Tiger related culture

Chinese tiger culture has a long history and has already become one of the totems of China. Because of its majestic image, tigers have been used to symbolize the courage and strength of soldiers since ancient times, such as tiger generals, tiger ministers and tigers. In ancient times, a tiger was carved in gold on the military symbol of dispatching troops, which was called the tiger symbol. In writing, language, poetry, literature, sculpture, painting, novels, operas, folk customs and other traditional cultures, the image of the tiger is ubiquitous and has become an indispensable part of Chinese civilization. In ancient China, the image of the tiger was greatly admired, especially in the military. For example, the military symbol of dispatching troops carved a tiger with gold, which is called the tiger symbol. The symbol of the tiger first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, the bronze tiger was used as a transfer certificate issued by the central government to local officials or garrison leaders, and was called the tiger symbol.

The tiger symbol is a kind of certificate for the ancient rulers of China to convey military orders, recruit soldiers and use it in various affairs. A character is split in half, the one on the right is kept by the court, and the one on the left is kept by local officials or generals. When used, the two halves are consistent, indicating that the command is verified and credible.

There is an inscription on the back of the drum, which is divided into two halves. The right half is kept in the imperial court, and the left half is given to generals or local governors. It is always dedicated to a place and a symbol. It is absolutely impossible to mobilize troops from two places at the same time with one roller. It takes two halves to verify the truth before it takes effect.

In the Museum of Chinese History, there is a tiger with a length of 7.9 cm and a length of 2.5 cm, with a flat head and a cocked tail. There are two lines of seal script between the left and right neck ribs, and the words are the same. "The tiger symbol is headed by Tang Yanghou."

The Shaanxi Museum in xi also has a tiger sign found in the western suburbs of Xi. It is a cultural relic of the Warring States Period from 475 BC to 22 BC1year. It is known as the symbol of the "Du" mace tiger in Qin Dynasty. It is 4 cm high and looks like a tiger pounce, symbolizing military strength and urgent March. The body of the tiger symbol is engraved with a 40-word gold inscription, which describes the object and scope of transfer, but it is extremely beautifully made.

Tiger symbols played an important role in ancient wars, and many related stories happened. According to Records of the Historian, in 257 BC, during the Warring States Period, the State of Qin sent troops to besiege Handan, the capital of Zhao. Zhao's wife was Wei Xinling's sister, and he asked Wang Wei and Xin Lingjun for help. Wang Wei asked the veteran to lead a 654.38+ 10,000-strong army to save Zhao, but later he was afraid of the strength of Qin State and ordered the troops to sit tight. In order to save Han, Xin, the son of Wei, conspired with Ruji, Wang Wei's wife, to let Ruji steal the tiger symbol in Wang Wei's bedroom, and used this tiger symbol to seize the army, defeat Chi and save Zhao. Mr. Guo Moruo once chose this theme to create the script of the famous drama Tiger Fu, which was performed by Beijing People's Art Theatre.

In Chapter 51 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao and Battle of Red Cliffs suffered a crushing defeat. Zhuge Liang took advantage of the emptiness of the southern county, ordered Zhao Yun to capture the city successfully, and captured the commander-in-chief of the garrison, Chen Jiao, to obtain a spell, and then used this spell to cheat the garrison of Jingzhou out of the southern county. Then Zhang Fei attacked Jingzhou, and then transferred the garrison of Xiangyang in the same way. Guan Yu took the opportunity to attack Xiangyang. Zhuge Liang drove Cao Bing away with a little tiger symbol and captured the three cities without bloodshed, while Zhou Yu of Soochow, who spent a lot of money, food and military forces, got nothing. How can he not be angry? This also shows the great role of the tiger symbol at that time.

Historically, the shape, quantity, inscription and grade of tiger symbols have also changed greatly. From the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the tiger symbols were all made of copper, and on the right was the respect for the inscription on the riding seam. In the Sui Dynasty, it was changed to Fu Lin. In the Tang dynasty, because of avoiding tigers, they switched to fish symbols or rabbit symbols, and later switched to turtle symbols. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the symbol of the tiger was restored. Tiger-headed cards were used in the Yuan Dynasty, and later generations evolved into bronze medals. Tiger is one of the 12 zodiac animals, ranking third, called Yin. Shu Wei, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, wrote the poem "Qian Miao Zhuzhici Red Temple", saying: "Weaving silk does not compete with people, but turning bronze drums to compete with mountain gods. The two feelings are speechless, and the room is empty tonight. " Yin is a tiger, who dares to violate the custom of avoiding Yin? If couples sleep in the same room when it is cloudy in May, tigers will hurt them. Avoiding shade is a folk custom in some places.

White Tiger God is the patron saint of ancient Taoism in China. It was originally the official name of ancient stars, seven western huts among 28 stars. Because it is located in the west in the shape of a tiger, it is called five elements and five colors. It is also one of the four gods. In Book of Rites, there is a saying that "the former Suzaku, the later Xuanwu, the left Qinglong and the right White Tiger".

Most Tujia people believe in the White Tiger God. When Tujia people in Hubei offer sacrifices to the white tiger, the altar owner will cut off his head with a pig-killing knife and bleed it, then drop it on paper money and hang it for burning. Children of Tujia nationality in Hunan province get foot wind disease, which is often thought to be caused by white tigers, so wizards must be asked to drive away the "white tigers". When driving away, put a chair outdoors, tie bamboo with branches and leaves, and tie a white rooster. Wizards will cast spells indoors. When the rooster crowed, the white tiger was driven away.

