{"id":217,"date":"2013-10-06T05:00:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-06T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/?p=217"},"modified":"2013-10-08T14:43:39","modified_gmt":"2013-10-08T21:43:39","slug":"tiger-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/art\/tiger-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiger Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_0626\"<\/b><\/h4>\n

Cats and Dogs<\/strong><\/h1>\n

I\u2019m a cat person. Calicos and tabbies, a polydactyl Russian blue, a pair of Siamese, a not-too-bright long-haired white, I\u2019ve had them all. And though I\u2019ve owned a few dogs, including a regal Saluki and a pair of adorable beagles, I like cats better. I like their purr and the limber, drapey way they feel when I pick them up. I like their independence and self-sufficiency. Most of all, I like their grace and beauty.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same thing I love about tigers.<\/p>\n

The Pinnacle of Chinese Brush Painting<\/b><\/h4>\n

Years ago I studied Chinese brush painting. My professor<\/a>, who was decidedly old-school, required us to master flowers, trees and the lesser animals before we tried our hand at tigers. We started with plum blossoms, and when we\u2019d mastered them using both free-style and detailed techniques, we moved on to bamboo, orchids, chrysanthemums and peonies. Then we painted pine trees, fish, crabs, birds, roosters and horses. Years went by. We had class twice a week and practiced at home. Finally some of us were ready to paint a tiger.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The tiger painting that was “lost” by the gallery<\/p><\/div>\n

I made two tiger paintings. The first was stolen from a gallery in downtown Seattle. The second, which I still have, was inspired by my husband\u2019s stories of his childhood in Amoy.<\/p>\n

It was wartime, he told me, and everyone was hungry. People climbed the mountains to hunt for wild game, and when the wild pigs and hog deer and even the porcupines and peafowl were gone, the tigers ventured into the lowlands. A pair of them even swam across to Amoy where they killed a farmer\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n

The next night sharpshooters from the occupation force were waiting. They shot the female the first night; the male, the next. The tigers\u2019 bodies made a fine meal for the Japanese officers and men. But there were leftovers. My husband\u2019s maid scurried to the site before dawn and lined up with other starving, malnourished Chinese. The chunk of tail she brought home became a soup.<\/p>\n

Today my painting of the ill-fated tigers leaping into the surf hangs in my dining room.<\/p>\n

Mao\u2019s Anti-Pest Campaign<\/b><\/h4>\n
\"photo<\/a>

photo courtesy of jinterwas<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite the hardships of war, more than 4000 tigers still roamed the mountains and hills of China during the early 1950s. Then, as part of the Great Leap Forward, Mao targeted them as part of his anti-pest campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result of that and other factors, the Amoy tiger, the evolutionary ancestor of all tigers, is now thought to be extinct in the wild.<\/p>\n

A sad end for a beautiful and noble beast that has long been the Chinese symbol of power and lordliness.<\/p>\n

The Year of the Tiger<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"photo<\/a>

photo courtesy of garryknight<\/p><\/div>\n

My late husband was born in the Year of the Tiger, which means, according to the Chinese horoscope, that he was courageous\u2014fierce and commanding on the outside, noble and discerning on the inside.<\/p>\n

Each animal in the twelve year cycle has its strengths. Monkeys are quick-witted, oxen are patient, sheep gentle, and dogs faithful. But no animal in the Chinese zodiac <\/a>can compare to the tiger.<\/p>\n

You too may be a tiger if you were born in 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 or 2010.<\/p>\n

Next week: Chinese brush painting<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cats and Dogs I\u2019m a cat person. Calicos and tabbies, a polydactyl Russian blue, a pair of Siamese, a not-too-bright long-haired white, I\u2019ve had them all. And though I\u2019ve owned a few dogs, including a regal Saluki and a pair of adorable beagles, I like cats better. I like their purr and the limber, drapey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[47,44,45,50,46,925,10,49,48],"class_list":["post-217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","tag-amoy-tiger","tag-cats-and-dogs","tag-chinese-brush-painting","tag-chinese-horoscope","tag-maos-anti-pest-campaign","tag-tiger-tail-soup","tag-tigers","tag-year-of-the-tiger","tag-yes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-3v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3155,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/tiger-tail-soup\/where-have-all-the-tigers-gone\/","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":0},"title":"Where Have All the Tigers Gone?","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"January 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"During the holidays my family\u2014seven adults, one child and a teenager\u2014visited the Indianapolis Zoo. Despite the unwieldy size of our group, we succeeded in staying together for a while. (The shark-petting pool with its small hint of danger appealed to us.) Before long, though, some of us rushed through the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"2014-12-23 tiger3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2014-12-23-tiger3-e1420585890529.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9817,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/year-of-the-tiger-what-will-it-hold\/","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":1},"title":"Year of the Tiger. What Will It Hold?","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"February 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"For the past two years we\u2019ve been asking our scientists and doctors, politicians, stock-and-bond gurus, and friends to predict the future. Tell us, we demand, when will the pandemic be over? When will everything get back to \u201cnormal\u201d? Or, what will the new normal be like? Even when they've dared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/tigers2-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/tigers2-web.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/tigers2-web.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":248,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/attaxarty\/","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":2},"title":"Chinese Brush Painting","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m a writer now, but once upon a time I was a painter. And before that I was the kid who hurried through my multiplication tables so I could draw paper dolls for my friends. We lived in the Philippines when I took up Chinese brush painting. My teacher, Professor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chinese brush painting, me 001","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Chinese-brush-painting-me-001-e1376436289931-983x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Chinese-brush-painting-me-001-e1376436289931-983x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Chinese-brush-painting-me-001-e1376436289931-983x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1333,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/1333\/","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":3},"title":"“First Pass Pages” of Tiger Tail Soup","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"February 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Tiger Tail Soup is almost ready for publication. 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Island of pianos they call it, drum-surf isle, egret island\u2026.My beloved home, and for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"batik painting by Nicki Chen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/IMG_0508-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3270,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/tiger-tail-soup\/the-great-tiger-hunter-of-fujian\/","url_meta":{"origin":217,"position":5},"title":"The Great Tiger Hunter of Fujian","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"February 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Man from Tennessee Kills 48 Amoy Tigers. When Harry R. Caldwell lived in China during the first half of the Twentieth Century, no one worried about the extinction of the Amoy tiger. 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