Today, change the style of writing, tell a story of fighting a tiger, but although the story is told, but while watching the story, you can still appreciate the cultural relics related to the tiger, killing two birds with one stone, why not enjoy it?
Speaking of tigers, the story of Wu Song fighting tigers, you will not be unfamiliar with it. Since ancient times, people who can fight tigers are in people's hearts, that is, heroes and heroes, generally excellent in martial arts, brave and fierce.
But this is mostly a character in the novel, is there any in reality? Of course, now I will tell you the story of He Yewu, a tiger fighter in modern history. The tiger hunter shot 305 tigers in his lifetime, and was once famous for hunting tigers.
01 When the situation creates people, strange people are born
Warring States bronze hammer in the tiger button
He Yewu was born in 1898 in Huangling Town, Zhuzhou You County, Hunan Province, and his family was well-off in his early years, so he was born physically strong from an early age, which laid the foundation for his future good body and the legend of fighting tigers.
Han brick tiger carving
There are many mountains in the Xianggan area, lofty mountains, dense jungles, hundreds of beasts can be seen everywhere, and tiger injuries are also endless. Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been countless incidents of tigers injuring and eating people recorded in local chronicles. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the destruction and reclamation of large-scale mountain forest vegetation, wild animals lost their breeding habitat, the food chain was destroyed, and tigers were forced to gradually move closer to villages and towns for feeding, and tigers were plagued for a while.
Warring States wrong gold and silver tiger ornament
In 1952, more than 120 people were eaten by tigers in Leiyang County, and even 32 people died in one day. In September 1957, there was a "Baihuwei Village" incident in Gaoping Village. In just ten years, more than 2,000 people and thousands of poultry in Hunan have become tiger food.
If there is a tiger disease, there is a need to fight tigers, so the profession of fighting tigers for a living came into being.
Qing Yin Chan Xing Le Tu Collection of the Palace Museum
Because their home was in a mountainous area, the He family had good conditions at that time, and there were often some tiger hunters who went to the village to live in the He Ye Wu family. Therefore, from an early age, He Yewu came into contact with foreigners who fought tigers. Because of the influence of a long-term tenant, He Yewu has had a completely different life since then.
We often say that the environment in which people grow and develop can easily affect a child's character development and future growth path. Therefore, there will be a story of "Mengmu's Three Migrations" in history. The long-term tenant of the He family was a "tiger shooting master" from a foreign country, who would often pull back the tigers he had shot back every three to five minutes. Such a master, let alone a child, even adults will look at him with admiration and worship him like a god.
Over time, He Yewu gradually became interested in "fighting tigers", and at that time, he could still make a lot of money by fighting tigers, so when He Yewu was a teenager, his parents cheekily pleaded with the "master of shooting tigers" to accept He Yewu as an apprentice, and such a generation of tiger fighting people officially appeared on the stage of history.
02 Tiger shooting skills, only crossbows and medicines
Han Dynasty bronze tiger ornament
In the face of the "tiger plague", people at that time did not have any good means of fighting tigers, nothing more than crossbows and firearms, but it was not easy to really hunt tigers with guns. The tiger is a very intelligent animal, once it smells the breath of man, it finds that man wants to be unfavorable to it, and it has long run away without a trace, and it is so easy to hit it. And those who kill tigers with their bare hands in legends and stories are very few in reality. Speaking of the real tiger fighting skills, it is said that the "tiger shooting skills" that have been handed down from the Ming Dynasty to the present day.
Northern Dynasty Yizhou Jiuyuangang Mural Collection of Shanxi Museum
The so-called heroes must have superiority. "Tiger Shooting Master"--He Yewu's master is pregnant with special skills, and that set of tiger fighting skills is said to be his ancestors. Speaking of stunts, it is certainly not to let you take a gun and a halberd to fight the tiger head-on, but to use a special crossbow, installed in the place where tigers often haunt, similar to setting traps, in this way when the tiger passes, touch the mechanism to shoot the tiger.
The tiger is the fierce king of the forest, unless an arrow hits the key, one or two arrows will not make this behemoth do anything.
Mural Hunting chart
According to legend, the tiger shooting skills include special crossbow and special secret medicine two parts, in the shooting ambush, the arrow needs to be smeared with special potion, when the tiger steps on the mechanism lead, once triggered, the bow crossbow shoots out the medicine arrow, once shot, the injured part will be itchy, the tiger will therefore lick the wound, once licked, this medicine will not let the tiger poison death, its biggest feature is that after licking, it will cause the throat to swell, swollen to the throat is completely blocked, the trachea is blocked, the tiger will be suffocated. The tiger shot in this way is non-toxic, and the flesh and bones can be eaten, which is more than enough in one fell swoop.
According to He Yewu's descendants, he Yewu spent many months studying and formulating the potions he personally spent several months studying, which means that when He Yewu followed his master to learn the art carefully, the master did not pass on the recipe of the potion at the bottom of the pressure box to him.
