Expert in this article: Zhu Guangsi, a popular science writer, and a member of Beijing Popular Science Writers Association
As The third of the twelve zodiac signs, the tiger not only occupies an important niche in reality, but also is a cultural symbol.
Today is the first day of the Year of the Tiger, Let's talk about the interesting stories about tigers.
Why don't tigers rank first in the zodiac?
In Yang Gu Man Lu, a scholar of the Song Dynasty, Hong said: "If Zi is the cathode, the hidden darkness will be matched by mice. Mice hide traces." The first hour is Zishi, the darkest moment, and mice are the most common nocturnal animals, so mice represent the first time point. There is also a folk saying that "rats bite the sky".
After the founding of heaven, land was created. "Land was created in ugliness, and cattle were created in the land, so ugliness belongs to cattle." The ancients could not do without cattle farming, and earthquakes were also considered that "land cattle" were moving. "If you are born in Yin, you will kill if you are alive. Killers are tigers."
Therefore, according to the traditional Chinese culture, the first hour is the sky, the second hour is the place, and the third hour is the people. The heaven, the earth, and the people are the three talents, and the animals they represent are rats, cows, and tigers. Therefore, after the symbol of heaven and earth, the tiger is a symbol of the power of human life and death, ranking third in the zodiac.
Why did the Chinese zodiac leave the cat behind?
The Chinese zodiac originated in the Xia Dynasty, while the domestic cat had not entered China at that time. The ancestors of the domestic cats we raise today are Indian desert cats. They came to China only during the reign of Emperor Hanming. In the previous written records, the cats mentioned are all wild animals, not the same kind as domestic cats.
The Chinese zodiac is composed of representative "six animals and six beasts". The six animals are horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and dogs, which are common domesticated animals, while the six animals are mice, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes and monkeys. However, wild cats are not often seen by humans. In the Western Zhou Dynasty's Yizhou Book, Volume IV, World Captive Interpretation, it is mentioned that "King Wu Shou, there are two birds (tigers), two cats, and eight deer (three thousand five hundred deer)". It can be seen that wild cats in ancient China were not as common as tigers.
Since a year has twelve months and a day has twelve hours, many countries except China use twelve animals to express time, and there are also twelve zodiac signs, some of which include cats.
For example, the twelve animals in Vietnam are mouse, ox, tiger, cat, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. The twelve Egyptian zodiac animals are bull, goat, monkey, donkey, crab, snake, dog, cat, crocodile, crane, lion and eagle. The Zodiac of Babylon in Cuba is the bull, goat, lion, donkey, dung beetle, snake, dog, cat, crocodile, red crane, ape and eagle. All countries will choose the most familiar animal as the zodiac.
Why are tigers cats? Can't we call it Tiger Branch?
The tiger is the smallest of the twelve zodiac signs. The corresponding biological categories of the twelve animals in Chinese characters are:
Rat: Most animals of the order Rodentia (except the beaver family and porcupine).
Cattle: Artiodactyla Bovidae Bovidae Bovidae Most animals of Bovidae.
Tiger: an animal of the genus Panthera in the cat family.
Rabbit: an animal of the order Lagomorpha.
Dragon: a virtual animal. In reality, many members of Lizards and main dragons have the word dragon.
Snake: Snake.
Horse: Equine.
Sheep: most animals of Artiodactyla Bovidae.
Monkey: primate.
Chicken: Most animals of the order Galliformes.
Dogs: some animals of the canine family.
Pig: Artiodactyla pig.
The reason why the tiger cannot become an independent family is that it is not sufficiently differentiated from other felines. The common characteristics of felines are: developed canine teeth, large and round head, short snout, symmetrical limbs, retractable claws, and most of them are good at climbing and jumping.
Words about cats in Chinese include cats, tigers, lions, leopards, etc. That's because these animals were recognized by Chinese people earlier, and there are corresponding words in Chinese. However, there are few canine species in China, only dogs, jackals, wolves, foxes, etc. After the discovery of a new species, the translated names can only be called xx wolves, xx dogs, etc. In fact, they may have a very far relationship with wolves and dogs. However, modern taxonomy originated in the West. Western scholars seldom contact tigers, so they use the most familiar cat to name the whole family.
Why can't two tigers live in one mountain?
Like most cats, tigers are solitary animals. The male will leave after mating, and the female will bring up the children alone, usually two at one birth. Little tigers will also open up their own territory when they grow up. Each tiger has its own territory and has a strong sense of territory, so there is a saying that "one mountain can't have two tigers".
The Siberian tiger lives in the cold area with the least prey, and needs the largest range of activities. The female tiger needs 400 square kilometers, and the male tiger needs 1000 square kilometers. Indian Bengal tigers live in tropical forests. The range of female tigers is only 10 square kilometers, and that of male tigers is only 30 square kilometers.
Although males usually live apart from females, they may still often get together with their spouses and children. Zoologists have also photographed cases of males raising children alone after the death of females. Even adult tigers, siblings sometimes cooperate with each other to maintain peace in a certain region. Therefore, the saying that "one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers" is not absolute in nature.
Can tigers really climb trees?
The tiger is very big. It is really difficult to climb a big tree with the power of its claws, but not climbing a tree does not mean not climbing a tree, because the tiger has the greatest jumping power among cats. The highest jumping height can reach 4-5 meters, and the farthest can reach 8 meters. Therefore, it is not safe for a tiger to climb up a tree. With a little help from its paws, it can reach the high prey.
Is there a king on a tiger's head?
The patterns on each tiger are different, and the characters on the forehead are not necessarily Wang characters, which are often randomly generated.
Some may be "Feng", Some are similar to "small", Some are similar to "days", Some are similar to the word "big", Having an irregular shape, There are also almost no patterns. Therefore, there is a misunderstanding about the word "king" in the tiger head. Do you understand?
Happy Year of the Tiger!
This article is transferred from Popular Science China
