Page 118 - Chinese Porcelain Vol I, Galland

86 CHINESE PORCELAIN.

with the As a charm "
present princes." (vol. ii. p. 273) : Tigers'
claws are worn to insure good fortune, or ward off sickness,
fire, or fright."
"
Doolittle, p. 229 : This animal is worshipped by two
different classes of people, and for two different objects." By
"
gamblers : It is the god of gambling, or one of the gods wor-
Sometimes an is made of wood or
shipped by gamblers. image
or a is delineated on or a of board, of a
clay, picture paper, piece
on its hinder feet, and a
winged tiger, standing grasping large
cash in its mouth or in its paws. Sometimes merely a title
'
of the animal, His the Cash is
Excellency, Grasping Tiger,'
written on a of This is then under the
piece paper. put
between two bunches of mock which
gaming-table, money,
are or it is on a table in the -
suspended ; placed gambling
room, or fastened to the wall behind the table. Incense and
candles are often burned before this image or this inscription.
On the second and sixteenth days of every Chinese month,
offerings of meat, fish, etc., are frequently made before it.
Sometimes gambling saloons or dens are recognized from the
street by the sign, placed over the outside door, of a tiger
on a board in the above mentioned. The
painted position
tiger is worshipped by the proprietor of the gambling den in
order to success." mothers in behalf of their sick
bring By
"
children (p. 229) : Not separately and alone, but always in
connection with the of children. This
goddess goddess is
rej)resented as sitting upon the back of a tiger in a crouching
The to have the of absorb-
position. tiger is supposed power
or of the influences which cause
ing contracting pernicious
children to become sick." As a charm : " A
(p. 562) flying
or a with and with
tiger, tiger represented wings, grasping
his front rjaws the and on his hind
eight diagrams, standing
legs ; the picture of a tiger's head, rudely painted on a square
piece of board or on tortoiseshell, the latter being some six or
eight inches in diameter. This is quite common, and believed
to be very efficacious, as the spirits are thought to fear the tiger."
"
Gutzlaff, vol. i. p. 35 : It is said to live even in the high
latitude of The freckled skin is much esteemed
Tartary. by
military officers ; its gall, as well as bones, is mixed with their
food, in order to inspire their souls with tiger courage."
"
60 attributes.
Mayers, p. : Hu, a beast of many mythical