Huaiyu Chen
The Other as the Transformed Alliance:
Living with the Tiger in Medieval Chinese Daoism
ABSTRACT: As the apex predators in the ecological system in medieval China, tigers posed a challenge to
the local communities and Daoist hermits who lived in rural areas and mountains. Medieval Daoists developed particular discourses and strategies for dealing with the so-called tiger violence problem. These were
shaped and reshaped by Daoist textual and doctrinal traditions, daily experiences of living with the natural
environment and animals, interactions with the local community, and competition with Buddhists. Exploring medieval Daoist hagiographical sources shows that Daoists regarded tigers as companions, threats, and
weapons in their religious and daily lives. Daoist approaches to tiger violence in medieval China illustrate
that, on the one hand, Daoists preserved the doctrinal and ethical traditions that were rooted in their cosmology, and on the other hand they developed strategies for responding to new challenges from the natural
environment and religious competition.
Huaiyu Chen is Associate
Professor at the School of
Historical, Philosophical and
Religious Studies, Arizona State
University, Tempe, and author
KEYWORDS: Daoism, tiger, violence, companion, Buddhism
of In the Land of Tigers and
Snakes: Living with Animals in
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper aims to examine the Daoist approaches to wild tigers in nature and how
these approaches bridged the gap between traditional Daoist philosophical values and Daoist monastic practices in medieval China. In
ancient China, Daoist philosophies developed
fruitful discourses on the tiger. Daoist art
Medieval Chinese Religions (New
and literature often depict the tiger and the
dragon as two of the most important symbolic
animals. However, with the rise of Daoist monasticism in medieval China, Daoist priests
often encountered the real non-human tiger
in the natural wilderness and they developed
various strategies and techniques for handling
York: Columbia University Press,
forthcoming).
polylog 45
Seite 5
Huaiyu Chen:
the tiger in their social and religious lives.1 As
a wild animal, the tiger played various roles in
medieval Chinese Daoist apologetic and narrative literature, such as companions to Daoist hermits in the mountains, threats against
Daoist practitioners, and weapons used by
Daoists against their rivals, such as Buddhists.
In the medieval period, the expansion of human activities served to intensify conflicts
between humans and animals in China, often
disturbing the balance between the social and
ecological order. With the constant growth of
the Daoist ecclesiastical order, Daoist priests
also expanded the scope of their interactions
with the natural environment and local society. This paper examines how Daoists wrote
about the interactions between the Daoist
realm and the natural realm, and between
wild tigers and Daoist hermits. Daoist attitudes and approaches to the tiger reflect how
medieval Daoists understood and shaped the
cosmological, ecological, and social order.
In particular, I will analyze the attitudes
and methods of Daoists with respect to handling tiger violence and the ethics reflected in
these attitudes and methods based on four
elements: daily experiences and cognition
vis-à-vis encounters with beasts and the natural environment, cosmological and doctrinal
foundations, challenges by and competition
from religious peers, and challenges from
social and historical reality. Drawing upon
medieval materials, I investigate how these
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Seite 6
1 For a general discussion on the tiger in Chinese
history, see Coggins: The Tiger and the Pangolin, 51–86.
elements shaped and reshaped Daoist philosophical and cultural values.
In terms of sources, focus is placed on medieval Daoist hagiographies that provide numerous cases of how Daoist priests and devoted
practitioners interacted with the natural environment, local communities, and other religious and cultural traditions. This provides
an opportunity to discuss many cosmological,
social, cultural, and ecological elements that
might have shaped Daoist understandings of
and ways of dealing with the fierce tiger when
encountered in nature. First, how Daoists
understood, and dealt with, the tiger was
governed by doctrines and disciplines, cosmologically and ethically, which can be found in
the Daoist textual tradition. Second, Daoists
often changed their attitudes to animals by
learning from and reacting to conflicts and
competition with other traditions, especially
Buddhism and Confucianism.2 Third, Daoist
cognition of animals was shaped and reshaped
by daily experiences in both the natural environment and socio-economic life. Many Daoists lived in the mountains and forests, and
they were thus regularly faced with the challenge of beasts, including tigers. Furthermore,
some Daoists used domesticated animals in
their social and economic lives, such as for
agriculture and transportation, so conflicts
between these domesticated animals and wild
beasts also posed an issue.
2 Anderson and Raphals: Daoism and Animals, 281;
Anderson: Flowering Apricot, 177; Gernet: Pitié pour les
animaux, 293–300.
The Other as the Transformed Alliance
2. THE SIGNIFICANCE AND POSITION
OF THE TIGER IN DAOIST COSMOLOGY
Fourthly, an important Daoist deity in medieval China, the Queen Mother of the West
(Xiwangmu), has a strong symbolic connection
with the tiger that can be traced back to ancient times. As early as the Shang dynasty,
people already linked their mu deity with »the
tiger as a symbolic of the west since Neolithic times, an agent of death and transportation
to the spirit world«5. In the late Han Dynasty,
the Queen Mother of the West was depicted
as a goddess under a canopy with a dragon to
her left and a tiger to her right. The tiger and
dragon respectively signify west and east, ying
and yang, and death and life.6
Lastly, though the White Tiger often appears as one of the four cardinal animals symbolizing the west in popular beliefs, it also
represents the power of damage and disaster.
