wealth is sometimes represented as a tiger, and tiger gods are also to be found, chiefly in Hanoi and Manchuria, where the animals are most plentiful. In former times Chinese soldiers were occasionally dressed in imitation tiger-skins, with tails and all complete. They advanced to battle shouting loudly, in the hope that their cries would strike terror into the enemy as if they were the actual roars of the tiger.
“According to the astrologers, the star 楓 (a. of Ursa Major) gave birth by metamorphosis to the first beast of this kind. He is the greatest of four-footed creatures, representing the masculine principle of nature, and is the lord of all wild animals ( 山獣之君 ). He is also called the King of Beasts ( 獣中王 ), and the character 王 (King) is believed to be traceable upon his brow. He is seven feet in length, because seven is the number appertaining to Yang, the masculine principle, and for the same reason his gestation endures for seven months. He lives to the age of one thousand years. When five hundred years old, his color changes to white. His claws are a powerful talisman, and ashes prepared from his skin worn about the person act as a charm against sickness. Pai Hu ( 白虎 ), the White Tiger, is the name given to the western quadrant of the Uranosphere and metaphorically to the West in general.”3 The title of White Tiger was bestowed on the canonized Yin Chêng-hsiu, a general of the last Emperor of the Yin dynasty. His image may be seen at the door of Taoist temples.
The tiger represents the third of the TWELVE TERRESTRIAL BRANCHES (q.v). This animal is said by Chinese writers “to eat its victims by the Chinese calendar, and to have the power of planning out the country round its lair, to be visited according to a fixed system. If it leaps up three times at its prey, and fails, it withdraws. Its victims become devils after digestion, but the flesh of the dog is said to intoxicate this cat-like creature. Bad smells, such as burnt horn, are said to scare it away, and the hedgehog, or tenor, is said to be able to get the better of it.”4
According to the Chinese belief, the spirit of a person eaten by a tiger urges the beast to devour others; those who have met a violent death may return to the world, if fortunate enough to secure a substitute. According to K’ang Hsi’s dictionary, when a tiger bites a man in such a way that death ensues the man’s should has no courage to go elsewhere, but regularly serves the tiger as a slave, and is called a ch’ang ( 虎醤人人死。魂不敢他適。輯隷事虎。名日侵。). The same idea of seeking a substitute ( 討替 ) is the explanation of the objection by superstitious persons to save a drowning man, lest they themselves should be dragged down as a substitute by the spirit of one previously drowned there, who, it is supposed, is endeavoring to secure a substitute and thereby effect his own escape.
Authorities.
1 The Chinese Repository, Vol. VII, March, 1839, Art. IV, pp. 596-7.
2 Yetts: Symbolism in Chinese Art, p. 25.
3 Mayers: Chinese Reader’s Manual, Pt. I, p. 65.
4 Smith: Contributions towards the Materia Medica and Natural History of China, pp. 40-41.
It’s curious to me, after reading this section in the book, then taking a look at the references I’ve used for drawing and tattooing tigers, for the last several years, almost none of the tattoos, paintings or prints use the pattern, mentioned above, the usage of the Chinese character for King ( 王 ) on the forehead. In fact, I’ve only seen two images so far that could be argued to be under such influence of knowledge.