The legend of the year of the Tiger

Every year around the first trimester of the year, some Cambodian families also celebrate Chinese New Year. This moment of the year is mostly shared with all family members, it is filled with joy, delicious food, offerings and gift, particularly the red envelope. 

The date of Chinese New Year celebration changes every year, and the animal that representing each year as well. For this year of 2022, is the year of the Tiger. The Tiger is known to be the king of all beasts, and is seated third place in the Chinese zodiac order of animals (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.).

The legend of the Tiger:

Once upon a time, the Tiger was not part of the zodiac animals but the Lion was. But why was that? 

The Lion was very cruel, it left all the animals on earth unable to find peace. The Jade Emperor who is in charge of the Chinese New Year decided to remove the crown from lion to another animal. The emperor was very troubled by the situation in the forest and had to find another animal to replace the Lion with. At that time the host of immortal recommended the guard tiger of the heavenly palace.

Why the tiger? 

Well… At the beginning, though he has great strength but the Tiger was an insignificant creature who lives in the human world. He lacked hunting skills so he was often teased by other animals.

When he heard that there is a Kung Fu master in the forest, the black cat, the tiger secretly learned from the cat. He learned fighting skills and his character became more like the black cat. The Tiger became a ferocious warrior: cold, calm and patient for the best moment to attack with full force! 

Also, with some, umm… special habits like licking himself…

The tiger became the master of the forest. All the animals who challenged him are either dead or mortally wounded, the forest life began to get in order. After the tiger emerged victories from all the battles, the tiger gained fame for his skills. When the Heavenly Palace heard about his reputation, they recruited him to be an imperial bodyguard.

However, after the tiger left the forest to fulfill his duty as the imperial bodyguard, the animals started to attack humans and caused disaster on earth.

The humans started to pray to the immortal on earth to have a heavenly help to suppress the beasts. The immortals immediately reported back to the Jade Emperor. 

In view of his past experience, the Jade Emperor decided to send the Tiger to the task but in exchange the tiger requested a credit for each battle he won. For peace, the Jade Emperor accepted.

Upon his arrival on earth, the tiger was very sad of how bad the human world and the forest turned into. 

He defeated the lion, the pig and the bear. The Tiger won three battles in a row. The other beasts ran away when they heard about the news. 

After returning to the Heavenly Palace, the Jade Emperor marked the tiger forehead with three horizontal lines as a reward.

While the Tiger took his break, the human world was once again disturbed but this time by the monster Turtles. Once again, the Tiger waited patiently for the right moment to attack and get rid of them. 

Since the human world, the forest and the sea were restored to order, the Jade Emperor rewarded the tiger with another mark on top the three horizontal lines, a vertical one, making a Chinese character 王 (wáng) meaning King on the Tiger's forehead.

So, the Jade Emperor removed the Lion from the animal of the zodiac and the gap with the Tiger. Since then, the words had soon spread amongst the human world. People believed that the Tiger is the symbol of peace and good luck. 

To this day the tiger still bears the mark of victory and greatness on his forehead.