Baihu
Baihu is the White Tiger of the West, one of the four celestial animals, with the west as its quarter, autumn as its season, metal as its phase and white as its colour. Its mansion group is the western twenty-eight of the lunar mansions, and the tiger tally (hu fu) was the imperial instrument of military authority.
A celestial animal, not a narrative deity; the tiger tally is historical administration, not myth. The Chinese phase is metal, which this corpus's Western element set cannot carry, so the element field is an overlay; the traditional associations are west, autumn, metal, white and war.
Correspondences
Offerings
- Offerings
- White flowersIncenseSaltRice
Sacred timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- White TigerBai HuJian Bing
- Gender Expression
- Neither
- Titles
- White Tiger of the WestGuardian of the WestJian BingLord of the Autumn
- Symbols
- White tigerWestAutumnMetalTiger tallyThe 28 mansions
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneGuarded formalAddressWhite TigerBaihuJian BingRelationshipThe guard at the west gate who does not negotiateWarningThe tiger guards the boundary and the boundary is the pointResonanceSoldiers guards those who keep a boundary those who hunt
- Modern Practice
Invoked for a boundary that has to hold: a contract, a gate, a season of ending. The practice is the tally — say what is yours, what is not, and what happens at the line.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- WestAutumnMetalWarProtectionBoundariesThe huntMilitary authority
- Mythology Summary
Baihu is the White Tiger of the West, one of the four celestial animals, with the west as its quarter, autumn as its season, metal as its phase and white as its colour. Its mansion group is the western twenty-eight of the lunar mansions, and the tiger tally (hu fu) was the imperial instrument of military authority. In Daoist cosmology it is Jian Bing, one of the four directional guardians; unlike the dragon it carries a long martial and administrative charge rather than a body of myth.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsWhiteSilverScentsFrankincenseCedarMyrrhMetalsIronSilverSteelAnimalsTigerEagleDogHorse
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