The tiger story in "Liaozhai" | scene

This is Mikey by Swedish artist Lisa Larson, but unfortunately the Zodiac doesn't play with cats

On the day of ushering in the Year of the Tiger, re-reading "Liaozhai Zhiyi" naturally pays special attention to the "Tiger Story" in the book.

When Pu Songling wrote the "Tiger Story", he mostly used the magic method. The so-called "illusion" is called "transformation because of the change of form, which is called illusion". The "Miao Sheng" section is the story of the tiger transforming into a human being. In this chapter, the author makes the tiger transform into a scholar, who is also a "great husband", "a gimmicky and rude", "grabbing the arm to persuade the people" when drinking, making people "the arm is painful", "imitating the dragon groaning, the valley responds, and then pitching to make the lion dance"; finally because of "anger", "the ground roared, immediately turned into a tiger, slaughtered the guests, roared away", at this time "and occasionally saw the crane suddenly, knowing that it was not human". Revealed the true face of the tiger.

"Xiang Gao" writes that Xiang Gao's brother Xiang Sheng was beaten to death by the arrogant Zhuang Gongzi, and Xiang Gao wrote a complaint to go to the official palace to file a complaint, but because Zhuang Gongzi "went around to make money" and had nowhere to file a grievance, "hidden anger in the knot, can not be controlled to sue", and later put on the Daoist robe given to him by the Taoist, turned into a tiger and killed Zhuang, "Gong Qi's head, swallow it", Zhuang's bodyguard shot the tiger to make Xiang Fu human form. This passage adopts two forms of illusion, first human beings transform into animals, and later, animals transform into adults.

Tracing back to the roots, there have been similar ideas in Tang novels. There are many stories of human and tiger illusion in the Taiping Guangji, and some of the stories also have depictions of tigers eating people. For example, "Zhang Feng" in Li Fuyan's "Records of the Continuation of xuan weirdness", wrote that Zhang Feng suddenly turned into a tiger during his outing, and was quite hungry for a long time, but Zheng Lushi, who had traveled to the road, ate it and reverted to human form. Later, when he talked about this matter during the banquet, Zheng Zhizi was present and wanted to kill him with a knife, but he was dissuaded by everyone. In the story "Zhang Feng", Zhang Fenghuahu is purely accidental, and the killing of Zheng is only to fill the hunger. In "Li Zheng", it is written that Li Zhenghua's tiger eating people is also "forced by hunger".

Comparing the content of the story slightly, it can be seen that the "Xiang Gao" in "Liaozhai" is more integrated into the author's social ethics concept - to avenge his brother. What man cannot accomplish, he can only borrow the tiger to take revenge. "However, there are many people who are in charge of the world's affairs, so that the complainers are often human, and the hate is not ordered to be a tiger for the time being!" The reason why people transform into tigers is to use supernatural and surreal forces to take revenge and strive for justice and fairness that cannot be sought in real life.

There is also a kind of tiger story in "Liaozhai", and Pu Songling wrote that the king of the beasts also had a time to lead the neck to be killed and bowed to the slave. In "Adult", the author makes "a woman and two tigers", and "a man cooks tiger meat to feed the guest". In "Black Beast", the tiger buries a deer in the ground, and then, like inviting distinguished guests, invites a black beast to come, because the buried deer has been stolen before, "the tiger probes the deer, and the battle does not dare to move slightly", the black beast claws hit the tiger's forehead, and the tiger was killed.

There are also many humane stories about tigers. Li Daoyuan's "Notes on the Water Classic" has a story that there are tigers in Jiujiang County that eat people, and the common people are miserable; Zong Jun, when he was too defensive, rebuked corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and the tigers also left Jiujiang County. In "The Tale of Guangyi", the fisherman Zhang Yuzhou plucked the thorn in the palm of the tiger, and was later rewarded by the tiger. The Song dynasty Peng Cheng's "Ink Guest Swinging Rhinoceros" said that every time a tiger eats a person, a gap is added to the ear. There was Zhu Taiqi, a filial piety, who was caught by a tiger whose ears turned into a jagged tooth and ran deep into the mountains, Zhu Tai shouted: "Tiger, you are too cruel!" You ate me, but who did my mother rely on? As soon as this remark came out, the tiger put Zhu Tai down, and Xiaozi escaped the disaster. In the "Yi Jianzhi", there is a description of the "righteous tiger" repaying favors. "Zhao Milk Doctor" Yun: There is a milk doctor Zhao fifteen sister-in-law, was invited to give birth, to a hole, saw the female tiger Fang can not be down, Zhao Yishu made her give birth to three sons, but was sent back. Tomorrow night, someone outside said: "Thank you for saving my wife, out of this mile, he wounded a monk, and there are gold five or two in the bag, which can be taken." "The dawn goes, as the words are golden.

In "Liaozhai Zhiyi", there are also several tigers in tiger stories, which appear in the image of "righteous tigers". The tiger in "Zhao Chenghu" mistakenly ate the only son of an old lady who was more than seventy years old, and later his conscience found out that he was guilty of prostrating himself. Amazingly, the tiger did everything in its power to feed the old lady. The tiger first placed a dead deer in the yard of the old lady's house, and the old lady sold venison and deer skins for living expenses. Since then, tigers have often come and gone, grabbing gold and silver cloth and placing them in the yard of the old lady's house. The old lady felt that the tiger had helped her even "more than her son." After the old lady died, the tiger went to the grave to mourn. "The Second Class" is also written about Yihu. The tigress turned into an old woman, sent two sons, Ban Claw and Ban Ya, and asked Mr. Yin, a good doctor, to cure the two tumors in the corners of the tigress's mouth, and pay the doctor with meat. Three years later, Mr. Yin was besieged by wolves in the mountains, and in a critical moment, two tigers suddenly appeared and rescued the doctor. After the tiger left, Mr. Yin met the old woman again and invited him to his home for hospitality. After the doctor woke up, he saw a tiger "fang did not wake up, there were two scars between the beaks (the scars left by the wound healing when Mr. Yin helped the tiger treat the tumor), all as big as a fist", "the first two tigers are the second class".

Pu Songling's tiger is more endowed with Confucian ethical concepts, with human nature, knowing gratitude and repaying kindness, "can seek medical treatment, can pay medical treatment, can repay medical treatment, can not be said to be filial piety and righteousness." Dan Minglun, a commentator in the Qing Dynasty's "Liaozhai Zhiyi", was quite insightful when talking about the "righteous tiger" written by Pu Songling, but Minglun said: "Everyone hates tigers, fears tigers, avoids tigers and does not dare to see tigers, does not want to have tigers, and does not know that they are ashamed of this tiger." Cover the tiger and man, then strive to be a man, so the fur tiger, and the heart of the heart; man and the tiger, the mechanics for the tiger, so the fur man and the heart of the tiger. Tigers do not all have the heart of the tiger, but the people are salty with their tigers, far away, avoid them, and their suffering is still small; or people with tiger hearts, then people are still with their people, and those who are close and close, their victims can be better than words! ”

Author: Jing Yiping

Editor: Xie Juan

Editor-in-Charge: Shu Ming

*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.