The White Tiger was regarded as a demon
who was thirsty for blood; it is the symbolic
animal for the spirit of the Great White Star,
the destructive force of autumn. A meeting
with this star is a presage of death because it
represents a dangerous demon. Thus, it was
believed that people who were born in the
year of the tiger might bring harm to weddings, pregnancies, and newborn children.
The Daoist text Great Peace Scripture (Taipingjing) regards the White Tiger as representing
the stage of death in the cycle of life.7
Why is the tiger significant in Daoist studies?
Firstly, ecologically speaking, the tiger was
the apex predator in the natural environment
and was popularly perceived as a ferocious and
mighty animal in medieval China. When Daoist priests entered the wild forest and encountered tigers, they broke what was conceived
as the natural boundary between the human
and animal realms. Secondly, from a historical and cultural perspective, one of the most
notable social problems in medieval China
was the imminent threat of ferocious tigers
against human lives and livestock. In medieval
China, local governments developed rules and
regulations for encouraging local hunters to
trap and kill tigers.3 Tiger violence was one of
the most visible threats to local communities.
Thirdly, the tiger occupies a unique position
in the Daoist tradition of the Celestial Masters, which can be traced back to the birth of
this tradition centered on the legend of Zhang
Daoling, the founder of the Daoist tradition
of the Celestial Masters. When he was making his Divine Elixir of the Nine Heavens on a
mountain in South China, a dragon and a tiger
emerged in this place. Referring to lead and
mercury, two ingredients for making elixirs, they served as the main metaphors in the
Daoist tradition for symbolizing internal and
external alchemy.4
5
Cahill: Transcendence, 13; Fracasso: Holy Mothers,
1–46.
3
Ikeda: Chūgoku kodai no mōjū taisaku hōgi, 611–637.
6 Cahill: Transcendence, 26; Carter: China and the
Mysterious Occident, 97–129.
polylog 45
4
Wu: Mapping Early Daoist Art, 82.
7
Seite 7
Hou: The Chinese Belief, 209–219.
Huaiyu Chen:
Daoism is not a fixed and
ahistorical tradition and Daoist
attitudes toward the natural
environment and animals are
mixed and equivocal throughout Chinese history.
Daoism is not a fixed and ahistorical tradition and Daoist attitudes toward the natural environment and animals are mixed and
equivocal throughout Chinese history. Early Daoist philosophical works including the
Daode jing and the Book of Zhuangzi laid some
foundation for our understanding of nature
and the ecological world in ancient China.
E. N. Anderson and Lisa Raphals note that
early Daoists sharply separated people from
animals or humanity from nature. They further suggest that »Early Daoism implies a morality of respect for the inner nature of things,
and for the place of all things in the vast, ever-changing cosmic flow« 8. These attitudes
gradually changed with the full establishment
of Daoist ecclesiastical order in the medieval
period.
Medieval Daoist priests invented new discourses and rituals for overcoming any difficulties they may have faced upon entering the
wilderness, including ferocious beasts. They
would feel awe and respect toward the Most
High Lord of the Dao (Taishang daojun) and the
prefects, their highest authority of doctrines
and their role models for practices. Medieval
Daoist priests viewed the collapse of natural
ecology as the result of a disorder of the Dao,
which means that living beings did not follow
the leadership of, and lost their faith in, the
Dao. In general, ecosystems, biodiversity, environmental impacts, and sustainability are
modern concepts, which cannot be found in
medieval Daoist cosmology. Contemporary
emic and etic terminologies were created by
modern scientific disciplines. Paul Goldin
suggests that the Zhuangzian ideal of living in
harmony with the external world could still
inspire those people who might have accepted the typical Judeo-Christian way of viewing
nature as a place for humanity to dominate.9
However, medieval Daoist priests often indicated that they could dominate the natural environment by taming tigers and riding
dragons, which reflects the prevailing thinking during that time which regarded priests as
the center of concern, rather than the natural
environment. The priests, not the natural environment, practiced and embodied the Way.
In medieval Daoist cosmology, the Most
High Lord of the Dao is the highest sovereign
who is responsible for creating and maintaining the cosmic order. In the power structure
of this hierarchical order, the Divine figures
such as the Most High Lord of the Dao are
higher than human beings including Daoist
priests, and the Daoist priests are higher than
animals. The priests are working toward the
status of trancendents (Xian). Among priests,
the Heavenly Masters as community leaders
enjoyed more esteemed positions than common priests. Since the priests could command
gods to drive away tigers, it appears that they
are more powerful than tigers. Thus, tigers,
even though they are regarded as the apex
predators in the natural realm, are inferior
to human priests.10 It seems that in medie-
8
10 Snarey: The Natural Environment, 85–96.
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9
Anderson and Raphals: Daoism and Animals, 286.
Goldin: Why Daoism, 76–77.
The Other as the Transformed Alliance
val Chinese Daoism, to ensure the survival
of Daoist order, the Most High Lord Lao appeared as a Supreme Deity and authorized the
ethical power of Daoist practitioners to justify their attitudes toward the mountains and
beasts.11 It is not surprising that Daoist doctrines, rituals, and knowledge about nature,
the environment, and animals are all centered
on humans and serving humans’ physiological,
psychological, spiritual, and material needs.
