Whose mount is the tiger in China mythology?

This answer is included in the excellent answer "The Year of the Tiger doesn't scare you"

"You can't be scared in the Year of the Tiger, but the Spring Festival will be fun." Go and have a look.

Speaking of tigers, as a kind of god in Chinese folk beliefs, they are called "Tiger Lord" or "Tiger God". Originally, it was the mount of the land Lord or the city god. Later, because the tiger mount can also reflect the master's great power, it quickly spread in the celestial world and gradually became widely loved by the gods. They regarded the tiger as their own mount.

China has a natural worship of tigers since ancient times, and then it naturally evolved into a folk belief. There's an old saying: the land public governs the mountain tiger. It can be seen that tigers are under the jurisdiction of the land father-in-law, and those tigers surrendered by mountain gods, land gods and city gods have magical power, so they will not only harm people and animals, but even play a protective role, and there are many sacrifices among the people.

In China's mythology, there are too many immortals who use tigers as mounts. I'm afraid it's unrealistic to introduce them to everyone. So in this content, I will introduce five immortals who love to ride a tiger!

One of the immortals who love to use tigers as mounts: Di Gonggong is the fairy closest to ordinary human beings in China mythology, in other words, the grass-roots cadres in the fairy world. They are riding a tiger while patrolling in Shan Ye under their jurisdiction. Compared with those wild tigers who like to hurt people, people trust their father's tigers more and will protect them instead.

This may be because in ancient times, people were often attacked by tigers on their way up the mountain, so they hoped that the tiger of the land father-in-law could protect their safety.

The second immortal who loves to use tigers as mounts: According to legend, Emperor Baosheng was a famous doctor Tao in Quanzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty, who saved countless lives by practicing medicine.

One day, when Wu Kun went up the mountain to get medicine, he met a tiger with a bone stuck in his throat and asked for his help. Wu Kun agreed, but soon found that the bone in the tiger's throat turned out to be a little boy's leg bone! However, Wu Kun decided to continue to help the tiger, but reached an agreement with the tiger that he would not eat people again after the treatment was successful. Later, in order to thank Wu Kun for saving his life, the tiger took him around to practice medicine and help the world.

Finally, Wu Kun's merits and demerits were completed, and the tiger also ascended to heaven.

The third fairy who loves to use tigers as mounts: Wu Caishen's so-called Wu Caishen is the God of Wealth, and both of them are God of Wealth. In addition to the above-mentioned imperial doctors, even the god of wealth likes to use tigers as mounts. For example, Zhao Gongming, the head of the most famous God of Wealth, is an immortal who is difficult to ride a tiger.

According to legend, Zhao Gongming once protected the alchemy medicine in Zhang Tianshi, and Zhang Tianshi gave him a Hei Hu as a mount.

After Zhao Gongming became a god, he often rode Hei Hu to help the people. Some couplets in the temple of the God of Wealth can give a glimpse of the characteristics of the God of Wealth:

"proffering flaming can't make a profit, ask me for money, is it necessary to pawn black beard?

You can start with nothing. Let me give you some advice. Don't blame me for drinking iron whip! "

The fourth fairy who loves to use tigers as mounts: Zhang Tianshi said that Zhao Gongming Hei Hu was given to him by Zhang Tianshi. Naturally, Zhang Tianshi himself likes riding a tiger.

Zhang Tianshi, the founder of Taoism, whose real name is Zhang Daoling (also known as Zhang Ling), is said to have met the title of White Tiger when he was an official in North Korea. Later, there was chaos in the world at the end of the Han Dynasty, and he went into the mountains to practice. At that time, it was difficult for him to ride a tiger. There is a saying that his mount was given to him by an old gentleman.

In the end, Zhang Tianshi's immortal way and riding a tiger with a sword became his signature moves.

The fifth immortal who loves to ride a tiger as a mount: Fujian Province, which rides a tiger to respect the king on the twelfth day of the first month, often has a ceremony of riding a tiger to respect the king among the people, which is a unique belief of the local people. At the same time, it is also known as the king of Fu Lei, the king of Wu 'an, General Fu Lei and General Lei Exorcism.

The prototype of riding a tiger and respecting the king is Lei Wanchun, a famous Confucian scholar in Tang Dynasty. There are also four immortals riding tigers, wearing armor and imposing. It is said that three of them were loyal ministers Zhang Xun, Xu Yuan and Lei Wanchun who died in the Anshi Rebellion.

Among them, Zhang Xun was called King Baoyi, and Xu Yuan was called Doctor Baoyi.

Finally, I have to mention Shen to you. In the traditional impression of many people, Shen seems to be riding a panther. For example, when I was a child, I watched the comic book Little Nezha, in which the young hero Shen rode a panther.

However, in many traditional picture books about Shen, they are all tigers with white foreheads. But at present, there are different opinions about whether Shen is riding a panther or a tiger. How do you think?