Lacquer Tiger

[Lacquered wood tiger]

Lacquered wood tiger, clear, 95 cm long, 60 cm high. The old collection of the Qing Palace
This tiger’s wooden body is painted all over. The tiger is crouching, its eyes are wide open, its mouth is slightly open, and its whole body is full of motion, as if it will jump at any time
There are two such wooden tigers, which are displayed on both sides of the Vajra statue of Dawid enshrined in the center of the second floor of the Vatican Building in the Forbidden City. At the same time, there are also Emperor Qianlong’s crown clothes, leather helmets, white satin armor, and other weapons, such as axe, axe, spear, waist knife, sack, bow, and thread gun, which are enshrined beside the King Kong of Daweid
The wooden tiger and the armor and weapons displayed at the same time are closely related to the Great Vajra. Yamantaka is one of the fathers of the Supreme Yoga Department of Tibetan Buddhism. His manifestation of anger as Manjusri Bodhisattva is the order wheel of Manjusri Bodhisattva to subdue the gods and all living beings. He is the most powerful god in Tibetan Buddhism and has great power. Here, the Great Vajra is worshipped as a god of war, and armor, weapons and wooden tigers are displayed according to the layout of the Great Vajra. Emperor Qianlong hoped to pray that Daweide would protect his military victory, the border areas would be peaceful and the rivers and mountains would be stable.