|
This panel depicts the encounter between the tiger and
dragon, two powerful animals of Chinese cosmogony and legend.
On the left side, the serpentine-bodied dragon slithers down from heaven,
keeping its hind legs attached to the clouds and propelling itself on waves
crashing against a rocky surface. This
dragon is an amalgamation of beastly qualities, possessing the horns of a deer,
scales of a carp, claws of hawk, palm of a tiger, torso of a snake and belly of
a frog. The tiger rules in the terrain of dense forests and steep mountains,
emerging from its lair to confront this celestial force.
Its body is short and muscular, its forelegs and hind legs decorated in a
spiral motif and stripes depicted by neatly aligned horizontal markings.
Its protruding eyes, rounded face and stylistic nose give the tiger a
human quality, as it growls in response to the dragon's fierce roar.
The fifth animal of the Twelve Terrestrial Branches, the
dragon is an mythological creature that descends from heaven to lurk the
waterways of the world, meting out the good from the evil and exerting
beneficial influence on mankind. The
dragon symbolizes vigilance, grandeur and worldly success as it is used as a
motif in imperial regalia and official decorum. There are many representations of the dragon, each suggesting
various meanings. The five-clawed
dragon refers to the King, while the transformation of the carp into a dragon is
a metaphor of scholarly achievement.
The tiger, the third of the Twelve Terrestrial
Branches, is supreme among animals of the real world that roam the earth.
It is taken as the emblem of magisterial dignity and sternness, as the
model for the courage and fierceness that should characterize a soldier, and its
presence or roar is synonymous with danger and terror.
In this scene, the dragon and tiger meet, symbolizing the confrontation
between the two great forces of the universe:
heaven and earth.
- (PF.4360)
|
