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Spirit of the Tiger
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14873 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
10 / 1988 |
3,497 Words |
| Author
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Evelyn McCune
Evelyn McCune, an art historian, grew up in Korea |
South Korea has decided to use the tiger as its Olympic logo this year. It could not have chosen a symbol more suited to its own tradition or to the spirit of the competitive world games. Until a generation ago, the wild tiger roamed the Korean-Manchurian mountains, as it had from Neolithic times. According to myth and folktale, the tiger symbolized the absolute among the great forces of nature: absolute power in tangible form-comprehensible, terrifying, and challenging. Reality was understood in terms of man against the universe; all the odds were against man, but with prowess and luck it was possible to win any contest--even one with the powerful tiger. As Koreans see it, the symbolism centered on the tiger ,although hoary, seems appropriate when applied to the Olympics.
Terrifying yet precious beast
Historically, the tiger symbol appeared on most Korean military paraphernalia as far back as formal warfare existed. It was used on war flags, shields and breastplates, on gates and shutters of fortresses, on prows of war junks, on insignia of rank. At times warriors even went into battle dressed in tiger skins. The bloodcurdling tiger roar was imitated in war cries, and tiger skins were used in ceremonies to denote the rank and status of all officials, civilian and military alike. Thus the might of the tiger was borrowed by powerful people to underline and enhance their own status.
To all sectors of Korean society, the tiger's dual role of terrifying threat and potential benefaction symbolized the extremes under which life had to be carried on. Koreans acknowledged and accepted this contradiction with wry humor, while not, it appears, letting down their guard. Evidence of the humorous approach is best seen in their folk paintings and folktales, especially those of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The tiger could be and was used as a symbol of anomaly, of mystery subject to imagination and magic, and to myth and drama. Moreover, the Koreans' use of the symbolism differed from that of their neighbors in that the strength of the tiger was invoked against invaders from China and Japan. The Korean attitude was an unremitting "tigerish defiance" of either armed attacks or unwanted cultural intrusions.
During the long time span from the Neolithic days to the present, the tiger's physical presence in the Korean environment also had a sustained impact on habits and customs of the common people of the mountains. Among other considerations, there was the market value of the tiger's pelt; the most highly valued fur
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