Tiger Deity aka Tiger General (虎爺神將) or sometimes, people will address him as General White Tiger (白虎將軍).
Due to the taboo of addressing the Tiger Deity as White Tiger, the folks tend to change the chinese character Bai (白) to Bi (碧) as a form of respect and this is why, later, a lot of people mistaken that Bai Hu Jiang Jun (白虎將軍) and Bi Hu Jiang Jun (碧虎將軍) are 2 different Deities.
In some places, he also being addressed as Xia Tan Jiang Jun (下壇將軍).
In some contexts, Tiger General is illustrated as a Deity that can assist the Mortals in getting rid of imps or back-stabbers (驅趕小人), and in someway, this is quite true.
But due to the limited authorities that the Tiger Deity has, sometime a lot of the requests that Mortals made in front of him might not get fulfilled.
So who is the "Boss" of Tiger Deity (誰統領虎爺)?
In different saying, Tiger Deity does have different Bosses, but one Boss that he cant get disconnected with will be our dearest and closer Deity - Deity of Earth or so-called Tu Di Gong 土地公 (this is why wherever you go, if there's an altar dedicated to Tiger Deity, you will sure to see a statue of Tu Di Gong being placed at the side or above the Tiger Deity statue).
WUT IS THAT THING AT THE BOTTOM OF TIGER DEITY?
ReplyDeleteLAST TIME I HEARD THAT SOME OF THE TIGER DEITIES ARE CAGED AT CERTAIN TEMPLES TO PREVENT THEM FROM DISTURBING THE RESIDENTS.
ReplyDeleteSOME I EVEN HEARD IS THAT THERE CAN ONLI BE ONE TIGER AT THE ALTAR, AS PEOPLE SAY一山不能藏二虎。
THE WORDS WHICH CONFUSE ME IS THE 'WHITE' TIGER STATUES LAST TIME, COZ I ALWIZ THINK THAT WHITE TIGER SHOULD HAVE WHITE FUR INSTEAD OF NORMAL COLORS WE SEE FROM THE ZOO. HAHA.....
ReplyDeleteI KNOW THAT THERE R OTHER COLOR LIKE BLACK TIGER FOR 保生大帝AND玄坛元帅,NORMAL TIGER FOR LORD DEITY AND THE WHITE TIGER FOR 张天师. I EVEN SAW THE FIVE COLOR S TIGERS WHICH REPRESENT FIVE DIRECTION.
Could c that very deity addressed as "將軍"....is there deity who is " Private, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergent, Lieutenant, Captain, Colonel, Major-General..etc.." ...i guess "將軍" mean 4-star rank in the deity context?
ReplyDeleteHahahaha.. a lot of the people tend to be mistaken by the wor white, actually it doesnt really need for the tiger to be white, it's just a form of address or title for the tiger.
ReplyDeleteAs in records, yup, there are more than 1 color tiger deities around, the most common wil be white and black.
As for the 5 directional, that are newly man-made or being mistaken by the classic story of Di Qing, nothing special abt them :P
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Due to the direct translation of Jiang Jun, we can only used General, this is why alot of Deities got the same title eventhou they are of different ranking.
Thanks to Bro David Alan Henkel for sharing this pic of Tiger Deities with us :P
ReplyDeleteThis pic is taken at Cheng Hoon Temple in Melaka.
Rare and ancient statue of Tiger Deities.
and may i know why every year at the begingin after chinese new year there is this festival call "Keng chek" or theday where ppl "zhai Pak Fu" or so call in interpret make offerings to keep the tiger god away
ReplyDeleteZhang Ti See rides on a tiger and that does not mean that he is tiger god he is riding a tiger to prove that he is powerful and it wards the eveil sprits away for Master zhang is a taois who is in the master ranking in the mortal world.
Jing Zhe Ri or Jing Zhe Festive is a day when the whole Universe experience the "1st" roar of Thunder - meaning to wake-up all living beings - represent a new start for the new year.
ReplyDeleteSo on this day, also the day consider as the woken-up of Tiger Deity, after a long winter of resting, after the woken-up, the Tiger Deity will be hungry and so, folks believed that, by giving the Tiger Deity offerings and the "Xiao Ren - back-stabbers", Tiger Deity will eat all of them up and give the necessary blessings.
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Yup, the tiger that Heavenly Master Zhang Tian Shi ride on is to represent his authority and also to fight-off negative entities and energies.
New pics added (huye_new_01.jpg - huye_new_06.jpg)
ReplyDeleteA set of new pics of Hu Ye added (huye_new2008_01.jpg - huye_new2008_05.jpg)
ReplyDeleteMay I ask why some Folk Culture put the name 正乙天君 for Hor Yah Gong?
ReplyDeleteWhat about this title, 玉封南巡将军？
Zheng Yi Tian Jun is due to the Official Title of Zhao Gong Ming and so, for those Black Tigers, it will have this Official Title being bestowed to him.
ReplyDeleteNan Xun Jiang Jun is mend for those Local Tiger Spirits that got enlighted in our own Country in the past.
正一天君 or 正乙天君?
ReplyDeleteOh, I see.
Thanks.
Both can be use.
ReplyDeleteOkay, thanks.
ReplyDeleteHihi, how does one pray to the tiger deity? thanks. I heard that he can protect you from "xiaoren" and also draw in "guiren". What is the ritual of praying to him? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou can refer to last Year's Jing Zhe Ri Article (驚螫日) in Review Section, the procedures are being explained there.
ReplyDelete