Bulaohu
01 · Historical Records
The origins of the Lihou Tiger can be traced back to the tiger-worship customs of the Shang and Zhou periods. Tiger-shaped objects excavated from a Western Zhou tomb in Xiguan Village, Licheng County, show that tiger-shaped artifacts once occupied an important place in local social life. Local folk tradition further links this tiger-shaped cloth craft with the ancient Marquis of Li (Lihou), holding that it was transmitted continuously from the Li state of the Western Zhou onward. Thereafter, through generations of women cutting patterns, sewing, and refreshing the designs, it finally took shape as a tiger-shaped cloth craft used to guard the house, to "tie up the baby" (a fertility charm), and to celebrate a baby's first month.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Artifacts excavated from the Western Zhou tomb in Xiguan Village, Licheng County, show that as early as the Shang and Zhou periods the people of Licheng already took the tiger as an object of worship, and that tiger-shaped artifacts occupied an important place in the social life of the time. The Lihou Tiger comes in large, medium, and small sizes. It is made by first sewing dyed cotton cloth into the shape of a tiger, then decorating it with appliqué, painted colors, and hanging tassels. Modeled with a high degree of simplification, the Lihou Tiger is vivid in form: head raised, standing upright, and awe-inspiring. It expresses, in a direct artistic way, the people's fine wishes to uphold the right and expel evil and to have all things go as they wish. The Lihou Tiger comes in large, medium, and small sizes. At New Year festivals, at a child's one-month celebration, and when moving into a new house, local people often give it as a gift or display it, meaning that it will guard the house against evil and bring all things as wished. The tiger body must be sewn with strict left-right symmetry; the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth are applied one after another; and painted colors and hanging tassels are added last, making the tiger form vivid and lifelike.
Shang-Zhou tiger figures and cult
Tiger figures unearthed from a Western Zhou tomb at Xiguan village show that people of Licheng already venerated the tiger, an older root of the cloth tiger.
Applique, painting and tassels
Made in several sizes, the tiger is sewn from dyed cotton cloth, then decorated with appliqué, painting and tassels.
A wish to ward off evil
Shaped in a highly abbreviated manner, the upright and imposing tiger embodies the people's wish to uphold good and brush away evil.
Where the name comes from
Taking its name from Licheng's old title of Marquis of Li, the cloth tiger is the richest of the local tiger forms in wood, stone, straw and paper.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Lihou Tiger is a folk tiger-shaped cloth craft popular in the area of Lihou Town and Tinghepu Township in Licheng County, Shanxi Province. Because Licheng was anciently called "Lihou" (Marquis of Li), the craft is named the "Lihou Tiger." The Lihou Tiger is found mainly in the households of Lihou Town, Tinghepu Township, and Shangyao Town in Licheng County, Shanxi Province. Its principal mode of transmission is from mother to daughter among household women, and the patterns and color schemes of the tiger-shaped cloth craft often vary slightly according to each family's pattern-cutting habits.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
As a sign that tiger worship has been carried on until it became a custom, the use of tiger-shaped objects or motifs in wood carving, stone carving, straw weaving, and paper cutting is already a common phenomenon among the Licheng people. Among them, the richest in form and design and the most outstanding in regional cultural character and folk-art value is the Lihou Tiger, transmitted over generations. Deeply imbued with traditional culture, the Lihou Tiger is strongly rustic and distinctly regional in character. It has not only high aesthetic value but also rich folk connotations, providing important reference material for the study of folklore and of the local history and culture of Shanxi. The name "Lihou" is taken from Licheng's ancient name. The tiger form stands with raised head and steady four feet, and the belly is often embroidered with floral and plant motifs. It is thus distinct from the cloth tigers of Shaanxi, Shandong, and other places, while retaining the boldness and artless clumsiness common to northern tiger-shaped cloth crafts. In June 2008, Cloth Tiger (Lihou Tiger) was included in the second batch of the national intangible cultural heritage list; the protecting unit is the Licheng County People's Cultural Center, and the locality sustains this tiger-shaped cloth craft through display and apprenticeship activities.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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