3. DAOIST TAMING OF THE WILD
TIGER IN THE NATURAL WILDERNESS
master survival techniques to protect themselves from tigers, wolves, and poisonous insects.13 According to Ge Hong, one such technique involved understanding the calendar
of taboos. In the longer and shorter months,
there were certain days on which both Daoist practitioners and lay people entering the
mountains would encounter these creatures.14
The image of the wilderness depicted by Ge
Hong shares some similarities with that of the
Judeo-Christian tradition in which, as Tuan
Yi-fu points out, »wilderness is primordial
chaos, a howling trackless waste, a dark world
inhabited by monsters and evil spirits;« and
»Wilderness is primeval chaos and potency, a
threat and a lure«15. Numerous early medieval Daoist texts have noted various spirits and
demons in the form of animals or other creatures. For example, ritually killing the snake
was one of the most visible practices in early
Daoism.16 Ge Hong provides a medicinal recipe for healing the wounds caused by the claws
of tigers and bears. Further, Ge Hong taught
ritual techniques which were said to disable
tigers from moving.
According to medieval Daoist narratives,
Daoist priests practiced the ritual of pacing
voidness (Buxu) and received talismans from
the Most High via the Celestial Masters so
they could command demons, deities, and
For example, ritually killing
the snake was one of the most
visible practices in early Daoism.
Contemporary scholarship has paid attention
to the role of mountains in medieval Chinese
religious life. With the construction of temples and religious sites, many mountains were
transformed.12 While religious practitioners
were living in the mountains, encounters with
wild animals including tigers became inevitable. However, the study of the roles of wild
animals is still underdeveloped. Dealing with
wild beasts such as tigers and snakes as well as
the wilderness in which they lived became a
proximate task for those Daoist hermits who
entered the mountains. In The Master Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi), Daoist master Ge
Hong (283–343) noted that many Daoists went
to live in the mountains either to practice
the Dao and concoct medicines or to escape
from war and take shelter—and they should 13 Ge: Baopuzi, 124, 149, 299; von Glahn: The Sinister Way, 88–90.
11 Tuan: Discrepancies, 175–191.
14 Ge: Baopuzi, 301.
12 Michael: Mountains, 23–54; Robson: Power of
Place, Barrett: Finding a Place, 357–374.
15 Tuan: Ambiguity, 420.
polylog 45
16 Chen: Redemption.
Seite 9
Huaiyu Chen:
Gradually, taming tigers
was portrayed as an accomplished skill for many eminent
Daoist masters in medieval
Daoist sources.
animals.17 Therefore, tigers and wolves would
not harm them while they walked in the wilderness. For example, an early medieval Daoist text The Declaration of the Perfected (Zhengao)
stated that Daoist master Ge Xuan (164–244)
could ride a tiger and command demons while
traveling.18 It can be discerned from Traditions
of Divine Transcendents (Shenxian zhuan)19 that
this ability was inherited and transmitted
through the generations.
Medieval Daoist sources claim that Ge
Xuan bestowed many texts and teachings on
his disciple Zheng Siyuan.20 Zheng apparently
continued Ge Xuan’s legacy of taming the tiger. Daoist writers of later generations praised
Zheng for his high morality and virtue that
pacified and commanded tigers to serve him.21
According to the eleventh-century Daoist
encyclopedia Cloudy Bookcase with Seven Labels
(Yunji qiqian), Zheng’s benevolence was extended to birds and beasts. Zheng once saved a
pair of orphaned baby tigers and brought them
17 Anderson and Raphals: Daoism and Animals, 275–
290.
18 Tao: Zhengao, 561. Meulenbeld (Demonic Warfare,
86) noted that in late imperial China, Zhao Gongming also posited as a tiger-riding warrior who could
command Five Furies represented as five tigers for
territory protection.
19 Ge: Shenxian zhuan, 50; Bokenkamp: Early Daoist
Scriptures, 180.
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Seite 10
back to his mountain residence to feed them.
Later, the male tiger came back to look for his
cubs and also became a companion to Zheng.
Zheng often traveled by riding the male tiger
accompanied by the two cubs who bore books
and medicines for Zheng.22 Zheng Siyuan’s
legacy transferred to his disciple Ge Hong. In
his writing Master Who Embraces Simplicity, Ge
Hong wrote that a particular talisman from
the Lord Lao would protect him in the forest
from the threats of all mountain and water demons, tigers, wolves, and poisonous snakes.23
Gradually, taming tigers was portrayed as
an accomplished skill for many eminent Daoist masters in medieval Daoist sources. According to the tradition of Orthodox Unity,
Zhang Sheng’s oldest son Zhang Zhaocheng
could let his spirit travel out of his body for
several hundreds of li while he was sitting in
his chamber, and he could also tame tigers
and leopards.24 A story in the Biographies of the
Learners of the Way (Daoxue zhuan) compiled by
Ma Shu (?-581) in the sixth century notes that
Xiao Lianzhen studied the Way and had a tiger
as his companion. While he was sleeping, the
tiger always crawled in front of his bed, and
he had to ask the tiger to leave. He treated the
tiger as his dog.25
How could the tiger be tamed? And what
does such taming mean for the Daoists? The
Book of Liezi told a story about how tigers could
20 Wang: Dunhuang, 86–90, 146; Kamitsuka:
22 Zhang: Yunji qiqian, 2401.
Rikuchō, 1–46.
