Time has passed. Tigers are highly cared for by today's people because they are becoming rarer, and at the same time, the "Chinese dragon and tiger culture" that has been passed down for thousands of years is also inseparable and closely related to the lives of Suzhou people. As the Year of the Tiger approached, a reporter from Suzhou Literature and History reporter Chen Qidi and Ke Jiji, an expert in Suzhou literature and history, learned about the indissoluble relationship between the "tiger" and Suzhou from their stories.
The Chinese New Year is just around the corner
The smell of "tiger" in the streets and alleys is stronger
Chen Qidi introduced that in the zodiac, the tiger is a popular one - its indissoluble relationship with the Chinese nation dates back to a thousand years ago: there is the word "tiger" in the oracle bones of Yin Xu, which is very both form and god; the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Shuowen Jiezi" calls it "the king of the mountain beasts", that is, "the king of the beasts"; there is no shortage of "tiger words and tiger languages" in early texts, such as "tiger change" and "tiger looking at the tiger" in "Yi", "tiger worship" in "poetry", "tiger ben" mentioned in "book", "tiger festival" written in "Zhou Li"...
Historically, the eastern, northern and western sides of the ancient city of Suzhou have indeed had tiger tracks, and there is no shortage of "tigers" in Suzhou's place names.
Qin Xueyan's brush stroke "Kai Huai"
Ke inherits, he thinks
Tigers and Suzhou are not shallow
Suzhou Changshu City is referred to as "Yu", and the word "Yu" is to add a "tiger head" to the word "Wu". According to legend, Taibo and Zhongyong went to Wu, followed the customs of the Wu people, cut off their long hair, and had tattoos on their bodies, indicating that they would not return to their hometowns. They spread Zhou culture and advanced farming techniques in Wudi and were loved by the Wu people. The Wu people embraced Tabor as king. After Zhongyong's death, he was buried in Wumu Mountain in Changshu, because Zhongyong was also known as "Yu Zhong", and in order to commemorate him, his descendants changed Wumu Mountain to YuShan. The origin of this "虞" character is, according to research, the ancient style of the ancient "fish" character.
However, Ke Also believes that some character lovers in Sioux City also hold another view, believing that the word "Yu" is a vivid expression of the costume of the Wu people at that time, wearing tiger skin, wearing a tiger hat, invincible, more majestic, can be described as a tiger among people, leading the tribe to live endlessly in Wudi.
The reporter's review of historical materials found that there were indeed tigers in Changshu, and the "Private Chronicle of Changshu County" recorded: "When yi did not build a city, the shannan woodcutters entered the city with a negative salary, and on the way back they encountered a tiger, and they were driven to Hutian with their hands, and the tiger died of his left leg. Wanli Decou, Huang Sipu Tiger crossed the river to trap in the sand, for the pawns to get, Xie County, the crowd into the county hall to see. ”
Chen Qidi told reporters that during the Ming Dynasty, wild tigers appeared outside Changshu County and in today's Huangsipu, Zhangjiagang. Moreover, on the territory of today's Suzhou, there have been almost all "tiger traces" in history, and some "tiger plagues" have also left place names related to them, which have been included in local local chronicles, and there are still "tiger traces" to follow.
Suzhou is rich in wildlife resources, and there are many tigers. At the same time, the two scholars also listed the "tiger" traces and "tiger" traces in Suzhou's place names for reporters one by one.
Enough to identify Suzhou's first wuzhong scenic spot "Tiger Hill", also known as Haiyong Mountain, in the northwest of Suzhou City, the mountain height of 36 meters, covers an area of more than 300 acres, known for "small mountain scenery", but also related to "tiger".
According to legend, the Spring and Autumn Wu King Was buried here, "built for three days and the white tiger was on the top, so it was called Tiger Hill". In addition to the legend of the White Tiger, the Song people carefully recorded in the "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Decoction": "In recent years, there are more than ten tigers in Pingjiang Tiger Hill. The Tomb of the Tongli Ye Clan is in Yan, and its great hall of enjoyment, the tiger is designed for the place of food and rest. It is clearly recorded that at that time, Tiger Hill had "more than ten" tigers, perhaps a tiger group, compared to the earliest white tiger, more than that. It can be seen that Tiger Hill was once a veritable Tiger Hill.
