Tigers occupy an important position in Chinese culture, as the top species in the feline family, tigers have always been regarded as the "king of hundreds of beasts" in China.
For example, the White Tiger is the four great creation mythical beasts in China's mythology, and is on a par with the Green Dragon, Suzaku, and Xuanwu, and what they hold on the stars is to kill and honor the will. Therefore, in the ancient united military seals in China, there is a title of "Tiger Rune".
There are two main types of tigers in China, one is the South China tiger in South China, and the other is the Northeast Tiger in Northeast China. The difference in size between the two tiger species is very large. Adult male Siberian tigers can grow up to 300 kg and can reach a body length of about 2.3 meters. The male South China tiger weighs only 200 kilograms and has a body length of about 2 meters.
Although the Siberian tiger is called the "Siberian tiger", it is mainly distributed in the Siberian region north of the Heilongjiang River. The South China tiger existed in Hunan, Fujian, Jiangxi and other places and was so numerous that in the 1950s and 1960s it was called "tiger plague", so it was hunted and killed in large quantities until it was on the verge of extinction.
However, during the Han Dynasty, the number of South China tigers was tenfold. The tiger is one of the most beautiful cats, with a thick roar and a tall posture, and is an all-round natural hunter, so it was also revered as the king of the hundred beasts during the Han Dynasty. But in the end, the tiger was just the "beast king", so he was still imprisoned and raised by the "Son of Heaven".
As a highly powerful cat with the same name as tigers, lions are also distributed in Asia, but mainly exist in the Indian Peninsula and Central Asia, and were not really known until the "Silk Road" was opened during the Han Wudi period.
From the reign of Wenjing, the Han Dynasty was already quite powerful, and by the time Emperor Wu of han came to power, the Han Dynasty had entered its full heyday. At this time, the country was already at peace, and only the northwest was deeply worried about foreign troubles, even if it was as powerful as Qin Shi Huang, it was necessary to build the Great Wall to resist the invasion of the Xiongnu.
At the time of Emperor Wu of Han, the military strength of the Central Plains was already unprecedentedly strong, especially under Emperor Wu of Han, there were two world-famous generals, Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi. Therefore, in 119 BC, Emperor Wu of Han sent Wei Qing and Huo Quyi to lead 50,000 cavalry each, and hundreds of thousands of infantry and other branches of soldiers, and the two sides fought in response to each other, going deep into the north of the desert and directly attacking the Yellow Dragon.
Under the efforts of Wei Qing and Huo Zhiyi, three large-scale conquests were carried out against the Xiongnu, and the two of them were almost undefeated, becoming the well-known generals of the "Feng wolf Juxu" who drove the Xiongnu beyond the desert north. Therefore, Zhang Qian was able to connect with the western region later, and then open up the Silk Road.
Since then, a large number of trade exchanges between the Central Plains and the Western Regions have begun, and the Han Dynasty has also received tribute from the western regions, and one of them is a tribute, which is an Asiatic lion.
When Emperor Wudi of Han saw this Asiatic lion, the coat was dull, the skin was wrinkled and hairy, the mane was messy, and there was no royal spirit. Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han, in addition to thanking him, turned around and threw the lion into the tiger's cage, hoping to use it as food for the tiger. Who expected that after the tiger saw the lion, it would crawl to the ground and dare not come forward.
When male Asiatic lions reach adulthood, they can reach a body length of about 1.8 meters and weigh about 220 kg to 250 kg. Although the body length is not as long as the South China tiger, but the weight is better than the South China tiger, coupled with the lion's mane, it will make the lion appear larger.
And this is one of the reasons why tigers were afraid of lions at that time. In addition, the habits of tigers and lions are different, lions grow in the grassland, the field of view is vast, the tactic used in predation is group warfare, picking the old and young to chase.
Unlike tigers, tigers are solitary animals, living in dense forests, and there are more hidden dangers around them. Therefore, the tiger has always been very vigilant and will not do unnecessary fighting and be unnecessarily injured. Therefore, it is normal to see a lion that has never been seen before, and to be a little wary or even afraid.
But to compare the fighting power of tigers and lions is really a bit reluctant. Because in the relevant historical materials, there is no record of the size and age of lions and tigers at that time, so it is actually impossible to compare. However, as a historical anecdote, it allows us to see that after the Opening of the Silk Road at that time, the collision and fusion of the central plains and western cultures were achieved.