The Tiger in Chinese Culture – by Kirsty Sloman.

The Chinese people really know how to celebrate their New Year. For several weeks in February, there are events and Chinese Lion Dances, all in order to welcome in a brand new year and a particular animal that is used to represent it. The year 2010 brings forth the Tiger – the third animal in the Chinese zodiac – along with the element of metal. This is particularly significant to our style of kung fu as there are a lot of tiger elements within the patterns and the techniques that are performed. So what does the tiger signify to the Chinese people?

The character traits of people born under the sign of the tiger are that of bravery, competitiveness and an enjoyment of challenges. They can also be unpredictable. Tiger people are also considered to be intelligent and are well liked by others. The tiger is a symbol of strength and power. It also denotes courage and prowess as well as ferocity and beauty, exactly like the actual living animal itself.

From the earliest times, people have sought to capture the essence and beauty of the tiger in artwork and story telling. The earliest Chinese tiger statue was created in the Neolithic age – roughly 7,000 years ago. The Chinese people believe tigers to be the enemies of evil spirits and they had the power to chase away the ‘3 disasters’: fire, thieves and ghosts. Images of tigers placed around the home are supposed to keep away rats and snakes and tiger charms banish diseases and evil. They also provide the wearer with the courage of the tiger.

In Chinese culture it is the tiger, not the lion which is honoured as being king of the beasts. The markings on a tiger’s forehead forms the character named ‘Wang’ which translates as ‘King’. Understandably, the tiger is a symbol of strength and power and as a result is a subject of awe and fear. In Imperial China, the highest army generals were embodied as tigers because of these characteristics. The Emperor was embodied as a dragon and the Empress, a phoenix.

The tiger is one of the four heavenly animals; the others being the dragon, phoenix and tortoise. The tiger was a principle animal god that was known as the Guardian Spirit of Agriculture. It was believed that the tiger turned white after 500 years and that its lifespan was 1,000 years. After it died, the tiger’s spirit returned to the earth and was transformed into Amber. Amber means ‘soul of the tiger’. The White Tiger is ruler of the west and it is associated with the season of autumn and with the element of metal.

Actual living tigers were once common in China but now there are said to be less than 30 of the southern Chinese tigers left in the wild! It has now become the most endangered species of tiger in the world and is one of the top ten most endangered animals. Southern Chinese tigers are direct descendants of ancestral tigers which originated in this part of the world over two million years ago. They are smaller than other species of tigers and a living one has not been seen in its natural habitat for many years. At this rate, if conservation plans fail, then very soon, this amazing and beautiful animal will become nothing more than a faded memory or a legend and will only be seen as pictures and images found amongst the dragons and the phoenixes in Chinese homes and buildings.