Lacquer wood tiger collection of the Palace Museum
This is not surprising, it is often said that "church apprentices, starve to death of masters", the masters of the old society will leave a move and a half, this phenomenon is especially common in the ancient martial arts community, as the saying goes, "the heart of harming people is indispensable, the heart of preventing people is indispensable", who can guarantee the conduct of the apprentices who receive it, in case a white-eyed wolf or a scum that deceives the teacher and destroys the ancestors is taught, then is it not self-inflicted?
Moreover, in that era, resources were limited and information was not available, and this practice of the master was excusable, but this practice of hiding the head and hiding the tail, many skills were passed on to the end.
Similarly, He Yewu did not pass on this secret recipe to his disciples later, but he was not afraid that the apprentices would grab the job bowl, but he had other hidden feelings, which we will talk about later.
03 Tiger Hunting has a legendary name
Chunqiu Tiger as Hubei Provincial Museum Collection
The first time He Yewu became famous was in 1920. At that time, a white tiger appeared in the Gannan area of Jiangxi, and many hunters hunted and killed for many years without success, and the villagers in the eight townships of ten miles were afraid and did not dare to go up the mountain alone. When He Yewu heard this, he decided to go to Gannan to meet this legendary white tiger for a while.
Catching tigers in the mountains is not an easy task, because the tigers are uncertain and have a very large range of activities. Experienced hunters will judge the time and place of the tiger's appearance according to the different seasons and the habits of the tiger. As a teenager, he followed his master to the north and south, and he was well-informed, and He Yewu seemed to be young and vigorous, but he was already a veteran.
Western Zhou Yuhu Collection of Shanxi Archaeological Research Institute
After making a big circle on the mountain, He Yewu decided to wait until everything recovered.
In the spring and summer of the following year, He Yewu took people up the mountain, and this time he was full of confidence when he went up the mountain, and the villagers under the mountain ridiculed him for being young and arrogant, and he just smiled. Although he was young, He Yewu already had enough experience at this time, and after suffering a lot, he was also very cautious and meticulous, and unlike in the past, this was the first time he had played a tiger independently.
After they had stepped on the place where they had stepped on a good point before, He Yewu buried the crossbow, hid the lead of the mechanism, cleaned up all the traces of the people, and prayed, and then they went down the mountain and waited.
Shang Copper Tiger Sanxingdui Museum Collection
Two weeks later, He Yewu was so sure that the white tiger had been shot, and he went up the mountain with the mountain people to find the tiger. Usually, tigers don't die where they were shot, and the tiger fighters must know how to find traces. According to years of experience, He Yewu searched all the way, and later actually found a dead white tiger in a mountain temple, but this white tiger was strangely dead, and its front paws were tightly hugging the incense burner in the temple. Seeing this, the mountain people were stunned.
At that time, the villagers in the mountains were still very superstitious, they believed that the white tiger was the king of the mountain, and this white tiger was the god of the mountain temple, and He YeWu immediately knelt down to burn incense and pray, and then took the white tiger down the mountain.
In an instant, He Yewu's reputation spread far and wide, and many people came to invite him to fight the tiger.
Warring States Tiger Rune Collection of the Palace Museum
He Yewu was officially known as the "hero of fighting tigers" That is in 1954, that year, a fierce tiger in Youxian County came down the mountain and killed 9 cultivating cattle and many pigs, and the county armed forces department organized people to hunt on the mountain many times, but even the tiger shadow could not be found, and the helpless county government found He Yewu to help.
After He Yewu went up the mountain and turned around and came down the mountain, he asked the villagers to prepare their homes and wait for the tiger to be carried. That's crazy, isn't it! Dozens of people in the armed forces could not find the tiger for more than half a month, and as soon as he went up the mountain, he was not ashamed, and the villagers were half suspicious.
I really can't believe that he has such a cow. Three days later, the villagers accompanied He Yewu into the mountains to carry out the tiger.
Warring States wrong gold and silver copper tiger devouring deer screen seat Hebei Museum collection
04 Seeking wealth in danger is inevitable to lose your hand
You've surely heard the idiom of "skin the tiger," which means it's impossible and dangerous to succeed. With the tiger skin, from the tiger's mouth to pay money, despite the special skills, the tiger fighting industry can also imagine how dangerous it is. But any successful person may have paid a heavy price behind it. The tiger fighting people in the eyes of the mountain people have also encountered the danger of nearly dying several times.
As the saying goes, if you want to be noble before others, you must suffer before others. Dangerous industries are like walking on the tip of a knife. Although He Yewu's master always repeatedly told him to be more careful and not to be angry. The fledgling He Yewu still planted his heels, and he fell not lightly.
Spring and Autumn Bronze FlowIng Golden Tiger Devouring Sheep-Eater Seat Collection of Gansu Provincial Museum
That year, 18-year-old He Yewu followed his master all the way to track down a tiger that had been shot by an arrow, probably because the tiger was huge and did not have enough potion doses, and chased it for a long time before it was found in a flat area in the mountains. At this time, the tiger lay motionless on the ground, and everyone continued to observe behind for more than an hour, and the tiger still lay motionless, as if dead. He Yewu had the courage to throw a stone at the tiger, but there was still no movement, and the young and vigorous He Yewu did not wait for the masters and brothers to come up, and walked towards the tiger.