23 Ge: Baopuzi, 308. Pregadio: Great Clarity, 91–92.
21 This echoes the Confucian way of using morality
and virtue to transform the behaviors of animals. See 24 Zhang: Zhonghua, 346b.
Sterckx: The Animal and the Daemon, 123–163.
25 Ibid., 253c–254a.
The Other as the Transformed Alliance
be reared. This book was probably compiled
in the fourth century, though it was attributed to Lie Yukou, a scholar who was active
in the fifth century BCE. Its second section
states that the groom of King Xuan of Zhou
had a slave named Liang Yang who was skillful in rearing beasts and birds. He tamed
some savage animals including tigers, wolves,
eagles, and ospreys. So, the King ordered
Mao Qiuyuan to become Liang’s apprentice
to learn his skills. Liang told Mao that, »Although tigers are a different species from man,
when they fawn on the man who rears them
it is because he lets them get their way; and
likewise when they kill him, it is because he
thwarts them. That being so, how would I
dare to make them angry by thwarting them?
But I do not please them by giving them their
way either. For when joy passes its climax we
are bound to revert to anger, and when anger
passes its climax we always revert to joy because in both cases we are off-balance. Now
since in my heart I neither give them their
way nor thwart them, the birds and animals
regard me as one of themselves.« 26
Liang Yang emphasized observing the natures of beasts and birds. One should seek the
balance between thwarting them and giving
them their way. One should make oneself become one of these beasts or birds by earning
their trust. In 741, Tang Emperor Xuanzong
issued an imperial order to establish a nationwide Daoist school system. Daoist schools
were created across the empire and students
26 Graham: Lieh-Tzu, 42–43.
in these public schools had to study Daoist
classics, such as the Daode Jing, the Book of
Zhuangzi, the Book of Liezi, and the Book of Wenzi.
In this context, to tame means to transform savage beasts into companions, servants,
disciples, guardians, or animals that could be
used in the social and economic lives of humans. As many other stories in the medieval
period reveal, tigers could serve as religious
practitioners’ companions while they cultivated themselves as hermits deep in the mountains, appearing as servants carrying books,
and guardians protecting their lords. The
tamed or domesticated animals must serve
the social, cultural, spiritual, and economic
needs of humans. Taming is a display of human dominance, either through ethical or
ritual power. Taming itself is a cultural tool
invented by humans. Two foundations seem to
support the Daoist taming of the violent tiger.
One is the teaching of co-habiting with wild
animals in nature which can be found in early Daoist philosophical writings. The other is
the ethical rules of not killing animals in the
discipline texts of early Daoism, such as The
Precept Scripture of the Highest Lord Lao (Taishang
laojun jiejing),27 The Redpine’s Almanac of Petitions (Chisongzi zhanglü),28 and The Rules and
Precepts of Worshipping the Dao (Fengdao kejie).
It should also be noted that there were interactions between the Daoist discourse of
taming the tiger and medieval Chinese polit-
One should make oneself
become one of these beasts or
birds by earning their trust.
27 Lai: The Demon Statutes, 251–281.
polylog 45
28 Verellen: The Heavenly Master, 291–343.
Seite 11
Huaiyu Chen:
As a religious monasticism,
medieval Chinese Daoism
developed a set of rituals
for constructing the Daoist
cosmological order, within and
beyond Daoist communities,
working with both residents
and animals.
ical philosophy. In the Western Wei dynasty
(535–551), Chen Baochi studied with Master
Wang and Lu Jingzhen to receive mysterious
teachings. Every morning when he practiced
worshipping, a tamed white tiger accompanied him. When a group of bandits approached,
a horde of tigers would knock a tree to alert
him. If a violent tiger came, these tigers would
also knock the tree in alarm. So, the Western
Wei Emperor Wendi invited Chen to his court
and asked him about how to tame and govern
a tiger. He used tigers as a metaphor to rule
his subjects. For him, tigers were the same as
subjects. If human beings treated tigers well,
then tigers would not be a threat to humans.
If the ruler tortured subjects, then subjects
would resent him. This also applied to tigers.29
In this story, the violent tiger was regarded
as being in the same category as the bandits
that could endanger Chen Baochi, the Daoist
practitioner. However, the tamed tigers could
serve as Chen’s guardians. The tamed tigers
stood with Daoists, while the untamed wild
tiger stood beside the bandits. A similar story appeared in the biography of Guo Wen, a
native of Luoyang. He lived in a stone cave
with a tamed tiger, who often accompanied
him. The Emperor of the Jin dynasty invited
him and asked about his method of taming
the tiger. He said just being natural, which
means that, if human beings were not willing
to harm the tiger, then the tiger would not
harm humans. This was the same as governing
subjects. If the ruler treated his subjects well,
32 Ibid., 311.
29 Zhang: Zhonghua, 603c.
33 Ibid., 313; Bokenkamp: Early Daoist Scriptures,
15–20.
