The Year of the ox is over; this year belongs to the tiger.
The tigers remaining in China are said to number in only the hundreds now but, for many thousands of years, the tiger has been the beast of prey best known to the Chinese people. Even in Taiwan, to which it is not native, the tiger--as an image-- abounds, particularly in popular religion and folklore. The dragon and tiger that are paired off on temple walls are an example, as is the statue of "Master Tiger" that is frequently placed under temple altars.
In the Chinese zodiac, the symbol of the tiger combines attributes bestial, human, and divine. Due to the animal's ferocity, people born under its sign are sometimes the objects of taboo on festive or congratulatory occasions. But as the Chinese "king of beasts," the tiger also represents an abundance of vitality, presaging great undertakings and accomplishments, and is credited with the ability to ward off calamity and evil spirits.
Master Tiger is said to be one of the subordinate spirits of the local Earth God, whose permission is required before a tiger may harm a person. And so a Fukienese proverb has it that "without the god's command, no tiger bites a man." The Earth God, the tutelary spirit of a locality, naturally controls the tigers of that place. In Korean temples, a statue of a tiger is placed under the throne of the Mountain Spirit, whose character is similar to our Earth God's.
A Ming dynasty (1368--1644) work records a story about tigers and a Zen master. When the monk P'u Wen of the T'ang dynasty (618--907) withdrew to the mountains to live as a hermit and did not return, the people of the valley thought he must have been eaten by tigers. Looking for him, they came upon a thatched cottage amid the folded slopes and lush, green vegetable gardens tended by disciples obediently heeding their master's instructions. The disciples had been sent there by the Mountain Spirit and were, in fact, all tigers.
Another work relates a story which also took place during the T'ang dynasty. When people wanted to chop down an old pine tree in front of a temple in Szechwan, an old man tried to stop them. They refused to listen. The old man whooshed up the mountain, and soon afterwards a pack of tigers rushed out and mauled them.
Another anecdote connects tigers with Lord Paosheng, the god of preserving life. Lord Paosheng once cured a tiger of its throat pains, in gratitude for which the tiger swore never to eat people again and asked to become the god's disciple and guard his temple doors. As a result, Master Tiger acquired the power to drive out diseases and his statue is commonly placed under temple altars.
Master Tiger's statue has a round head, round eyes, a flat nose, buckteeth, and a happy smile--anthropomorphic, or catlike, features that make it easier for people to feel affection for him.
Fengt'ien Temple at Hsinkang in Chiayi County, central Taiwan, is filled with tiger statues, a veritable Master Tiger headquarters. Master Tiger is said to be particularly efficacious here, and many tiger statues around Taiwan have been "cloned" from the ones here. Master Tiger still has many disciples!