Tiger stories and tiger culture in Fujian

[News Page-Taiwan Straits Network]

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The Latin literary name of the South China tiger is "Xiamen Tiger", this is because the South China Tiger was first found by the American Cardwell on Xiamen Island in Fujian Province, it can be said that Xiamen and the tiger have a deep relationship, and then the whole of Fujian Province, but also circulated a lot of historical records and cultural customs about the tiger, it can be said that the entire land of Fujian is related to the tiger.

Heron Island Tiger Thing

In addition to the naming of the "Xiamen Tiger", there are many tiger stories in Xiamen in history. According to the "Book of Min" written by He Qiaoyuan in the Ming Dynasty, in the sixteenth year of Ming Zhengde (1521), "there was a tiger plague in Tong'an County", which should be regarded as an earlier record of tiger traces in Xiamen, and in modern times, the Shanghai "Declaration" in 1881 also reported: "Xiamen has recently suffered a lot of tiger plagues. ”

In 2007, "Xiamen Daily" told about several famous "tiger incidents" in modern Xiamen, and directly paraphrased here: In 1916, a tiger broke into Gulangyu Island at dusk, was killed by an island patrol and killed in an alley, and later this alley was renamed Tiger Lane; from 1923 to 1925, Xiamen tigers were frequently plagued, many people died in tiger mouth, and on December 14, 1925, a large tiger of more than 400 kilograms appeared on Wanshi Mountain in the white day, was killed on the spot by the police team, and still has the original carving." In December of the fourteenth year of the Republic of China, the police force defeated the tiger here" stone stele.

For more than 20 years, the tiger plague on Heron Island was intermittent, and it was not until around 1949 that several tigers were hunted and killed in succession in Huzai Mountain, Dianqian and other places. So, in fact, xiamen really has no trace of tigers here? The author also inquired about some information and found that in the "Xiamen Ancient Anthology" compiled by Mr. Fan Shouchun, there was a sentence in 1956 that "there are tigers haunting daping mountain in Haicang Aoguan Village", which is the most recent account of the Tiger Trail in Xiamen.

It may not be surprising that there are tigers in Tong'an, Haicang and other places outside Xiamen Island, but why do tigers roar on the island for a longer period of time? This is due to the fact that Xiamen Island is closer to the inland, the middle bay is shallower, although the tiger mainly inhabits the mountains and forests, but also good at swimming, crossing such a short distance is still easy, just as the tiger on Gulangyu Island mentioned above, it is reported that it was crossed by the South Taiwu Mountain in Longhai, Zhangzhou.

In addition, in the old days, Heron Island has always been sparsely populated, and decades ago, the islanders still regarded going to Zhongshan Road and ferry as "entering the city", and there were many stone caves and abundant food on Wanshi Mountain on the island, which also provided a guarantee for the survival of tigers.

Eight Min tiger roar

Not only in Xiamen, but also in fujian throughout history, it is also the main habitat of the South China tiger, and the resulting tiger infestation is not uncommon. Tiger infestations in Fujian are frequent, and their harm is great, the duration is long, and the coverage is wide, which is also rare in the whole country. Because the ancients regarded the tiger as a god, many Fang Zhi specifically described the tiger plague as a kind of "auspicious difference", which left valuable information for our study of tiger history today.

Looking at the historical records of various places, it is not difficult to find many accounts of tiger plagues, "Yongchun Zhou Zhi": "(Ming) Hongwu twenty years (1387), Yongchun, Dehua tigers came out, day devouring people, or night closed doors. "Ningde County Chronicle": "In the spring of the sixteenth year (1521) of Zhengde (Ming), fierce tigers came out. "Fuzhou Fuzhi": "In the thirteenth year (1585) of the (Ming Wanli Calendar), a tiger entered the city in Lianjiang County. "Chronicle of Qingliu County": "During the fifty years (1785) of Qianlong( 1785), the countryside suffered from tiger plagues for many years, and more than dozens of people were killed and injured. ”

According to Mr. Min Zongdian's statistics, at least 44 counties and cities in Fujian were ravaged by tigers during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The long-term tiger plague caused huge social losses to Fujian, such as the Serious Tiger Plague in the Dehua area during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, resulting in "the succession of people's deaths, the consumption of household registration, and the shortage of fields". In terms of the number of people killed by the tiger, there are many records in the historical records such as "closing the door to the end", "more than dozens", "hundreds of counts", the most tragic of which should be the Changtai tiger plague during the Qing Kangxi period recorded in the "Anxi County Chronicle", "more than a thousand people died from the tiger".

Fujian tigers have many diseases and have profound historical reasons. First of all, the distribution of tigers in Fujian history is widespread, according to relevant statistics, the survival of a tiger needs at least 70 square kilometers of forest, the requirements for the ecological environment are extremely high, and the Fujian mountains are deeply forested, known as "eight mountains, one water and one field", so far the forest coverage rate is still the first in the country, and it has long been regarded as a barbaric place in history, which provides conditions for the distribution of tigers.

