2022 is the year of Renyin(壬寅) in the lunar calendar in Chinese culture. Yin belongs to the tiger, so it’s commonly known as the year of the Tiger. The tiger is the king of beasts, a symbol of courage and strength, and the tiger is the protector of righteousness and evil spirits.
Tiger has become a mascot in Chinese people’s minds, and its history is very long. A famous ancient book-‘Shan Hai Jing’ (《山海经》）, also records the myth of ‘deified tigers eat evil spirits’. Tiger is regarded as the ‘God of the West’ and one of the ‘Five Spirits.’ The unearthed mussel sculpture from the original tomb in Xishuipo, Puyang, Henan Province, found the earliest primitive form of the tiger god, which has a history of more than 6,000 years. The jade tiger head ornament unearthed in Houwa, Dandong, is the “God Emblem” of the jade unearthed in Liangzhu, Zhejiang. The double tiger pattern on the bronze wares of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and the tiger head pattern on the weapons used by soldiers, iron armor, and bronze helmets. All these show that the tiger culture in China has a very close relationship in our life long ago, with a deep primitive religious color.
Tiger Culture in Food
Today, the tiger has become a rare animal protected by human beings. Now people are not worried about tigers hurting people but punishing those who hurt tigers and eat tigers following the law. Hurting tigers and eating tigers has become history, and now people can only eat dishes that imply tiger culture with humanistic colors. In Chinese cuisine, there are many delicacies named after tiger shape and tiger color. There are ‘tiger skin’ series of dishes, such as tiger skin pepper, tiger skin tofu, tiger skin peanut, etc. They do not refer to the real tiger skin, just because their primary material is brownish-yellow after cooking and has a pattern of alternating shades. It is named after the spotted tiger.
In addition, there are ‘tiger head fish(it’s fish)’ and ‘tiger head chicken(just chicken)’ in Shandong cuisine; ‘Kang Huwei’ (it’s eel tail) in Yangzhou cuisine; ‘Fried Tiger Tail’ (commonly known as ‘Flesh Stuffed Large Intestine’); and ‘Dragon Tiger Noodles’ in Henan.
Tiger Culture in Folklore
As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the bronze tiger-shaped ‘tiger talisman’ was often used to symbolize military power. The tiger talisman is about half a foot long and is divided into two halves. The right half is kept in the imperial court, and the left half is given to the generals or local officials. A famous writer- Guo Moruo once chose the story that Ru Ji stole the tiger talisman from King Wei, and asked Xinling Jun to seize the military power and repel the Qin military in Handan. The story was written into the play ‘Tiger talisman.’ This play was performed many times at the Beijing People’s Art Theatre in the 1950s and was well received by the public, causing a sensation in the capital Beijing.
In ancient times, there were also stories of tigers participating in wars. There is also the story of Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, cured a tiger. There is also a folk legend of the tiger as a matchmaker.
Tiger is a symbol of strength and a manifestation of masculine spirit. Chinese people have the custom of worshiping and respecting tigers since ancient times. We hope that in 2022, the year of the tiger, everyone can have a healthy and lucky year.