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Seite 12
then the subjects would respect the ruler. If
the ruler tortured subjects, they would resent
him.30
As a religious monasticism, medieval Chinese Daoism developed a set of rituals for constructing the Daoist cosmological order, within and beyond Daoist communities, working
with both residents and animals. Daoist hermits, who resided in wild mountains, were
required to deal with beasts on a daily basis. According to Ge Hong, three talismans
were designed for protection while entering
a mountain, including »The Lord Lao’s Talisman for Entering a Mountain (Laojun rushan
fu)«, »The Talisman for Entering a Mountain
and Removing the Tiger and Wolf (Rushan pi
hulang fu)«31, and a talisman carved on a twoinch block of jujube wood for worshipping
and wearing to prevent hundreds of demons,
snakes, tigers, and wolves from harming the
wearer.32 All three talismans could be hung
up around the pens of domesticated animals
such as cattle, sheep, and pigs for protection
against tigers and wolves.33
In the fifth and sixth centuries, a ritual
manual that was allegedly compiled by the
noted Daoist priest Tao Hongjing (456–536)
taught methods for making five different talismans, aiming to control the body of the tiger,
which reflects the Daoist understanding of the
30 Du: Du Guangting, 767.
31 Ge: Baopuzi, 310.
The Other as the Transformed Alliance
animal body and its materiality. This ritual
text entitled Rituals Transmitted and Bestowed by
Lord Tao (Tao gong chuanshou yi) survived in the
Dunhuang manuscript (S. 3.750, P. 2.559, and
BD 11.252 and S. 6.301). Its second section is
called the »Talisman Seal of Prohibiting Mountains«, which teaches how to deal with beasts
in the mountains.34 Interestingly this passage
offers very detailed guidelines for how to control different parts of the tiger’s body, such as
its gallbladder, eyes, and five organs. A Daoist
priest is instructed to invoke and command
different deities to control different parts of
the tiger. He will have to receive divine talismans and seals from his master to control tigers. The passage indicates that a Daoist priest
equipped with talismans and seals could survive an attack by a ferocious tiger without getting hurt, but it does not say that the Daoist
priest could bestow Daoist precepts on a tiger
so a tiger could become a Daoist, as was noted
in Buddhist writings. Other sources state that
skilled Daoists, both male and female, could
use their power to pacify the wild tiger.
In medieval China, both religious and non-religious sources portrayed tiger violence as an
imminent threat to the local communities and
villages. Confucianism, as the state ideology,
advocated virtuous governance that provided
local communities with the safety of being
free from tiger violence. Confucian political
philosophy taught that the local administrators could drive the violent tiger away by their
Confucian virtue. Both Buddhist and Daoist
literature attempted to demonstrate that their
clergies could help local communities stop tiger violence to serve their social interactions
for expanding their religious interests. Buddhist monks claimed that they could tame the
tiger and convert it to Buddhism by bestowing Buddhist precepts and ordaining the tiger.
The Daoist priests took a similar approach to
dealing with the tiger violence issue by performing certain rituals.35 The Daoist community transformed how it dealt with tiger
violence into religious rhetoric that manifested the power of Daoism. Handling tiger violence was an important means for the Daoist
priests to interact with local communities and
contribute to the safety and stability of local
villages. Furthermore, they could increase
their religious capital by resolving tiger violence and not taking rewards from the local
government. Their social engagement would
help the spread of Daoism and the acceptance
of Daoist ideology in local areas.
It seems that the threat of the tiger explicitly appeared as the »tiger disaster« in early
medieval Daoist literature, which illustrates
that early medieval Daoists accepted the discourse of »tiger violence« that was endorsed
by the Confucian state ideology. An important Daoist manual of petitions, Master Red-
34 Wang, Daojiao, 331–332; Lü: Tang, 63.
35 Kleeman: Daoism, 68.
4. DAOIST APPROACHES TO TIGER
VIOLENCE AGAINST THE LOCAL
COMMUNITY
Confucian political philosophy
taught that the local administrators could drive the violent
tiger away by their Confucian
virtue.
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Seite 13
Huaiyu Chen:
As a Daoist, Ge Hong valued his
cattle more than the tiger, so
he protected them against the
threat posed by this animal.
pine’s Almanac of Petitions, preserved a text entitled »Petition for Stopping and Eliminating
the Tiger Disaster«. According to this text,
villagers often dealt with attacks by tigers and
wolves. On one occasion, these beasts ate humans and harmed six domesticated animals.
The villagers sought help from a Daoist priest.
The Daoist priest summoned many deities
and their attendants such as the Lord of the
Northern Darkness and his soldiers, as well as
the Lord of Protecting Capital and Pacifying
the North and his soldiers, and asked them to
work with the lords and deities of local mountains, rivers, earth, and grain to eliminate the
harm from tigers and wolves.36 This method
appears to illustrate that the Daoist priests
also commanded some heavenly deities to
work with local deities on the disaster issue.
