It turns out you are such a "little axe"!

◎ Science and Technology Daily reporter Yang Xue

The Year of the Tiger is coming, and all kinds of cute "little brain axes" have come to wish you a happy new year, including emojis, door and window stickers, plush toys, mobile phone cases, floor mats, etc. Especially on short video platforms, you can often see tiger cubs in the zoo, which are super cute.

I don’t know since when, “cute tiger” replaced “fierce tiger” and the big tiger became “little brain axe”.

You know, to the Chinese, the tiger is the king of beasts, strong and brave, and intimidating without even being angry.

The descriptions and cultural expressions of the "tiger" over the past thousands of years provide us with a glimpse into the spiritual outlook, national character, and self-awareness of the Chinese nation.

Wu Song Fights the Tiger

Wu Song's fight with a tiger is a famous scene in "Water Margin". It is said that Wu Song went home to visit his brother, passed by Jingyang Ridge, and drank some wine in a tavern. The store owner reminded him that there was a big insect nearby that hurt people, but Wu Song thought that the tavern was tricking people to stay in the hotel, so he didn't take it seriously; he saw an official notice when he walked forward, but he was worried that he would be laughed at by the store owner if he turned back, so he continued on his way. When the alcohol took effect, Wu Song found a large bluestone and prepared to sleep, and suddenly a tiger pounced on him. Wu Song dodged behind the tiger and dodged for several rounds. Wu Song raised his stick and hit the tiger's head fiercely, but it hit the tree. The tiger roared and pounced, Wu Song threw away the half stick, rode on the tiger's back, grabbed the skin on the tiger's head with one hand, and beat the tiger with the other hand. He beat the tiger with his bare hands until it bled from all seven holes and lay on the ground unable to move. Wu Song was afraid that the tiger was pretending to be dead, so he picked up the half stick and beat it again, and only stopped when he was sure that the tiger was dead. Wu Song also became famous for killing tigers.

Let’s take a look at the author Shi Naian’s description of the tiger.

"I saw a gust of wind. When the wind passed, I heard a sound of a huge white-browed insect jumping out from behind the trees."

"The tiger was hungry and thirsty. It pressed its two claws on the ground, raised its body and pounced down from mid-air."

"It was most difficult for the big beast to see people from behind, so it placed its front paws on the ground, lifted its waist and hips, and lifted itself up."

"The big beast sees that he cannot lift it, and roars, just like a thunderbolt in the sky, and shakes the hillock, and makes the iron bar like a tiger's tail stand upside down with one cut."

"It turns out that the tiger only needs to pounce, flip, and cut to catch people. When it fails to catch people with these three methods, its temper will be half gone. Then the tiger fails to catch people with its cuts, so it roars again and comes back in a circle."

"The big beast roared and dug up two piles of yellow mud from under its body to make a pit."

"After 50 or 70 blows, blood gushed out of the tiger's eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. It could no longer move, and only its mouth was still gasping for breath."

We can see that the "white-browed tiger" that Wu Song fought was very energetic, walked with a strong wind, had a very bad temper, was clumsy, and did not look very smart. After all, the tiger is used to set off the tiger-fighting hero.

Tiger painting

Tigers are a "frequent guest" on Chinese painting scrolls. Throughout history, there have been many people who have painted tigers. Among them, Zhang Shanzi is a very special and representative one. Zhang Shanzi, a famous modern painter, is the second brother of Zhang Daqian. Zhang Shanzi is good at landscapes, flowers, and animals, especially tigers, and he loves tigers. He calls himself "Tiger Maniac" and is known as "Tiger Master". The two brothers originally lived in Shanghai. After the "January 28 Incident", they moved to Suzhou and were able to paint with peace of mind. At that time, a fellow villager friend happened to get a young tiger. Knowing that Zhang Shanzi had a special liking for tigers, he gave it to him. Zhang Shanzi was overjoyed and named the tiger cub "Hu'er". He raised tigers for sketching, allowing tigers to show various forms and charms in his paintings.

A tyrannical government is more ferocious than a tiger

The article "Harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger" comes from "Book of Rites - Tan Gong Xia". Confucius and his disciples passed by the foot of Mount Tai and saw a woman crying sadly in front of a tomb. Confucius asked Zilu to ask the reason. The woman told him that her father-in-law was killed by a tiger, then her husband was killed by a tiger, and now her son was killed by a tiger! Confucius asked, why don't you leave here? The woman replied, there is no cruel government here. Confucius said to his disciples, remember, harsh and cruel government is more ferocious and terrifying than a tiger!

