The legend of the white tiger, one of the four ancient beasts, what does the white tiger represent?

White tiger is one of the four great beasts in ancient times. What does it stand for? The White Tiger is one of the four mythological beasts in ancient Chinese myths and legends in China. They are Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu. The west is white, so the white tiger is the god of the west and the god who fights evil with the dragon. At the same time, the white tiger is also a god who exorcises evil spirits, prays for blessings, punishes evil and promotes good, and makes a fortune and marries. It is a symbol of power and honor.

In the traditional culture of Han nationality in China, it is one of the seven stars of Western Taoism. According to the theory of five elements, it is a spirit beast representing the west. Because the west belongs to gold and the color is white, it is called White Tiger, and its representative season is autumn. Others: Qinglong Oriental Spring, Suzaku South Summer, Xuanwu North Winter.

Twenty-eight nights in the west, its elephant is a tiger, located in the west, belonging to gold, the main conqueror. Its color is white and its name is white tiger.

Among the four great beasts in China, another one that is often compared to a dragon is the white tiger; The tiger is the leader of all animals. Its ferocity and legendary ability to reduce ghosts make it a beast of Yang, and it often goes out with dragons. Cloud follows the dragon, wind follows the tiger, and becomes the best partner to subdue demons.

The white tiger is also a god of war. White tiger has many abilities, such as avoiding evil, punishing evil, doing good, getting rich and getting married. It is one of the four spirits. Of course, it is also changed by stars. It consists of 28 stars, seven of which are in the west: Xiao Wei, Lou, Wei, Ang, Bi, Gou and Shen. So it is the representative of the west, its white is due to the west, belonging to the gold in the five elements, and its color is white. So it is called white tiger not because it is white, but because it comes from five elements.

In addition to the four spirits in Taoism, including Qinglong and Baihu, even when Feng Shui masters explore cemeteries, the prominent terrain on the left and right sides in front of the terrain can also be used as graves. This has a unique name, namely Zuo Qinglong and Right White Tiger, which means guarding. In the court, there are also the same decorations, with dragons and white tigers painted on the left and right pillars to ward off evil spirits. After the rise of Taoism, dragon and tiger were borrowed as Taoist alchemy terms, referring to the agreed words of lead, mercury, fire and water, yin and yang. Taoist alchemy is divided into inner alchemy and outer alchemy Inner alchemy is based on Yin-Yang and Five Elements. Longyang was born in fire, so Yunlong was born in fire, tiger was born in ridge, and ridge belongs to water, so Hu Yun was born in water. After the combination of the two, one yin and one yang are mutual. Another way of saying it is that sex belongs to wood, wood represents the East, and divination is an earthquake, so it is better than Qinglong. Love belongs to gold, representing the west, and the hexagrams are redeemed. Gold is white, so it is called white tiger. Gold can kill wood, so it is harmful to love. However, if it is combined with Erba Zhenjing, there will be no Jin Mu. In the human body, the liver is a dragon and the kidney is a tiger, while the external Dan still means yin and yang, with the dragon as the head and the tiger as mercury.

White tiger worship

The worship of tigers should originate from the tiger totem worship in Chu culture. Tigers have always been worshipped by the Han people. It is a symbol of justice, courage and majesty. According to textual research, the image of tiger also appeared in ancient Qiang and Rong nationalities, but it was most popular in southwest China. The animal faces of jade cong in Liangzhu culture in Neolithic age and Shang bronzes are similar to tiger statues. The Yi, Bai, Buyi and Tujia people in China still call tigers their ancestors. People in the Han Dynasty regarded the tiger as the king of beasts. White tiger is a kind of tiger that can only turn white in 500 years. This is a sacred thing. Immortals often ascend to heaven through tigers. This is the beast of Zhenxi.

Since the Han Dynasty, the tiger has always been the favorite protector of the working people, but it is not a symbol of the emperor. After a long period of historical evolution and development, the cultural awareness of tiger worship has become an unchangeable cultural concept of the Chinese nation.

In the eyes of the ancients, the tiger is a terrible thing and a respectable thing. The terrible thing is that it will eat people and animals. Respectable, because it is fierce, it can repel evil souls. In some ancient books, such as the customs of Shao in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Sacrifice code:' draw a tiger at the door, ghosts dare not enter',' tiger, penis, the power of all animals'. Can inhibit sharpness and ghost eating. The people who died today suffered misfortune. Burn the tiger skin and drink it. Grab its claws and you can cure evil. So is this test. The ancients also thought that the white tiger was a kind of luck: virtue was the best of birds and animals. '

The original gods of the Western Queen Mother were bears and owls, but when the totem of the ancient Qiang people changed from bears to dragons. When the Yellow Emperor moved eastward, the dragon totem was brought to the east and merged with the Oriental Black Dragon Constellation. After the reunification in the south, Zhuniao became the new home of the phoenix totem in the sky, and finally became a dragon and phoenix due to the integration of the two tribes. As an ancient totem, it is the phoenix in the east and the dragon in the west, while as an astrology, it is the black dragon in the east and the bamboo bird in the west. After the Zhou Dynasty, the feudal system was formally established and the five elements thought was mature. The astronomical phenomena were re-divided, and bamboo birds were placed in the south, where they were sacrificed together with Vulcan in Zhu Rong. Westerners worship white tigers. In the tribal struggle and migration, the northwest dragon moved eastward, the east phoenix moved southward, and the south tiger moved northward, showing great changes in the concept movement throughout the country. In the Han Dynasty, the concept of five elements became a unified thought, and later Xuanwumen was added to complete the collocation of the four gods.

In ancient times, historical records recorded. Tiangong Book, East Palace Black Dragon, Southern Bamboo Bird, West Palace Fairy Pool, Palace North Xuanwu. This is not a white tiger, but a salt pond. The salt pond is the star of autumn. Because grain is harvested in autumn and put in autumn, but it is not an animal. How can it compare dragons, birds and turtles to four spirits? In justice: the three stars in the fairy pool are in the five cars, and the sky hits the south, and the fish and birds crow. . Therefore, some people in the Song Dynasty questioned: Black Dragon, Zhu Bird, Xuanwu Bird, each * * * seven nights. . As for the salty water pool, don't leave this 28-year-old hotel for a week. Another explanation for the salty pool is the place where the sun bathes. Huainanzizhong. Astronomy: The sun rises from the fork valley, bathes in the salty pool and blows in the hibiscus, which means dawn and light. It can be seen that Xianchi was originally regarded as a sunrise place by Qiang people, and it is also an alkaline lake, which should be a lake in Minshan or Qinghai. It can be proved that the astrological phenomenon worshipped by primitive people does not have the concept of Qinglong White Tiger. There is a cloud in the Book of Rites: Lin Feng returns to the dragon and is called the Four Spirits. Substitute unicorns for salt pools that don't belong to animals. Later generations have the habit of four spirits, four elephants and four tigers.

The symbolic meaning of white tiger

The white tiger symbolizes powerful strength and army, so many ancient places named after the white tiger are related to the military, such as the white tiger flag in the ancient army and the image of the white tiger on military symbols. White tigers usually appear on stone tombs in the Han Dynasty, or green dragons are carved on both sides of the lintel as separate portraits to ward off evil spirits. The custom is easy to pass: the strength of tiger, penis and beast can also be defeated. In the concept of five elements in Han Dynasty, the white tiger was considered as a wild animal in the west.