The priests did not engage in the elimination
of tiger attacks in person; while Daoist ritual
empowered them to summon various deities
from the heavenly realm, it did not help them
gain the ability to handle savage beasts themselves. This is a very different approach from
the Buddhist practice of stopping tiger attacks.
In early medieval Daoist literature, the tiger was portrayed as an intruder that troubled
the local community. Ge Hong’s story shows
that the tiger harmed livestock, such as cattle,
in his era. A Daoist text entitled Secret Words
of Embracing Simplicity (Baopu miyan) perhaps
from the Eastern Jin dynasty, the Marvelous Essence Scripture of Eight Thearches of the Cavern of
Spirit (Dongshen baji miaojing jing), illustrated a
polylog 45
Seite 14
particular method of stopping tiger violence
used by Ge Hong.37 Ge Hong invoked the lord
of the mountains by performing a fasting ritual, and then he commanded the lord of the
mountains to kill the tigers and restore order
in the mountain region and local community.38
Ge Hong did not deal with the tiger violence
in person by taming or killing these animals;
instead, he commanded local deities to do the
job. Also, Ge Hong taught a technique for preventing the tiger from harming domesticated
animals. He taught that using the blood of a
green goat and a red hen to make a cinnabar
colored pigment and smearing it on the foreheads of cattle, sheep, and other domesticated
animals would shield them from plague and
illness, as well as from harm from the tiger
and leopard.39
As a Daoist, Ge Hong valued his cattle
more than the tiger, so he protected them
against the threat posed by this animal. The
cattle appeared as Ge Hong’s private property
that could serve his social and economic needs.
The tiger appeared as a savage beast that could
damage his property. The protection of a Daoist for his cattle could even cost the tiger its
life. Ge Hong’s understanding and practice of
social justice seem to be based on his social
and economic interests, rather than the ecological order of the animal realm in the natural environment.
37 Wang: Dunhuang, 220–230.
38 Zhang: Zhonghua, 488b-c.
36 Zhang: Zhonghua, 643a-b.
39 Ge: Baopuzi, 292.
The Other as the Transformed Alliance
In Ge Hong’s Daoist hagiographical collection Traditions of Divine Transcendents (Shenxian
zhuan), many Daoist priests and laypeople
were portrayed as transcendents who could
prevent tigers from harming humans. Ge Yue,
whose Daoist name was Yellow Hut Master
(Huangluzi), could put prohibitive spells on
tigers, wolves, all manner of noxious vermin,
and flying creatures to prevent them from
moving. Under his prohibitive spells, even the
water of the river would reverse its course for
one or two li (in vol. 4).40 Mao Ying, a native
of Xianyang, went to Mount Heng to practice
Daoism at the age of 18. He finished his Daoist
studies at 38. Later, he moved to Mount Juqu
in south China. In the place where he lived,
due to the power of his virtue, there were
no disasters such as floods, droughts, plagues,
disease, locusts, and so forth, and in the local
mountain, there were no threats from thorn
grass, poisonous trees, tigers, or wolves.41
Stopping tiger violence to help the local
community appeared in both Buddhist and
Daoist sources in medieval China, which suggests that there was a competition between
these two religions in terms of generating cultural and religious capital for maintaining and
expanding their influence. After all, the winner of the competition would demonstrate superior religious power. Many stories depicted
eminent Buddhist monks and Daoist priests
either driving away violent tigers or eliminating tiger violence. Two stories seem to share a
40 Zhang: Zhonghua, 34.
41 Ibid., vol. 5, 37.
similarity in terms of the titles for the accomplished masters in both Buddhism and Daoism. In the Tang dynasty (618–907), a Daoist
master Pei Haozhong resided in the Huadao
Abbey in Yuntai, Langzhou (modern Langzhong, Sichuan). It is stated that he was more
than 100 years old, and he often took pollen
branches to cultivate the pneuma (qi). While
he was holding his breath and closing his eyes
during this process of cultivation, a tamed yet
ferocious tiger often served beside him. The
tiger would also walk up to the cliff together
with him. Since the local area suffered from
tiger violence, villagers made images of Pei to
shield themselves from the attacks of tigers.
As a result, he received the venerable title of
the »Honored Master of Taming Tigers (Fuhu
zunshi)«. Besides his talent for taming tigers,
he could also command dragons to make
rain.42 This ability to tame tigers and command dragons can also be found in medieval
Chinese Buddhist narratives; in the Song dynasty, Chan masters Zhifeng (909–985) and
Fazhong (1084–1149) both earned the title
»Chan Master of Taming the Tiger«.43 The
later appearance of this Buddhist title might
suggest that it was a variant phrase borrowed
from Daoism.
Besides taming the tiger, some medieval
Daoist narratives state that Daoist priests
could use force to attack the tiger and befriend beasts. According to the Record of Mar-
Stopping tiger violence to help
the local community appeared
in both Buddhist and Daoist
sources in medieval China,
which suggests that there was a
competition between these two
religions in terms of generating
cultural and religious capital
for maintaining and expanding
their influence.
