White Tiger (Baihu)
The White Tiger (白虎, Báihǔ) is the tiger of the west, one of the Four Symbols, the animals of the four quarters of the sky in Chinese cosmology. It stands for the west and for autumn, and it is paired with the Azure Dragon of the east: the dragon on the left, the tiger on the right.
Meaning
The White Tiger guards the western quadrant of the sky. By the same reckoning that makes the east spring, W. Perceval Yetts explained in 1912, the west is autumn. The Huainanzi’s chapter on the heavens gives the west to metal and to the planet Venus and names its beast the bai hu (白虎), the white tiger. Yetts called the tiger the lord of all land animals, as the dragon is chief of the creatures of the water, and wrote that the two share the first place in feng shui. The tiger also stood for military prowess and frightened demons, so it was painted on walls to keep evil spirits from houses and temples. On a Han tomb tile from Shandong described by the China Institute Gallery, the White Tiger turns its head back and roars, its long body prancing and its tail curled into a loop.
Origin and history
Tigers appear in Shang inscriptions and on Zhou bronzes, the China Institute Gallery notes, and in the Han they guarded tombs: two painted bricks from Sichuan show stalking tigers beside the words “to avoid evil” (bixie) and “to remove evil”. Under the emperor Wudi the directions were matched to their animals, seasons, elements and colours, and hymns recited at Han ceremonies set the directional animals beside Taiyi, the Supreme Unity: “To the left, the Green Dragon, to the right, the White Tiger.” In the Han both tigers and the colour white belonged to the immortals: the long-lived Pengzu was said to draw tigers to him, and the islands of the immortals were said to be inhabited by “creatures, birds, and beasts completely white”.
The tiger at the temple gate
The White Tiger is a guardian. E. T. C. Werner, in 1922, wrote that in Taoist temples the Blue Dragon and the White Tiger keep the gates, and in the legend he retells, the Spirit of the White Tiger Star is Yin Chengxiu. The V&A has a Southern Song grain jar for a tomb modelled with the Green Dragon of the East, and notes that its companion jar would have carried the White Tiger of the West.
The White Tiger in Korea
In Korea the tiger kept its place among the four. On a Goryeo slate chest for cremated remains in the V&A, the White Tiger of the West and the Blue Dragon of the East are both shown running towards the Black Tortoise. The tiger as an animal of the zodiac is a separate figure, on the Year of the Tiger page.
Read next
- Next in Chinese mythology and symbolsBlack Tortoise (Xuanwu)The Black Tortoise (玄武, Xuánwǔ, “dark warrior”) is the guardian of the north, one of the Four Symbols, the animals of the four quarters of the sky in Chinese cosmology: a tortoise with a snake coiled round it. It stands for the north and for winter.
- The same shape in Andean and Inca symbolsInti Raymi (festival of the sun)The Inca festival of the sun, held at the June solstice in Cusco. Banned under Spanish rule, it was revived in 1944 and is staged every 24 June at the Coricancha, the main square and Sacsayhuamán.
See also
Azure Dragon (Qinglong), Year of the Tiger, Qilin, Chinese dragon (long), Flaming pearl, Fenghuang (Chinese phoenix).
Sources
- Huainanzi, Tianwen xun 天文訓 (Chinese Wikisource), Huainanzi 淮南子, chapter 3 “天文訓” (Celestial Patterns), 2nd century BC; Chinese text on Wikisource, Wikisource (Chinese), Tianwen xun, “What are the five planets?”
- Symbolism in Chinese Art (W. Perceval Yetts, 1912), W. Perceval Yetts, “Symbolism in Chinese Art”, read before the China Society, 18 January 1912 (Leyden: E. J. Brill, 1912), The China Society, pp. 14, 25
- Directional tomb tile with White Tiger of the West (China Institute Gallery), China Institute Gallery, “Providing for the Afterlife: ‘Brilliant Artifacts’ from Shandong”, cat. 47, Directional tomb tile with White Tiger of the West, Eastern Han dynasty, Linyi Municipal Museum, China Institute Gallery, cat. 47, entry text
- Myths and Legends of China (E. T. C. Werner, 1922), E. T. C. Werner, Myths and Legends of China (London: George G. Harrap, 1922), Project Gutenberg ebook 15250, George G. Harrap, ch. V, Blue Dragon and White Tiger
- Funerary jar with the Green Dragon of the East (Victoria and Albert Museum), Victoria and Albert Museum, London, funerary jar for grain offerings, Longquan ware, Southern Song dynasty (1128–1279), Victoria and Albert Museum, summary description
- Burial chest with the Four Guardian Animals, Korea (Victoria and Albert Museum), Victoria and Albert Museum, London, slate container for cremated remains incised with the Four Guardian Animals, Goryeo dynasty, Korea, Victoria and Albert Museum, summary description
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves or lines.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research
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