In traditional Chinese culture, the tiger has been regarded as a beast symbolizing courage, strength and wealth since ancient times, and also as the protector of the evil spirit of Fuzheng.
Tigers are not only listed in the "Zodiac", but also appear in many elements of life such as clothing accessories, architectural decorations, eating utensils, cultural relics and artworks.
Among the exquisite cultural relics in the Collection of Anhui, there are a large number of "tiger cultural relics", from the bronze of the Shang Zhou Dynasty, the stone carvings of the Qin and Han Dynasties, and even the calligraphy and paintings of the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. They may be majestic, or they may be cute, or they may be tiger-headed... Form a cultural relics "Little Tiger Team" to accompany the audience to spend the New Year together.
Reporter: Liu Yuanyuan The pictures are provided by the Anhui Museum except for the labeling
Editor: Yang Jingjing Zhang Xuezi Proofreader: Li Li
Draft: Pan Yangang Review: Ma Xiangyu
Produced by Anhui Business Daily "Slowly" Studio
Where can I see tiger relics?
In the new and old halls of the Anhui Museum, a "Tiger Tiger Shengfu - 2022 Nonyin Year of the Tiger New Year Zodiac Cultural Relics (Photo) Joint Exhibition" gathering "Tiger Cultural Relics" is on display until March 27. The audience can not only enjoy the tiger-related cultural relics, specimens and artworks from nearly 50 cultural institutions across the country through pictures, but also more than 70 physical exhibits of "tiger cultural relics" collected by the Anhui Museum are also collectively unveiled in the old museum to celebrate the New Year.
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Ranked among the eight treasures of the Anhui Museum, the "Dragon and Tiger Pattern Four-Ring Copper Drum Seat" is the most famous.
Dragon and tiger pattern four-ring copper drum holder
It came from the Spring and Autumn Tomb of Jiulidun in Shucheng in September 1980, with a drum seat in the shape of a circle, and the upper edges are surrounded by high reliefs to mold roaring tigers and one-horned dragons. The outer wall of the drum seat is cast with an inscription for two weeks, and judging from the inscription, this drum seat should be a tool for the bell to leave the public for personal use.
The National Museum of China holds bronze bronze statues of dragons and tigers from the Shang Dynasty
The image is from the official website of the National Museum of China
Another national treasure "tiger cultural relic" unearthed in Anhui belongs to the "Shang Dynasty Dragon and Tiger Pattern Bronze Statue" now in the National Museum of China, which will appear in the form of a replica in this zodiac exhibition. The "Bronze Statue of Dragon and Tiger Pattern of the Shang Dynasty" was discovered in 1957 in the Crescent River in Zhuzhan District, Funan Province, and is also the earliest precious cultural relics to express the picture of "dragon and tiger hegemony". In 2021, it also attracted much attention for "colliding face" with bronze artifacts unearthed from Sanxingdui.
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The tiger became a symbol of power because of its awe-inspiring image of majesty. In ancient mainland china, there were not only tiger charms that dispatched troops and symbolized military power, but the image of the tiger appeared in large numbers on official seals and aristocratic accessories.
Spring and Autumn Jade Tiger
This "Spring and Autumn Jade Tiger" allows the audience to feel the momentum of the tiger and the tenderness of the jade. This jade tiger is in the shape of a tiger, with a relief of the cloud valley pattern all over the body, and the delicate use of the frivolous ornament to form the outline of the tiger's head and feet. There are perforations on the back ridge, which should be a favorite accessory of the ancient nobility.
Yuan Dynasty Tiger Button Jade Oshi
Another Yuan Dynasty Tiger Button Jade Charge is from the tomb of Fan Wenhu, a high-ranking official of the Song and Yuan dynasties, although Fan Wenhu was a subordinate of the Southern Song Dynasty, but in the Yuan Dynasty, the official Yun Hengtong. On this first-class cultural relic, the seal button of the jade is a crouching tiger, looking forward and looking forward from the head and tail, and the workmanship is exquisite, reflecting the superb level of craftsmanship in the Yuan Dynasty. Pledge is an ancient seal, generally as a letter, is the ancient instrument of contract signing or substitute signature symbol, in the Yuan Dynasty official documents are more popular. Jade abalones made from jade were generally used by high-ranking officials or nobles.