42 This story was cited from Yeren xianhua (compiled by Jing Huan in 965), Ibid., 305b-c.
43 T. 49, no. 2036, 20; X. 77, no. 1524, 7: 419c420a, J. 33, no. B277, 23: 180a; Chen: Dongwu, ch. 4.
polylog 45
Seite 15
Huaiyu Chen:
In comparison with medieval
Chinese Buddhism, it is striking
that Daoism endorsed this act
of killing tigers.
vels (Luyi ji), a Daoist text compiled by Du
Guangting (850–933), Jing Zhiguo was a person who obtained the Way. During his stay
on Doutu Mountain, he lived with tigers and
leopards and tamed them so that their behavior resembled domesticated dogs. Sometimes
crows and vultures would sit on his shoulders
and limbs. A giant snake came out and then
fled under his command. Several tigers fought
with each other in the court of the abbey. Jing
Zhiguo attacked them, and the tigers just disappeared.44
Although in the early medieval period, Daoist precepts often prohibited Daoists from taking the lives of animals, Daoist narratives show
that on very rare occasions, a Daoist killing a
tiger to stop its attack on domestic livestock
could be justified. This shows a tension between Daoist ethical principles and practical
realities. Stopping tiger violence was a crucial
theme in the Record of the Numinous Efficacy of
Daoist Teachings (Daojiao lingyan ji) compiled by
Du Guangting.45 In most cases, Daoists summoned local deities to handle savage tigers.
Yet one case from Sichuan was an exception
because it presents a justification for killing tigers in medieval Daoism. This case appeared
in a story told by He Yifan, who served Gao
Pian (821–887), a highly acclaimed general
in the late Tang dynasty. When Gao was the
military governor in Chengdu (r. 875–879),
a sly fox spirit often disturbed his military
44 Du: Du Guangting, 31.
polylog 45
Seite 16
brothel by throwing tiles and stones and displaying transformations of exotic forms. Gao
tried some talismans and prayers, but nothing worked. He Yifan then told him a story
about Ge Hong who resolved the problem of
tiger violence. When Ge Hong found a tiger
had harmed cows in his residential region, he
followed the method taught in the Inner Writ
of the Sovereign of Earth (Dihuang nei wen) to
summon a deity to handle this tiger violence.
The next day, two dead tigers were found in
the forest nearby. So, He Yifan recommended
that Gao try the Inner Writ method. Then He
helped Gao kill an old sly fox.46 Combining
the tiger and fox together in this medieval
context, it seems that both animals were demonized as evil spirits – no longer merely animals – and they were subject to be conquered
by Daoist priests via rituals, which means that
non-human spirits rather than non-human animals were eliminated.
In comparison with medieval Chinese Buddhism, it is striking that Daoism endorsed
this act of killing tigers. Killing an animal
was not regarded as an option for Buddhist
monks when they faced a violent beast according to both medieval Buddhist monastic rules and the Biographies of Eminent Monks.
Medieval Chinese Buddhism often classified
and handled animals in three ways: keeping
them as monastic property on the monastic
premises if they were domesticated, releasing
them if they were wild, or raising them prior to release if they were wild but currently
45 Miyazawa: Dōkyō, 1–38; Arao: To Kotei Dōkyō,
20–36.
46 Du: Du Guangting, 263.
The Other as the Transformed Alliance
too young.47 While discussing the Daoist regulation text entitled One Hundred and Eighty
Precepts, Kristofer Schipper suggested that
»Daoism developed institutions and regulations with the purpose of protecting the environment and to ensure that its natural balance
would not be destroyed.« 48 But he noted that
in Daoism, killing living beings was allowed
provided that it was not for consumption, eating, suicide, or murder.
Medieval Daoism not only justified the
killing of the tiger, but also justified mobilizing tigers to kill Buddhist monks, by which it
portrayed the tiger as a weapon for protecting Daoist property from non-Daoist political
and religious powers. The appearance of the
brave tiger warrior was leveraged as a sign of
the efficacy of Daoism against Buddhism. One
piece of textual evidence shows that the Daoist Calamus Abbey in Guangzhou in the Tang
dynasty used to be a popular tourist destination for its medical store, elixir well, and ancient pine tree but it was once occupied by a
group of Buddhist monks who built the Chan
temple. However, a local elder warned the
monks that they should not take it over from
the Daoists because if they did, they risked
being harmed by tigers and leopards. At first
these monks did not believe what the elder
said. Then a month later a tiger killed more
than ten monks and forced the rest of this
Buddhist group to flee. So, this place again
became a Daoist abbey, and Daoists enjoyed
tigers as their companions.49 Another piece of
textual evidence relates that in the Southern
Marchmount, the Transcendent Platform of
Lady Wei was created on a giant rock in front
of the central peak for Daoist transcendents.
One night, a group of Buddhist monks tried to
push the platform but could not move it. They
left with frustration. Suddenly a tiger killed
nine of these monks and only the one who had
not intended to push the platform survived.50
Again, medieval Daoist priests acknowledged
the physiological strength of the tiger and its
mighty symbolic power that could prevent
Buddhist monks from interfering with or taking away Daoist property and even kill the
monks. Daoist priests mobilized the tiger and
transformed it into a guardian animal in Daoist narratives. In these narratives, a new social
order was established for maintaining the ascendancy of Daoism, which can be regarded
as a new development of Daoist apologetics.
