Page 370 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A-Z 363

filial piety ( xiao) who rode a tiger to divert it from his father.
The tiger was so much feared that its very name was taboo, and people referred to it as
da chong = ‘big insect’, or ‘King of the Mountains’. Instead of systematically hunting it
to extinction, several provincial governors begged the tigers to go into the hills and stay
there: and legend has it that the tigers actually agreed. There are other instances of tigers
obeying the voice of authority, as in the well-known tale of the old lady who took the
tiger to court

Tiger amulet: the guardian of the treasure (stylised and ornamental)

because it had killed her son and she was now starving to death. The competent official
ordered the tiger to appear before the court, whose verdict was that the tiger should
provide food for the woman till she died. It was believed in South China that members of
the minority peoples could turn themselves into tigers.
The tiger is the third sign in the Chinese zodiac. A tiger depicted on
the door-post is a guard against demons, and small children are given