{"id":19310,"date":"2023-07-24T12:01:03","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T11:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/?p=19310"},"modified":"2023-07-24T12:01:03","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T11:01:03","slug":"chinese-tiger-lore-through-folk-prints-david-leffman-guest-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/chinese-tiger-lore-through-folk-prints-david-leffman-guest-post\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Tiger Lore through Folk Prints (David Leffman guest post)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This weeks blog post comes courtesy of David Leffman who gave a presentation on Chinese wood blocks to the Society in June, the recording of which is now available on YouTube:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iTXx8w_MrXQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For more on David&#8217;s work please visit his website at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.davidleffman.com\/\">www.davidleffman.com<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This blog post provides an opportunity to discuss two long-time interests: investigating Chinese culture by studying traditional woodblock prints, which I have been collecting since the early 1990s; and folklore about tigers.<\/p>\n<p>Woodblock printing was invented in China at some point before the seventh century \u00a0to manufacture Buddhist texts as religious talismans. At some point pictures were added and eventually began to be made for their own sake, initially for worshiping the thousands of Chinese folk gods. An industry mass-producing these images for popular use established itself during the Song dynasty (960\u20131279), branching out from religion into narrative and moral scenes and, finally, largely decorative images for home use. By the early nineteenth century the country must have been awash with paper, as workshops in cities, towns and villages around China pumped out literally hundreds of millions of these folk prints every year.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-19311 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"409\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town.jpg 900w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town-806x1075.jpg 806w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town-558x744.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00-Printing-woodblocks-at-Zhuxian-town-655x873.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Printing woodblocks at Zhuxian town<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By the 1900s however, commercial woodblock printing was beginning to be undermined by faster, cheaper mechanical processes such as lithography, and \u2013 following a period of civil wars, foreign invasions and adverse political ideologies \u2013 had become virtually extinct by the 1980s. China\u2019s remaining woodblock studios have generally repositioned themselves as folk craft museums, and their production volumes are very small-scale compared with a century ago.<\/p>\n<p>Never considered fine art or intended to last long, these folk prints were made on cheap, tissue-thin paper and often exposed to the elements on the outside of buildings, or were even deliberately burned. Despite the vast quantities once made, comparatively few antique examples survive today.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For their part tigers were also fairly common in rural China until about a century ago, at times posing a real danger to human life. The Ming-dynasty vernacular novel <em>Outlaws of the Marsh<\/em> (also translated as <em>All Men Are Brothers<\/em> and <em>The Water Margin<\/em>) features several episodes where the tale\u2019s rebel heroes manage to defeat man-eating tigers with their bare hands \u2013 the near-impossibility of this underlining their own superhuman abilities.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19312 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"690\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger.jpg 996w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger-800x435.jpg 800w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger-806x439.jpg 806w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger-558x304.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00a-Wu-Song-Beats-the-Tiger-655x356.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cWu Song Beats the Tiger\u201d, from <em>Outlaws of the Marsh<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In folk art, this strength and ferocity also made tigers popular guardian symbols, and children were dressed up in tiger shoes and hats to frighten off the evil spirits which were believed to cause childhood diseases. There\u2019s wordplay here too; the character \u864e for tiger sounds similar to\u8b77, meaning \u201cto protect\u201d. Beyond this aspect tigers also serve as steeds to several deities, and even have their own place in religion.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-19313 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"531\" height=\"365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797.jpg 996w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797-800x549.jpg 800w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797-768x527.jpg 768w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797-806x554.jpg 806w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797-558x383.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/01-Awesome-Force-of-Nature\u6797-655x450.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 531px) 100vw, 531px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cAwesome Force of Nature\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example of how the tiger can symbolise raw, irrepressible, elemental power. The title translates as \u201cAn Awesome Force of Nature\u201d and depicts a snarling tiger resting deep in a mountain forest. In Chinese art tigers are typically depicted with stripes forming the character for \u201cking\u201d (\u738b) on the forehead; like lions in the West, the Chinese see the tiger as king of the beasts. Pine trees, slow-growing and defying mountain snows and gales, are a stand-in for longevity, and the whole sense of the picture is of vigorous natural forces supporting a long and healthy life.