In modern times, especially since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the tiger plague in Fujian has intensified, mainly because people's development of the land has expanded, resulting in the gradual compression of the tiger's living space. After the Ming Dynasty, corn, sweet potatoes, etc. were introduced to the mainland, so that some areas that were not suitable for rice cultivation, such as high mountains and hills and terraces, gradually evolved into new agricultural areas. In the Qing Dynasty, the Kangxi Emperor declared in 1712 that "the prosperous world breeds people and never adds endowments", which caused the population to surge and the area of farmland to rise sharply. In view of the characteristics of Fujian's mountains and many fields, the Qianlong Emperor specially formulated "after the people's reclamation, regardless of the paddy fields and dry fields... Those who are less than one acre, and who are not adjacent to the top of the hill in the corner of the land although they are one acre, shall be exempted from the provisions of the ". The implementation of these incentive policies has further reduced the activity area of the Mindi tiger, and fierce human-tiger conflicts are bound to occur in some areas.

At this point, the land of Eight Fujian could not hear the sound of tigers roaring.

Fear and respect

For human beings, the tiger has always been a contradictory image, on the one hand, it is afraid of its ferocious nature, which has produced statements such as talking about the tiger's discoloration and raising tigers; on the other hand, it is fearful of the mighty tiger, and worships it, and even does not directly call it a tiger, but is called "mountain king". This contradictory thinking has also deeply affected the tiger culture in Fujian.

In Xiamen, the cultural influence of the tiger is everywhere, rooted in all aspects of people's lives. First, there are many geographical names named after tigers. According to statistics, Xiamen has 17 tiger roads, 22 tiger mountains, according to the "Xiamen Geographical Names" interpretation, of which Tiger Mountain, Tiger Lane, Huxi Rock, etc. are named because of the presence of tigers, while Hutou Mountain, Huyu Island, etc. are named because of the tiger-like terrain. Secondly, the religious temples on the island are also related to the tiger, such as the Huyan Temple under the Wenping Mountain on the island, not only because of the tiger's name, but also the temple is also dedicated to the Tiger Ring in the town of Hand Qing, sitting next to the tiger, the Fuhu Arhat; the Beautiful White Tiger Rock is dedicated to the Jizo Bodhisattva, and the Quanzhou Fuzhi records that "there are white tigers who are harmed, and the rock monks can stop it." One day, the monk rode the tiger back and went into the cave to be transformed", and a temple was built to worship.

In Fujian Province, tiger culture is even more abundant and diverse. In the Ming Dynasty Feng Menglong's "Awakening to the World", the article "Big Tree Slope Yihu Sending Relatives" is set in Fujian and tells the story of the tiger helping people to marry. In many places in Fujian there is also the story of the tiger aunt, it is said that it is a tiger spirit, can be transformed into human form, deceive children, in recent years more Taiwanese scholars have examined, this legend is the prototype of the European wolf grandmother story, only because there is no tiger in Europe, it was changed to a wolf; ancient Min people also believe that the tiger is the mount of the land public, so the tiger hurt people is to get the permission of the land public, intended to punish evil, so the temple incense case under the worship of the "tiger master" statue, and because the tiger mouth can take money, so it is worshipped as the god of wealth, and religion believes that the tiger has the function of driving away the epidemic and the town house.

The legends of many historical and religious celebrities in Mindi are also traced by tigers, and the most influential of them is the story of the Song Dynasty divine doctor Wu Kun's healing of tigers. Legend has it that there was a tiger with a throat injury, asking for help from Wu Mao, Wu wore a brass ring to support the tiger's mouth to heal its wounds, and later the tiger became Wu Mao's mount, and now there is often a statue of a tiger under the statue of Emperor Baosheng, named "Black Tiger General".

Tiger Po Milk is a goddess believed by the people in the Minjiang River Basin, also known as "Lady Jiang", the legend is that the people of pingnan, after the tiger was killed, became a fairy, because the folk believe that the tiger is the nemesis of pox, the tiger po po milk has gradually evolved into the god of pox protection.

The Fujian monks of the Tang Dynasty "passed through the forest mang, and the tigers were tamed"; the master of Fuhu, the Ninghua people of the Song Dynasty, named for his proficiency in taming fierce tigers, still have many believers in the Changting area of western Fujian; Wang Yingchu, a Yanxi man of the Yuan Dynasty, sacrificed himself to fight the tiger to save his father, and the emperor rewarded the construction of the archway to show his filial piety, so his hometown was renamed "Jingxiaoli"; the Zodiac Zhou of Zhangzhou was born in the late Ming Dynasty, recruited troops to resist the Qing, and legend has it that when he was young, he spoke "Yi" and there were fierce tigers to listen.