Where he knew the danger was also creeping in with his forward steps.
Saying that it was late and fast, the tiger actually jumped up, and a claw directly hit the face of He Yewu, who had not yet come to the front, this action was too fast, He Yewu had no time to dodge. Poor He Yewu screamed in pain, and immediately fell to the ground and rolled on the ground. It was also this time that He Yewu's left eye was caught blind.
Han Eagle Tiger Bucket Pattern Copper Ribbon Decoration Shaanxi History Museum Collection
In 1939, the 40-year-old He Yewu encountered a greater danger. That day He Yewu was idle at home, suddenly heard shouting outside to beat the tiger, he casually picked up a tiger fork and went out of the door, just in front of the tiger who fled into the wilderness, the tiger roared and pounced on He Yewu, and at once threw him to the ground, He Yewu's mouth was torn, and his nose was also scratched off a piece of flesh. Fortunately, there happened to be a unit of officers and men passing by, pulling out their guns and killing the tiger, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
People are like this, you often walk by the river, where there are not wet feet. Especially in high-risk industries, we must be careful and cautious at all times and in order to be able to be preserved.
Shang Dynasty Fu bird double-tailed bronze tiger Collection of Jiangxi Provincial Museum
05 When the wealth comes and goes, wash your hands
As the old saying goes, "He who speaks contraryly also enters in rebellion, and he who enters in contradiction with goods also contradicts himself." This means that money from improper sources is often flowed away in an unjust way. Although fighting tigers was a profession at that time, hunting tigers was also a kind of killing in itself, and fate doomed He Yewu to obtain wealth from this for a long time.
Han Tiger Bites Sheep Bronze Plaque Collection of the Palace Museum
Fighting tigers is a dangerous industry, but also an industry that has become rich. Tigers are full of treasures, tiger bone tiger skin is very valuable, especially tiger bone, which is a valuable Chinese herbal medicine, with the effect of strengthening muscles and bones. At that time, a tiger of 120 to 200 kilograms could sell for 2,000 to 4,000 silver dollars, which was astronomical for the average family, and you know, ordinary people could not earn 2-3 silver dollars a month. Man is a profit-seeking animal, once he has money, there is no shortage of crowds around him, and all kinds of people who claim to be relatives and friends flock to him.
Every time He Yewu went down the mountain, he was pulled away by his good friends, eating, drinking and having fun, and the hard-earned money ran out in ten days and half a month, and He Yewu finally had to borrow money again to go up the mountain, and then squandered it again. The cycle of cause and effect, although he fought countless tigers in his life and handled countless amounts of money, in the end he still had nothing and was so poor that he was dinging.
Warring States Tiger head shaped pottery pipe Collection of the National Museum of China
06 Died in disgrace, and the secret recipe became a mystery
There is compassion and intolerance in every human heart. For He Yewu in his later years, hunting and killing so many tigers did not become glory, but became a sin in his heart.
He also considered himself to have been duly punished.
In the winter of 1980, He Yewu, who had been an enemy of tigers all his life and hunted tigers for a living, was plagued by an illness and was tormented by a strange disease. It is said that the symptoms were like a poisoned tiger, breathing difficulties, pain in the body, all the organs, and he died 2 years later. But until his death, he did not tell any of his apprentices the secret recipe for hunting tigers.
Shanghu-shaped bronze knife from the collection of the Yin Ruins Museum
He once said that he shot 305 tigers in his lifetime, and more than 30 of them still had tiger cubs in their stomachs. .... Now the state has a policy not to fight tigers, and once the secret recipe is passed on to his disciples, it is to make them commit crimes.
The former "first person to fight the tiger in Youxian County" and his secret recipe for fighting the tiger have thus disappeared.
Fighting tigers was a product of that era, and on the surface He Yewu made a contribution to the people at that time. In the face of the tiger, he carried a heavy psychological burden in his life. Although the tiger is a thing, it is also a kind of creature, and in his later years, He Yewu realized this and chose to put down his bow and crossbow and do good deeds and accumulate virtue.
Tang Painted Zodiac Tiger Figurines Collected by Shaanxi History Museum
epilogue
For thousands of years, historical changes, the depth of human understanding of nature has been continuously improved, and the same understanding of tigers has also changed, from the past with tigers as enemies and all-out hunting and killing, to today's tigers as neighbors, trying their best to protect, it is really a vicissitudes, a thousand changes.
In the last century, a large number of environmental destruction led to frequent tiger infestations, and any harm done by humans to nature will eventually be subject to relentless retaliation by nature. Therefore, only the harmonious coexistence of man and all things can promote the complete unity of the ecological structure and achieve the sustainable development of human society.
A generation of tiger fighting people do not pass on the secret of the demise, perhaps it is the old man after reading the hundreds of life, only to realize the importance of reverence for all living things!
I am Qin Fangwu, a traveler walking in the light and shadow of history, even a scale of light and feathers to present its brilliance, but also can't wait to share with you, I hope you like!
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