Many of China's legendary or my-tical heroes are associated with the tiger. Thus Chang Tao-ling, the first Taoist Pope, who was born about the middle of the Han Dynasty, is usually depicted riding on a tiger, while Po-to-lo,. the sixth of the original Sixteen Arhats or Lohan, is also portrayed as being accompanied by one of these animals. Feng-kan Chan-shih, the fourth of the Eighteen Arhats of Wu-wei Chou, is also represented as riding a tiger, as also is the God of Wealth. One of the stories told about Yao Wang, King of Medicines, also known Sun Ssu-miao, describes his meeting with a tiger which had a bone stuck in its throat. This he removed with his forceps, whereupon the tiger showed every sign of gratitude, and from that time on acted as guardian of his gate.
In Taoist temples the gates are guarded by the Blue Dragon and the White Tiger. The latter is the Spirit of Yin Cheng-hsin, whose father. Yin Po-pai, was sent by the Chou Wang on a mission, in the course of which he was killed by an enemy. Yin Cheng-hsin sought to avenge his father's death, but himself was killed, for which act of filial piety he was later canonized as the Spirit of the White Tiger.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.