White Tiger (mythology)
The White Tiger (Chinese: 白虎 Báihǔ) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the White Tiger of the West (Chinese: 西方白虎; pinyin: Xīfāng Báihǔ), and is known as Baihu in Chinese, Byakko in Japanese, Baekho in Korean, and Bạch Hổ in Vietnamese. It represents the west in terms of direction and the autumn season.
| White Tiger | |||||||||||||||||
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 Bái Hǔ sculpture on the eaves tile | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 白虎 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Bạch Hổ | ||||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 白虎 | ||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 백호 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 白虎 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 白虎 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | びゃっこ | ||||||||||||||||
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Seven Mansions of the White Tiger
As with the other three Symbols, there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the White Tiger. The names and determinative stars are:[1][2]
| Mansion no. | Name (pinyin) | Translation | Determinative star |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 奎 (Kuí) | Legs | Eta Andromedae |
| 16 | 婁 (Lóu) | Bond | Beta Arietis |
| 17 | 胃 (Wèi) | Stomach | 35 Arietis |
| 18 | 昴 (Mǎo) | Hairy Head | Alcyone |
| 19 | 畢 (Bì) | Net | Ain |
| 20 | 觜 (Zī) | Turtle Beak | Meissa |
| 21 | 參 (Shēn) | Three Stars | Alnitak |
Origin
In Chinese culture, the tiger is the king of the beasts and has been presented with a 王 (pinyin: wáng; lit. 'king') on his forehead for centuries. According to legend, the tiger's tail would turn white when it reached the age of 500 years. In this way, the white tiger became a kind of mythological creature. It was said that the white tiger would only appear when the emperor ruled with absolute virtue, or if there was peace throughout the world. Because the color white of the Wu Xing theory also represents the west, the White Tiger became a mythological Guardian Of The West.
See also
References
- "The Chinese Sky". International Dunhuang Project. Archived from the original on 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
- Sun, Xiaochun (1997). Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 517. ISBN 0-7923-4066-3. Retrieved 2011-06-25.