What is the origin and evolution of the word tiger?

The word "tiger" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is simply the left view of the tiger, which is an overall portrayal of the animal tiger image. In fact, the word should come from a picture, which is very similar to the tiger in Yinshan rock painting in Neolithic age. By comparison, we can see its inheritance relationship clearly.

The word "tiger" in the bronze inscription maintained the overall shape of the tiger at first. For example, the word "tiger" in the bronze tiger inscription of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Famen Temple in Shaanxi is very similar to the word "tiger" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Later, the word "tiger" in bronze inscriptions highlighted the tiger tooth Tiger Claw. Because the ancestors have realized that the strength and characteristics of tigers are mainly manifested in their claws and teeth in their hunting life.

Therefore, the word "tiger" highlights these two characteristics of the tiger. After all, people are not pictures. In the creativity of glyph design, both ends of "claw" and "tooth" can never be taken into account. Therefore, in the later development and evolution, the word "tiger" often presents us with a configuration that highlights one of "claw" and "tooth".

Due to the characteristics of tigers:

The ancients listed it as one of the "four-spirit beasts (dragon, tiger, phoenix and turtle)". In traditional geomantic omen, the four elephants are said to be "the former Suzaku, the later Xuanwu, the left Qinglong and the right white tiger", and the white tiger belongs to the west.

Therefore, people often juxtapose tigers and dragons. From this cultural point of view, "tiger" is regarded as an evil thing. Because tigers are powerful, they are often used in the military, such as "Tiger General", which symbolizes soldiers' courage and strength. In the Qin Dynasty, the army was named "the Tiger Ben Army". The documents dispatched by the emperor of Qin Dynasty are called tiger symbols, such as the unearthed "Tiger Symbol of Yangling", which are mostly made of copper or gold.

In fact, there are many themes related to tigers in history and legends. For example, in Water Margin, there is a story that Song Wu killed a tiger, so Song Wu became the representative of the hero who killed a tiger. In addition, there are many fables related to tigers, such as "there is no tiger in the mountain, the monkey is king" and "the fox is fake and the tiger is powerful". However, with the development of society, the tiger's ecological and living system has also been broken. The number is decreasing, at the same time, the characteristics of Wei Meng are gradually deteriorating.