This is the background of the famous story "A harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger". The tiger here is a symbol of man-eating, ferocious and cruel.

Three people make a tiger

Three people make a tiger is an idiom, which first came from "The Strategies of the Warring States. Wei Strategies II". During the Warring States Period, Pang Cong, a minister of Wei, accompanied the prince to Zhao as a hostage. Before leaving, Pang Cong asked the King of Wei, "Now there is a person who says that a tiger has appeared in the street market. Do you believe it?" The King of Wei said he didn't believe it. Pang Cong asked again, "If two people say that a tiger has appeared in the street market, do you believe it?" The King of Wei said he would be a little skeptical. Pang Cong asked again, "If a third person says that there is a tiger in the street market, do you believe it?" The King of Wei said he would believe it. Pang Cong said that there would be no tigers in the street market, but after three people spread the word, it seemed that there were really tigers in the street market. Now the distance between Handan, the capital of Zhao, and Daliang, the capital of Wei, is much farther than the distance between the palace and the street market. There are more than three people who have criticized me. I hope the king can see clearly. The King of Wei said he understood. Who knew that the slander came as expected, and the King of Wei was unable to resist it and never summoned Pang Cong again.

Three people make a tiger, which is a metaphor that if enough people spread a rumor, people will take it as fact. The tiger in the story is neutral, and the extended meaning is derogatory.

Tiger Tally

Ancient people often wrote poems about tigers, which often reflected their awe of tigers and used tigers to show their prestige. The tiger tokens used by ancient emperors to dispatch troops are a good example. The tokens were made of bronze or gold in the shape of a crouching tiger, which were split into two halves. The left half was given to the generals, and the right half was kept by the emperor. Only when two tiger tokens were used at the same time, the holder of the tokens would gain the right to dispatch troops.

Yang Ling Tiger Tally. Image source: National Museum official website

Tiger Tally was popular during the Warring States, Qin, and Han dynasties, and there are many stories about it. According to the "Historical Records", in 257 BC, Qin sent troops to besiege Handan, the capital of Zhao. Because his wife was the sister of Xinling Jun of Wei, Pingyuan Jun of Zhao asked the King of Wei and Xinling Jun for help. The King of Wei ordered the veteran general Jinbi to lead 100,000 troops to rescue Zhao, but Jinbi was afraid of the power of Qin and ordered the garrison to wait and see. In order to rush to Handan, Xinling Jun conspired with the wife of the King of Wei, Ru Ji. Ru Ji stole the tiger talisman in the King of Wei's bedroom and used it to seize Jinbi's army, defeating the Qin army and saving Zhao. Mr. Guo Moruo once selected this theme to create the script of the famous drama "Tiger Tally".

The lines "I'd rather know that the sun is shining, so I can still return with the tiger talisman" (Part 3) from "Ten Poems on the Way to Tonglu" by Fan Zhongyan of the Song Dynasty and "The Tiger Tally is newly put together in the late afternoon, it's hard to share the joy and the virtues in a good meeting" from "The Fifth Day Public Banquet" by Mei Zhi of the Song Dynasty both describe the tiger talismans used by the ancients to mobilize troops and dispatch generals.

Tiger Walk

There are several poems with the title "Menghu Xing" by different poets in different dynasties. "Menghu Xing" is one of the Han Dynasty Yuefu Xianghe Geci. The ancient poem says: "When hungry, I will not follow the fierce tiger for food, and when dusk comes, I will not follow the wild sparrow for roost. Wild sparrows have no nests, and who can the wanderer be proud of?" This ancient poem appears in the title of "Menghu Xing" by Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui (son of Cao Pi, mother was Zhen), and it is not listed separately in the "Yuefu Poetry Collection".

Later generations such as Lu Ji of the Western Jin Dynasty, Li Bai, Zhang Ji, Li He of the Tang Dynasty, Mei Yaochen of the Song Dynasty and Gao Qi of the Ming Dynasty wrote poems on this subject. Some of them wrote about travels, some wrote about exhortations, some wrote about the anguish of having failed to achieve success, and some used the tiger to metaphorically describe the greed, tyranny and harsh politics of feudal society. The themes were not all the same.

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Editor: Zhang Qiqi

Reviewer: Wang Xiaolong

Final judge: Wang Yu