TIGER

Since ancient times, the Chinese have revered the tiger, known as the King of All Beasts in China. Totem worship and cultural legend of the tiger is a cultural phenomenon of the Chinese people, in communication between human beings and gods, in connection with nature, and granting blessing and protection against evil. In various historical legends, the tiger is worshipped as the god who opened up the sky and the earth, and as the ancestor of human reproduction. Ancient people not only used the tiger's commanding image as praise to generals in military affairs, but also used tiger-shaped tally to represent the power to mobilize troops and dispatch generals. The tiger is a symbol of righteousness, courage and majesty in folklore, also capable of subduing evil spirits and warding off evil spirits. The tiger is the third in the Chinese zodiac and its corresponding earthly branch is “Yin”.

The tiger is a mammal of the large cat family. It is endemic to Asia, native mainly to Northeast and Southeast Asia. The tiger is a highly evolved predator and an indispensable part of the natural ecosystem. Adult tigers can reach a length of 2 to 2.5 meters, a tail length of one meter, and can weigh between 90 to 220 kilograms. In addition to its large size and powerful muscles, its most distinctive feature is its white or orange fur with black vertical stripes, the undercoat of which is lighter in colour. On September 5th, 2022, Pos Malaysia issued a souvenir sheet with the logo of the International Forum for Tiger Conservation, featuring two Malayan tiger cubs in an octagonal stamp. The same day, China Post also issued the “Tiger (Cultural Relics)” stamps designed by Wang Huming. The six stamps feature "Shang Dynasty - Double-tailed Bronze Tiger Carrying a Bird on the Back", "Spring and Autumn Period – Tiger-shape Jade Ornament", "Han Dynasty – Eave-end Tile with White Tiger Pattern", "Han Dynasty – Gold-inlaid Inscribed Bronze Tiger Tally", "Jin Dynasty – Crouching tiger-shaped White-glaze Porcelain Pillow with Brown Decorative Patterns from the Cizhou Kilin” and "Qing Dynasty – Flying Tiger-shaped Shadow Puppet", respectively.

CTT Macao issued the “Seng Yu – Idioms” booklet in 2001 and, among these, the one pertaining to the tiger is “The Fox Making Use of the Tiger’s Fierceness”. This allusion first came from the "Stratagems of the Warring States - Chu I", wherein the fox uses the power of tiger to intimidate other beasts and animals, and would later be used as a metaphor for repressing and intimidating others by relying on the power and strength of other people. As the five elements of 2010 converge in the “Golden Tiger”, the embossing and holographic printing effects on the souvenir sheet designed by Lam Chi Ian highlight the tiger at the centre of the diamond-shaped stamp as well as the multifarious nature of the Year of the Golden Tiger. The 2022 souvenir sheet, designed by Yu Si, contains a circular stamp presenting “Good Fortune Comes to the Door”, illustrating the four seasons of the tiger with spring flowers, summer lotus, autumn maple and winter snow.

In 2010, Hongkong Post issued two Year of the Tiger souvenir sheets designed by Bon Kwan, one of which with an imperforated stamp featuring a seated tiger at rest, the other with four stamps featuring four tigers in different poses. For the fourth cycle’s Tiger series in 2022, Kan Tai-keung designed a souvenir sheet featuring a porcelain tiger wearing an embroidered hat against a backdrop of a large red floral cloth filled with Chinese New Year festivities.

The Year of the Tiger First Day Cover issued by Singapore Post in 2010 is in an eye-popping deep pink colour, affixed with tiger stamps from the “Round and Round” series, jokingly named Lio Teck Cheong, three stamps bearing the words “Lucky”, “Blessing” and “Good Luck and Good Fortune” have been cancelled with the first day issue postmark. The Christmas Island Post, which is keen on issuing Chinese Zodiac stamps, has launched the third cycle of Tiger stamps in 2022 designed by Chrissy Lau, who transformed the Japanese fortune cat into a fortune tiger, a Japanese decorative feature the designer believes has been absorbed into Chinese and Asian cultures, as well as Western cultures.

At the end of 2012, Vietnam Post issued a souvenir sheet with two sets of imperforated stamps, the yellow souvenir sheet is decorated with bright plum blossom patterns to create a festive atmosphere. The designer, Nguyen Quang Vinh, took inspiration from folk paintings of Hanoi's Drum Street and used cheerful colour of light blue and pink as the background to highlight a scene of the tiger playing with an embroidery ball. In 2022, the Hungarian Post also launched Year of the Tiger Chinese Zodiac stamps, featuring two tigers in a circle on a miniature sheet. That same year, the Philippine Post issued a set of two stamps that the mighty tigers seem to roar in the stamps.

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