Shaanxi has the custom of sending cloth tigers to raise children. When the child is full moon, my uncle's family will send a tiger made of yellow cloth. When I enter the gate, I will break a tiger's tail and throw it outside. Giving cloth tigers is to hope that children will be as powerful as tigers when they grow up; Breaking the tiger's tail is to hope that children will avoid disasters and difficulties in the process of growing up.

The custom of giving tiger pillows is popular all over Shanxi. Whenever a child has a birthday, an uncle will give his nephew a tiger pillow or a pair of tiger pillows, which can be used as pillows, toys and blessings.

The marriage custom of "hanging tiger buns" is popular in hua county, Shaanxi. Before the Chinese New Year, the man would steam a pair of tiger buns and tie them with red ropes for a bumper harvest. When the bride arrives, she will hang the tiger buns around her neck and take them off after entering the door. The bride and groom will share, indicating that they are dating. It is worth mentioning that this kind of steamed bread is also divided into male and female. There is a "king" on the head of the male tiger steamed bread, which means that the man should be the master; The tigress has a pair of birds on her forehead, which means that her wife flies with her husband. There is also a little tiger in front of each tiger's neck, which means wishing the newlyweds an early birth.

Tigers were raised in ancient times, and some doctors in China collected and experimented with the efficacy of various drugs everywhere. They usually have a bell in their hand, which looks like a copper ring. People call it "tiger branch" or "tiger title" This is their amulet. Legend has it that Sun Simiao, the king of medicine, was suddenly stopped by a tiger on his way up the mountain to collect medicine. The tiger is ahead and can't escape. The medicine king carries a long pole for collecting medicine with him, but it is not easy to deal with tigers with this clumsy pole. He was at a loss and just stared at the tiger in fear. Strangely, the tiger didn't pounce on him. Instead, he squatted on the ground with his mouth open. He looked at the drug king with sad eyes and kept shaking his head gently. King Yao was shocked by what he saw. He slowly approached the behemoth in front of him. He saw a huge animal bone stuck deep in the tiger's throat. The kind drug king wants to help him and take out the bones for him, but he is worried that if the animal suddenly shuts up because of pain, his arm will be bitten off. Just then, he remembered a copper ring on the pole. He took it off and put it in the tiger's mouth to open his mouth, so that he didn't have to worry about his own safety. He put his hand through the center of the copper ring, reached into the mouth of the blood basin, quickly pulled out the bone and quickly applied ointment to the wound. When the drug king took the bronze ring out of the tiger's mouth, the tiger kept nodding, as if thanking the kind doctor. Since then, the copper ring has been transformed into a hand-cranked rattle, which has become a symbol of herb picking. All doctors will take them with them when they go out to collect medicines to show that they are all disciples of the King of Medicine. Only the King of Medicine can treat tigers and will not be attacked by them. There is no tiger surname in Hundred Family Names, and only five cases are included in China Personal Names Dictionary. In Guangzhou, a city with a population of about130,000, there are very few people with tiger surnames.

Hu Celebrity: Hu Yanfen, an actress in Guangzhou, is famous all over the country for playing the role of "Ersao" in "The Foreign Daughter-in-law Local Lang".

The pronunciation of the tiger surname varies according to the family background. As the surname of China, we should pronounce Hǔ and Māo mainly as the pronunciation of the tiger surname of ethnic minorities. Its origin is as follows:

1. The descendants of Bohu, one of the "Eight Yuan" in ancient Chen Shun, took the tiger as their surname. According to the ancient legend, Bohu was the minister of the Di Ku Gaoxin family. According to legend, Di Ku was assisted by eight gifted scholars (actually the leaders of eight tribes), namely Bofen, Zhong Kan, Shu Xian, Ji Zhong, Bo Hu, Zhong Xiong, Bao Shu and Li Ji, which was called "Eight Yuan" in history. After Di Ku's death, Yao inherited the throne and retired for eight yuan. When Shun succeeded Yao as emperor, a large number of elders and ministers were reused, and Bohu tribal leaders came back as ministers. Since then, the Bohu family has developed again, and his descendants take the tiger as their surname, which has become an important source of the tiger family today. This origin is to read h incarnation.

2. As far as the Hui nationality is concerned, there is a tiger surname: according to the research on the Uighur surname, the tiger (Māo cat) surname is the Hui nationality "only the Chengdu tiger surname, pronounced not as tiger, but as cat (Māo)." In fact, the tiger surname in Yunnan is also pronounced cat (Māo). Hu Hui nationality is mainly distributed in northwest, Nanjing, Chengdu, Luoyang and other places.

3. Kemu people who live in the south of Mengla County in Xishuangbanna take the totem they worship as their surname. Some of these surnames take animals as surnames, such as tigers, wild cats, squirrels, otters, Chinese Pulsatilla and peacocks. Some take plants as their surnames, and there are tree ferns and fine white flowers. Every surname has its origin and legend. For example, people surnamed Hu said that their ancestors were killed by tigers. Later generations revered tigers on the one hand and worshipped them on the other, so they regarded tigers as a symbol of this clan. Kemu people also spread in a strange way. Children born by husband and wife take the father's surname and the mother's surname.

4. Tiger surnames are rare in modern times. The tiger surname in Zhaotong, Yunnan takes the word "tiger" as the surname. Most people live in Hudong Town, Huan County, Gansu Province, claiming that their ancestors are descendants of Ji. Tiger surnamed Wang lives in Jinyang County.