In this order, Daoist priests appeared to have
greater power for taming and even killing the
tiger, and the tiger was stronger than the Buddhist monks.
The competition between Buddhism and
Daoism began from the very beginning in
the 1st century A. D. when Buddhism laid
the foundation for its first urban stronghold
in Luoyang. The alleged burning of scriptures
to attest both authenticity and magic power
was the first legend that was used as evidence
of religious power in both Buddhist and Dao-
47 Chen: Buddhist Classification, 31–51.
49 Du: Du Guangting, 170.
polylog 45
48 Schipper: Daoist Ecology, 79.
50 Ibid,, 168, 173.
Seite 17
Medieval Daoism not only
justified the killing of the tiger,
but also justified mobilizing
tigers to kill Buddhist monks ...
Huaiyu Chen:
ist textual traditions. In the medieval period,
competition with respect to images, rituals,
and practices became more intensive. This
paper argues that Daoism and Buddhism also
engaged in the contest for hegemony in ruling
wild nature by taming the ferocious tiger, the
so-called king of all beasts in East Asia.
Medieval Chinese Daoist monasticism developed a strong
anthropocentric tradition.
CONCLUSIONS
Medieval Chinese Daoist monasticism developed a strong anthropocentric tradition.
More broadly, there are debates in contemporary scholarship on the anthropocentrism
of religious traditions. Lynn White Jr. holds
the anthropocentrism of Christianity and
other religious traditions accountable for the
destruction of Nature/ecosystem.51 In fact,
there is a long tradition of Abrahamic religious anthropocentrism. Some scholars turn
to the ancient sources of Asian traditions
for environmental-friendly ideas, and many
scholars agree that the religious traditions of
South, East, and Southeast Asia, seem to promote responsible behavior toward the natural
environment. These traditions often generally
show a sense of the numinous in nature and
the perception of sacred mountains, forests,
groves, and rivers. 52 They appear to support
the idea that the boundary between humans
and nature is blurry. Some traditions believe
51 White Jr.: The Historical Roots, 1203–1207.
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Seite 18
52 Taylor: The Greening, 268–305; Miller: China’s
Green Religion.
in animism and the interdependence of all
creatures.
Medieval Daoist narratives show that Daoists otherized animals as nonhuman species.
Animals could not thoroughly understand the
Way (dao) through their own self-cultivation
due to their inferior moral agency and intelligence without the guidance and instructions
of Daoists. Unlike some domesticated animals
such as pigs, horses, and sheep, tigers, as wild
animals, are not natural resources to be used
for labor or food in human economic life. Nor
are tigers pets for daily companionship. The
tiger, symbolizing the highest power of animals in East Asian culture, served as cultural capital for Daoist priests to maintain their
image as superior moral cultivators who have
religious power and dominance. Medieval
Daoist narratives developed religious rhetoric that eminent Daoist priests could mobilize
the power granted by the Lord of the Dao to
commanding deities and demons to fight with
the beasts.
Although tiger attacks on local villagers
and livestock in medieval China might have
been caused by human expansion and invasion
into the realm of the tiger, Daoists, following the definition in medieval Chinese society
at the governmental and local levels, defined
the attacks as tiger violence. By accepting this
definition, some Daoist priests engaged in
competition with the local government and
Buddhist community to pacify this violence.
On the one hand, Daoist engagement could
indeed help the local community by resolving the problem of tiger attacks. On the other
The Other as the Transformed Alliance
hand, Daoist priests reaped cultural capital by
exemplifying religious power. Even though a
Daoist priest might not directly take the life
of a tiger, by mobilizing demons and deities as
proxy executors, the tiger was killed. Killing
is an act of violence that has to be justified
when it appears in the Daoist account from
the cosmological and ethical perspectives of
Daoism. Furthermore, the Daoist monastic
community also transformed the ferocious tiger to become its ally and protect its property
against Buddhist threats.
Medieval Daoist narratives make a distinction between the violent tiger and the tamed
tiger, which was based on the needs of the
Daoist priests and community; this distinction serves the Daoist rhetorical strategy of
responding to the competition from medieval Buddhist monks, and to the challenge
from local villagers. Tamed tigers could serve
the social, cultural, economic, and spiritual
needs of Daoist priests and local villagers. In
medieval Daoist narratives, the tiger could
be portrayed as the guardian, the companion, and the disciple of the Daoist hermits in
the mountains and forests. The violent tiger
was portrayed as the dangerous enemy, and
in such cases killing this enemy was justified,
though traditional Daoist philosophical principles and early Daoist precepts did not endorse killing. Killing the violent tiger seems
to illustrate that in medieval Daoist narratives
there was still a clear boundary between wild
and untamed nature and the civilized world
of the Dao. The latter is part of human society and governed by the principles of the Dao.
Killing a violent tiger is a disturbance of the
ecological order of wild nature, but it benefits
the local village or the civilized world more
generally. So, in this sense, medieval Daoist
narratives value human society more than nature. Therefore, this distinction between the
violent tiger and the tamed tiger is still a manifestation of anthropocentrism.
... medieval Daoist narratives
value human society more than
nature.
polylog 45
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Huaiyu Chen:
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