<\/p>\n<p>Although different woodblock-printing centres in China developed their own very distinct styles, not many signed their works. Here, however, the text at the bottom reads \u201cBy Yang Xiuyi of the Weifang New Year Picture Print Society\u201d, a well-known workshop on eastern China\u2019s Shandong peninsula operating into the early 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19314 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"597\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year.jpg 996w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-800x558.jpg 800w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-768x536.jpg 768w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-468x328.jpg 468w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-845x592.jpg 845w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-806x562.jpg 806w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-558x389.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/02-Peace-Through-the-Year-655x457.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 597px) 100vw, 597px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cPeace Throughout the Year\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Far more stylised is the next print from Wuqiang town in Hebei province, not so far from Beijing. Two tigers circle each other, surrounded by five red bats \u2013 a homonym for \u201cfive great blessings\u201d \u2013 and flanked by lanterns illustrating the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The main title reads \u201cPeace Throughout the Year\u201d, and the other two panels make up a phrase inviting wishes to come true and bringing good luck.<\/p>\n<p>Like the previous print from Weifang this is a New Year Picture, put up during the Spring Festival to brighten the home, chase away misfortune and encourage prosperity for the coming twelve months. Despite the obvious zodiac theme, the central two tigers are here to repulse evil influences, not necessarily to represent their own tiger year.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-19315 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/03-Tiger-and-Cub.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"468\" height=\"712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/03-Tiger-and-Cub.jpg 609w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/03-Tiger-and-Cub-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/03-Tiger-and-Cub-526x800.jpg 526w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/03-Tiger-and-Cub-558x849.jpg 558w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Tiger and Cub<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One common type of popular print features gate guardians, pasted up either side of the front door to prevent malevolent forces from entering the home. In some parts of China a pair of tiger prints like these protected against foxes: houses were built of wood, foxes were believed to trail fire from their red tails, so they served as talismans against the house burning down. Elsewhere, these prints might be displayed in a sick room or nursery to scare off illnesses.<\/p>\n<p>This print is dated according to the sixty-year calendrical cycle, and was designed during a \u201crenxu\u201d year. This indicates the 59th year of the cycle, most recently in 1982, though that\u2019s no guarantee that this print was actually made then. A printing block could remain in use until most of the details had worn away and it had begun to disintegrate; even then the design could be recut if there was a demand for it \u2013 some prints still in production originated during the Ming dynasty, over five hundred years ago.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19316 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/04-Zhang-Daoling-talisman.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"927\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/04-Zhang-Daoling-talisman.jpg 420w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/04-Zhang-Daoling-talisman-136x300.jpg 136w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/04-Zhang-Daoling-talisman-362x800.jpg 362w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Zhang Daoling talisman<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s another protective talisman, this time of the Daoist patriarch Zhang Daoling. Zhang was a real person, and while I have no idea if he rode around on a tiger this image underlines the Daoist obsession in mastering (or working with) powerful natural forces.<\/p>\n<p>Born around AD34, tradition says that Zhang lived in the mountains as a hermit, where he gained an ability to supress troublesome demons and founded the Heavenly Master sect of Daoism. According to one account, Zhang received the \u201cMethod of the Tiger Spirit\u201d from a long-haired mystic named Liu Gen, and learned to refine pills of immortality \u2013 the goal of any Daoist alchemist.<\/p>\n<p>In this print, made at Shanghai in 1927, Zhang is shown wearing a crown and wielding a demon-quelling sword while his tiger crushes the Five Poisons, represented by a toad, snake, centipede, lizard and spider. The small tiger at the back carries Zhang\u2019s square seal, imprints of which are above in red, either side of a demon-repelling yin-yang-bagua symbol. Across the top, sets of three &#8220;ticks&#8221; represent the Daoist supreme trinity, while the characters \u52c5\u4ee4mean \u201cBy Imperial Command\u201d. The Chinese text reads \u201cSeal of the Great Shangqing Palace, Dragon-Tiger Mountain, Jiangxi Province\u201d. Until its destruction in 1930 \u2013 just three years after this print was made \u2013 Shangqing Palace was one of the major hubs of the Daoist religion, a position it held for a thousand years.