The influence of the tiger is also manifested in the customs of life, as early as the Song Dynasty's "Records of the Gods" recorded the custom of Jian'ou people living in large trees to avoid tiger disasters. The "Fujian Provincial Chronicle and Folklore" records some tiger-related customs in modern Fujian, such as when a child is full moon or one year old, grandmothers, aunts, aunts and other relatives must send a tiger head hat, called "Fushou hat", in addition to wearing tiger shoes and other customs. Zhangpu, Hui'an and other places also have tiger head graphic embroidered hats, and the "king" character on the tiger's forehead is similar to the bold font, exaggerated but beautiful. The national intangible cultural heritage "Zhangzhou Woodblock New Year Painting" often has the "Five Fortune Map", taking the meaning of the two words of tiger and Fu, painting five fierce tigers guarding around the cornucopia, in addition to the Fujian New Year painting also has "Fu Hu Qian Tu".

In the Puxian area, married women in the plains revere red clothing, but in their mountainous areas, women hardly wear red, this is due to the old tiger infestation, and the legend that red is easy to attract tigers. Fujian folk have the saying that "breaking the sun" and "rushing the sun" do not go out, and the Quanzhou area avoids traveling on tiger days. Before the founding of New China, dehua tigers were frequently plagued, and the bones of those who were victims of tigers had to be buried in a jar in order to prevent them from becoming "servants" who helped tigers eat people.

There are many kinds of zodiac taboos in Fujian folklore, among which the taboo against tigers is particularly prominent. For example, when the rural livestock and poultry pen is built, it is generally avoided that people belonging to the tiger are present, for fear that the livestock will be restless in the future. After the pregnant woman gives birth, people who are taboo tigers go to visit, and in Qingliu County, Xiao Hu must cover the face with a rice sieve and see the baby through the sieve hole. Fujian folk marriage is generally taboo for women to belong to the tiger, so the old often changed the zodiac signs of babies born in the first and second half of the year of the tiger to cows and rabbits respectively... Today, the influence of these feudal ideas has gradually weakened.

Interestingly, Fujian also has some phenomena similar to xiaohu worship, such as according to our search, all patients in the Zhangpu area who have chicken pox or mumps, the family will ask the tiger person to write a "tiger" on the patient's face, thinking that this will drive away the disease, obviously influenced by the legend of the tiger mother's milk to cure acne. In Longyan and other places, for patients with neck pain caused by falling pillows, it is also a person who asks Xiao Hu for help, letting him beat his back, thinking that this move can remove pain.

Tiger's Den Tiger Void?

Fujian and Taiwan have been geographically close to each other since ancient times, and now there are often tiger masters under the desks of Taiwan temples, and most of their shapes are brave and cute, mainly used to protect children; after the Sino-Japanese War, the people of Taiwan raised the yellow tiger flag and actively resisted the Japanese invaders; in Taiwan, there are also considerable people who believe in religious idols related to tigers such as Baosheng The Great and Tiger Mother. These tiger cultures, which are in the same vein, are also a cultural link that brings people on both sides of the strait closer.

For the protection of the mighty and lovely "Xiamen Tiger", it is necessary to carry out it in the sense of culture and ecology. In the inheritance of tiger culture, it is necessary to carry forward its positive side, and also to abandon some erroneous ideas such as zodiac discrimination.

Xiamen is named "Heron Island" because of the egret, and its cultural and creative development thinking often revolves around the image of "heron". In fact, although there is no wild "Xiamen tiger" distribution now, but Xiamen and even Fujian can still do a good job of "tiger" articles, development and design of a number of "Xiamen tiger" publicity image and slogan, such as Japan, South Korea and other countries now have no tiger distribution, but this does not affect people's love for it, 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are the choice of brave and lovely "tiger" as a mascot. In the future, when Xiamen and even Fujian hold some large-scale events, you may also consider using "Xiamen Tiger" as a mascot, and its image is more anthropomorphic and market-oriented than that of "Egret".

To this day, the former "Mountain King" has almost no suitable habitat, and the once-noisy Shaanxi "Zhenglong Shooting Tiger" incident has suddenly shattered people's disillusionment with wild South China tigers, and in its hometown of Xiamen, it has been hidden for many years. The author once went to a village in Tong'an District, Xiamen, known as "Tiger Kong", but found that the stone stele at the mouth of the village was marked "Tiger's Den". Tiger Space? Ventured? After the question, I couldn't help but be dumbfounded, and the tiger died in the void, and I didn't know it.

In Fujian Province, there are no tigers to be found in the wild today, the most recent record is the discovery of tigers hanging claws (traces of tiger claws) in the Meihuashan Nature Reserve in Longyan City at the end of the last century, as described in the "Fujian Provincial Chronicle" published in 2003, and there are also reports that in June 2003, many local people in Yongding encountered tigers, but they were not confirmed by experts. However, it is gratifying that Meihuashan introduced South China tigers for rewilding in September 1998, and took the lead in launching the "Meihuashan South China Tiger Conservation Project" in the country, and more than 60 animals have been bred.

Fujian is mountainous, watery, green, General Secretary Xi Jinping once stressed that "ecological resources are the most valuable resources in Fujian", with the overall continuous improvement of the ecological environment in recent years, it is expected that one day the roar of the tiger will once again echo in the deep mountains of The land of Fujian.

In the Year of the Tiger, let us bless the mighty and lovely "Xiamen Tiger"!

(Author Affilications:College of Science and Technology, Ningbo University)