In the Qing Dynasty, Tongzhi ruled for three years as the Admiral of the Yangtze River
Courtesy of Bengbu City Museum
Another national first-class cultural relic related to the tiger in Anhui is the "Silver Seal of the Admiral of the Yangtze River in the Three Years of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty" now in the Bengbu City Museum, which is also one of the treasures of the five major towns of the Bengbu City Museum.
This seven-and-a-half-pound silver official seal features a tiger crouched, its eyes shining with vigor, the word "King" engraved on its forehead, a pattern engraved all over its body, sharp claws and fangs, and majestic style. In the third year of Qing Tongzhi, the Qing government appointed Huang Yi, the general of the Xiang Army's water division, to be promoted to "Admiral of the Yangtze River Water Division", and this "Silver Seal of the Admiral of the Yangtze River Water Division in the Third Year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty" was born. Huang Yisheng's great-granddaughter is the famous female writer Zhang Ailing.
Folk art
In traditional Chinese culture, the tiger is very popular, can distinguish between good and evil, ward off demons and exorcise ghosts, and can also protect children's growth and drive away family disasters. In the copper, porcelain, gold and jade of the dynasties, the image of the tiger is colorful and vivid. In Chinese folk art and folk culture, the tiger also occupies a pivotal position.
Bagua Twelve Tatsurobi Bronze Mirror
This Tang "Bagua Twelve Chen Diamond Flower Bronze Mirror" is in the shape of an eight-petal diamond flower, and the petal interior is Bagua pattern, decorated with plant patterns. The mirror button is turtle-shaped, decorated with seawater patterns around the button, and arranged in a rectangular manner around the zodiac pattern including tigers, with cirrus cloud patterns on the outside, which is exquisite and beautiful.
Sauce glazed tiger headrest
This "Song sauce glazed tiger head pillow", the pillow body is made into a tiger head shape, and the sauce brown glaze is applied. The tiger's eyes are painted with black dots, and the teeth are exposed, making them look lifelike. The pillow surface is cleverly designed as a wide leaf surface with green glaze, which is covered over the tiger's head, which is vivid and interesting.
Jasper tiger striped martingale
Tigers also often appear in the image of "tigers" in cultural relics, and the audience can appreciate the style of this sacred beast from a Ming Dynasty "copper tiger pattern amphora" in the exhibition. Guan Danping, deputy research librarian of the Exhibition Design Department of the Anhui Museum, introduced that the mite is a kind of sacred beast in ancient legends, belonging to the dragon class, and the pattern was first seen on the bronze ware of the Shang Zhou Dynasty. The tiger is a combination of a dragon and a tiger, with the posture of a dragon and a tiger, and its image is majestic and powerful, which is often found in ancient Chinese cultural relics.
Another Qing Dynasty "jasper tiger striped tiger striped 韘 (shè)" also has four reliefs of the tiger.
Tiger into the painting
Chinese love of tigers is also reflected in a large number of calligraphy and painting works.
Ming Dynasty painter Ding Yunpeng "Statue of His Holiness Fuhu"
In this "Portrait of The Venerable Fu Hu" by the Ming Dynasty painter Ding Yunpeng, the Fu Hu Venerable stands in the shade of the bamboo with a banana fan in his hand, a white-fronted tiger with a hanging eye close to him, and one person and one tiger all stare at the waiter holding a book in the opposite hand, as if listening to him.
According to legend, outside the temple where His Holiness Fuhu lived, there were often tigers roaring with hunger, and His Holiness Fuhu distributed his food to the tigers, so he surrendered them, so he was called Fuhu Arhat. Guan Danping introduced that Ding Yunpeng is a native of Xiuning, Anhui Province, who is good at painting figures and Buddhist themes, and also paints illustrations and ink notation for The Huizhou engraving and ink making industry, and has contributed to the development of Huipai printmaking.
Modern Zhang Shanxiao Zhang Daqian's collaboration "Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon Axis"
The painter Zhang Daqian has an international reputation in landscape painting, and his second brother Zhang Shanxiao is known for painting tigers and calls himself "Tiger Fool". In this exhibition, the public had the opportunity to enjoy Zhang Shanxiao's cooperation with Zhang Daqian in "Wind Tiger Cloud Dragon Axis", pine tree branches, mother and son two tigers resting and playing under the tree, vivid and rare to see.