<\/p>\n<p>These talismans were in greatest demand for\u00a0<em>duanwu<\/em>, the fifth of the fifth month, known today for its dragon-boat races but also considered the most unhealthy time of the year \u2013 stinking hot and humid across much of China \u2013 when the disease-causing Five Poisons were at their most noxious. It might again be pasted up in the home, or even pinned to clothing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19317 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/05-Money-Tiger.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"245\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/05-Money-Tiger.jpg 355w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/05-Money-Tiger-115x300.jpg 115w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/05-Money-Tiger-306x800.jpg 306w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Money Tiger<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A similar type of charm, this crudely-cut folk print from Shanghai shows the Money Tiger, body covered in coins, holding a sword in its mouth and subduing a centipede. Once more it\u2019s a new year talisman to dispel bad luck and attract prosperity: the three red seal marks translate as \u201cBestow Blessings and Good Fortune\u201d, \u201cPeace Throughout the Year\u201d and \u201cFlourishing Silkworm Flowers\u201d \u2013 a fairly common expression in the silk-producing heartlands of eastern China. The text in black above the tiger reads \u201cExorcism of Evil Spirits for a Town House\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t go far with popular prints without mentioning wealth deities, as attracting their blessings is one of the main concerns of Chinese folk religion. Aside from the Money Tiger above there are many, many wealth gods \u2013 including the generic Cai Shen, Liu Hai and his three-legged money toad, a Deity of Increasing Returns and even a God of Gamblers \u2013 but one of the best-known is Zhao Gongming.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-19318 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/06-Zhao-Gongming.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/06-Zhao-Gongming.jpg 646w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/06-Zhao-Gongming-209x300.jpg 209w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/06-Zhao-Gongming-557x800.jpg 557w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/06-Zhao-Gongming-558x801.jpg 558w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Zhao Gongming<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Zhao\u2019s origins are described in the late-sixteenth-century popular novel <em>Investiture of the Gods<\/em>, a fantastical retelling of the overthrow of the corrupt Shang dynasty in 1046 BC by the up-and-coming state of Zhou. A valiant general from Mount Emei in Sichuan province, Zhao\u2019s sense of loyalty made him fight for the crumbling Shang dynasty, until he was killed by the Zhou warrior-statesman Jiang Ziya. When the war was over, Jiang regretted Zhao\u2019s death and had him deified as the military god of wealth. He represents commercial success, rather than sudden riches, so is worshipped by merchants and businessmen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19319 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"618\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya.jpg 996w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya-800x569.jpg 800w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya-768x546.jpg 768w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya-806x573.jpg 806w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya-558x397.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/07-Zhao-Gongming-and-Jiang-Ziya-655x466.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Zhao Gongming and Jiang Ziya as door gods<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In this print from Zhuxian town in Henan province, Zhao Gongming appears on the left as a door guardian, paired with his rival Jiang Ziya. Zhao rides his trademark black tiger, which he subdued by writing a spell on its neck \u2013 again demonstrating Daoist power over immense natural forces. In one hand Zhao wields a ridged metal sword-breaker which, according to the novel, fired out exploding pearls; in the other hand (as befits a wealth god) he holds a slipper-shaped gold ingot. The Golden Dragon Scissors floating above are another of Zhao\u2019s mystical weapons, able to chop even an Immortal in two. With such skills it\u2019s not surprising that this deified tiger-riding warrior offers followers success in the cut-throat world of commerce.<\/p>\n<p>Facing him, Jiang Ziya rides a yellow deer, which \u2013 along with his trigram-patterned robe and dried gourd \u2013 are all symbols of a Daoist magician.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19320 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/08-Medicine-Sage-Wei.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/08-Medicine-Sage-Wei.jpg 801w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/08-Medicine-Sage-Wei-259x300.jpg 259w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/08-Medicine-Sage-Wei-691x800.jpg 691w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/08-Medicine-Sage-Wei-768x889.jpg 768w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/08-Medicine-Sage-Wei-558x646.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/08-Medicine-Sage-Wei-655x758.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Medicine Sage Wei<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>An esoteric religion which seeks to gain longevity \u2013 even immortality \u2013 by understanding and following the \u201cnatural way\u201d, Daoism is often associated with magicians, alchemists and medics. This print from Beijing of the Medicine Sage Wei Cizang is of a type known as \u7d19\u99ac, \u201cPaper Horses\u201d, small pictures of China\u2019s myriad folk deities which were used to ask favours from benevolent spirits or protection from malicious ones. They were usually burned and the ashes sometimes consumed as medicine; \u201cpaper horse\u201d is a splendid term for something designed to gallop off heavenward in a puff of smoke, carrying your prayer to the gods.