Hushuguan, which has a history of more than 2,000 years, was first called liú .hulu.) Legend has it that when Qin Shi Huang traveled south to Suzhou, he encountered a white tiger at Tiger Hill, led his troops to chase out more than 20 miles, and in a field (a field after burning), the tiger disappeared, so he called this place "Tiger Dumpling". In the fifth dynasty, the Wuyue king Qian Hao (liú) avoided "疁", and only then changed his name to "Hushu".
Wuzhong District was even more powerful
There are two Tiger Mountains
One is in the Eastern Mountains of Wushan, this mountain is really called Tiger Mountain, and it is said that King Wu raised tigers here.
The other is in the northwest of Guangfu Town, where there is a Tiger Mountain and a Tiger Mountain Bridge at the bottom of the mountain. According to the old "Guangfu Zhi", it is also because King Wu once raised tigers here that there is such a mountain name. In 1956, archaeologists found neolithic sites in Guangfu Hushan, with a height of 8 meters, an east-west width of about 150 meters, a length of about 415 meters from north to south, and an area of about 60,000 square meters; in 1960, a review was conducted to collect strip-shaped stone tungsten, triangular stone ploughs, clay gray pottery beans and printed hard pottery pieces from the Spring and Autumn Warring States period in the Liangzhu culture period; in 1998, a songze culture tomb was found in the fissure layer of the western foothills of Hushan Mountain, and clay red pottery beans, pots and other utensils were unearthed.
Chen Qidi believes that the two tiger mountains for the elderly, whether true or false, always convey a message, in the Wu kingdom more than 2500 years ago, there were already captive tigers.
When it comes to raising tigers, there are tiger tombs in the Master of Nets Garden in the ancient city of Suzhou. Ke Inherit introduced that in front of the temple of the Master of Nets Garden, there was indeed a tiger buried there, and it was a tiger shaved by Master Shi Yinguang.
In 1982, Zhang Daqian, a master of Chinese painting in Taiwan, sent back from Taipei a tombstone inscription - "The Tomb of the Tiger Brother by Brother Xianzhong", which was written in the following paragraph: "Daqian Zhang Inscription Book".
The previous story of this story is: Zhang Daqian's second brother Zhang Shanxiao is good at drawing tigers. In 1935, a unit got a young tiger in a cave in Guizhou. The young tiger changed hands several times and was sent to Zhang Shanxiao's hands. He named him "Tiger Er" and loved him so much that he once sent the Pure Land Sect master Yin Guang to be accepted as an apprentice. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Shanxiao's family left Suzhou to escape the chaos of the war and entrusted Hu'er to his disciple Wu Zijing to take care of him. Later, Wu Zijing also took refuge and temporarily left Suzhou, fearing that the tiger would be lost, so he locked it in a cage. When I came back a few days later, I saw that the tiger had eaten all the remaining grain and starved to death. Zhang Shanxiao was saddened when she heard the news. Some people raise tigers to become troubled, and Suzhou painters raise tigers into "paintings", which has a kind of elegance.
In addition, Chen Qidi introduced that according to the "Chronicle of Wu County of the Republic of China", there were once bridges called "Huxiao Bridge" outside the Qi Gate and LouMen in Suzhou. The origin of the bridge name may also be related to tigers.
"The 'Tiger Whistle Bridge' that Suzhou people can see on Sanxiang Road today, some people think that the name of this 'Tiger Whistle Bridge' may be the 'Tiger Whistle Bridge' as mentioned in the old zhi, and the 'whistle' is a mistake of the word 'whistle'." Chen Qidi said.
In addition to the place names, the reporter also found that suzhou people's love for tigers is even more overflowing in daily life. Because I love it, I amuse it. There are "tiger paws" for sale, which is actually a kind of sweet baked cake, so named because of its shape similar to the claws of a tiger.
Authentic tiger's claws are crisp and not the outside, slightly firm is its characteristic, the taste is sweet but not heavy. If you like the taste of older, choose the brown yellow dark, like the tender, choose the light color. Although "tiger paws" are no longer common, they are still sold in small shops in Suzhou Hengjie and other places.
Ke inherits that from these strong "tiger" flavors, people can see that in Suzhou City, which has a deep cultural heritage, Ya culture and city culture blend together, giving the city a vivid and moving color. This is also the reason why more and more people love Suzhou and yearn for Suzhou.
January 30, 2022 Gusu Evening News A04 edition
Source: Su Bao Rong Media reporter Guang Hao Yi Wei Hang Xingwei
Edit: Xiao Ji