<\/p>\n<p>The print follows a standard format, with the central deity sitting behind an altar table, two attendants either side and a name board above. Sometimes the image is generic and the deity can only be identified by its name, but in this case specific iconography relates to Wei Cizang. The twisted rope-like object on the right side of the table are dried herbs (Wei was known for his prescriptions, rather than for using acupuncture or other healing methods). On the left side of the table is another dried gourd, the traditional pill-box carried by Daoist alchemists \u2013 the attendant front right also holds one.<\/p>\n<p>Under the table are Wei Cizang\u2019s two familiars. On the right but almost unrecognizable \u2013 the print was made from a worn, partially-disintegrated woodblock \u2013 is a dog which followed Wei on his house calls. It\u2019s easier to pick out the tiger on the left, a creature often paired with Daoist physicians as a symbol of their \u201cprotective\u201d medical skills.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19321 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/09-White-Tiger.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"487\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/09-White-Tiger.jpg 699w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/09-White-Tiger-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/09-White-Tiger-603x800.jpg 603w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/09-White-Tiger-558x740.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/09-White-Tiger-655x869.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 487px) 100vw, 487px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">White Tiger of the West<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The one place where the production and daily use of woodblock prints has survived on a scale approaching that of the nineteenth century is rural Yunnan province, way down in China\u2019s far southwest. Partly this is just down to geography: the region is a very long way from mainstream eastern China and has managed to preserve many traditions which have faded out elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>This print is from Heshun village, near Yunnan\u2019s border with Myanmar, and shows a White Tiger with bristling whiskers, the character \u738b stamped firmly on its forehead. White tigers are not quite so benevolent as the usual version; they are more of an agricultural creature representing Autumn, pestilence and drought, and need to be appeased rather than sought out for protection. The tiger is believed to descend from the mountains in Spring, when its roaring wakes insect pests; during the <em>jingzhe <\/em>festival rural people bring gifts of meat to tiger shrines to keep it quiet and so protect their crops.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19322 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"590\" height=\"674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments.jpg 812w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments-263x300.jpg 263w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments-701x800.jpg 701w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments-768x877.jpg 768w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments-806x920.jpg 806w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments-558x637.jpg 558w, https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/10-Earthly-Departments-655x748.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Earthly Departments<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Yet even the White Tiger is an important component of the natural order by representing one of the cardinal directions, as shown on this geomantic (<em>feng shui<\/em>) wheel from Beijing titled the \u201cEarthly Departments\u201d. At the top is the Red Bird of the South, with the Black Turtle and Snake down at the bottom edge representing the north; top right side is the Green Dragon of the East, with the White Tiger of the West at upper left. Despite their reversal here, the phrase \u201cGreen Dragon to the left, White Tiger to the right\u201d is shorthand for describing perfect geomantic conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Other objects in the print relate to civil and military duties being carried out with due diligence, while the tablet-bearing turtle at the centre representing time and order is surrounded by rings linking the divination tools of compass points, zodiac animals and the eight trigrams. The overall purpose of this print is to protect a building project from causing disruption to local geomancy (or to protect against such disruption), by balancing out and counteracting any untoward forces.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>David Leffman first visited China in 1985 and has spent over five years there in total, mostly working as a travel writer and photographer. He is also the author of <em>Paper Horses: Traditional Woodblock Prints of Gods From Northern China<\/em>, published in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This weeks blog post comes courtesy of David Leffman who gave a presentation on Chinese wood blocks to the Society in June, the recording of which is now available on YouTube: For more on David&#8217;s work please visit his website at www.davidleffman.com &nbsp; This blog post provides an opportunity to discuss two long-time interests: investigating&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2959,2384,968,2385],"class_list":["post-19310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-about-the-society","tag-chinese-wood-prints","tag-david-leffman","tag-guest-post"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19323,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19310\/revisions\/19323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/royalasiaticsociety.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}