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Huyuan 虎苑 "The tiger park" is a book on tigers written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Wang Zhideng 王穉登 (1535–1614), courtesy name Baigu 百穀 (also written 百榖 or Bogu 伯榖), style Banjie Changzhe 半偈長者, Qingyangjun 青羊君, Guangchang'an Zhu 廣長庵主, and else, from Changzhou 長洲 (today part of Suzhou 蘇州, Jiangsu).
Wang was known as an expert in painting and as a libertine with an indecent lifestyle, expressed in his acquaintance with the courtesans Ma Xianglan 馬湘蘭 (1548–1605) and Xue Susu 薛素素 (c. 1575–c. 1652), who were both good painters. He was befriended by great scholars of the time, like Tu Long 屠隆 (1543–1605), Wang Daokun 汪道昆 (1525-1593) and Wang Shizhen 王世貞 (1526–1590). Wang wrote a book on the painter circles of Suzhou, Wujun danqing zhi 吳郡丹青志, a book on Chinese chess, Yishi 弈史 and the books Wushe bian 吳社編 and Keyue zhi 客越志. His collected writings are Cushitang ji 處實堂集, Wang Baigu ji 王百谷集, Jinling ji 晋陵集, Jinlü ji 金閭集 and Yanshi ji 燕市集.
Wang became interested in tigers when, in 1553, an animal crossed Lake Taihu 太湖 and took up residence in a forest near Suzhou, where it lived for many months. After the animal was captured, Wang visited the site where the tiger had "ravaged" springs and stones and sharpened its claws and teeth.
The Huyuan has a length of 2 juan and is divided into 14 chapters quoting ancient literature that give evidence about tigers' perceptions and their use as symbols of human thought, behaviour, and activities, for instance, the killing of a tiger as an allegory for the elimination of evils, or the intelligence of a tiger as an expression of discerning right and wrong. The stories - most of them having a length of but a few sentences - speak of filial and honest conduct of tigers, gratitude of beasts when rescued by men, numinous aspects, strange and miraculous occurrences or transformations between men and tigers. The last chapters are dedicated to allegories and sayings, and to miscellaneous aspects.
| 長興邸嫗山行，遇虎，銜入深谷。虎蹲嫗前，不食。嫗曰：莫有刺，欲去否。虎舉足示嫗，見爪下竹刺，拔去之。騰躍數四，銜嫗至舊所，不相傷，夜置一鹿于門而去。 | An old woman from Changxing 長興 was walking in the mountains when she encountered a tiger. The tiger grabbed her in its mouth and carried her into a deep valley. The tiger crouched in front of the old woman but did not kill her. The old woman said, "Is there something pricking you? Do you want me to remove it?" The tiger lifted its paw to show her, revealing a bamboo thorn lodged beneath it. The old woman pulled the thorn out. The tiger leapt several times in joy, then carried the old woman back to where it had found her without harming her. That night, the tiger left a deer at her door and departed. |
| 大德中，荊南九人山行，避雨入土洞中。虎來踞洞口，視耽耽。八人密議排一人愚者出啖虎，虎當去。虎得人，銜置他所，坐如故。須臾洞崩，八人死，愚者竟生。 | During the Dade reign-era 大德 (1297–1307) [of the Yuan dynasty 元 (1279-1368)], nine men from Jingnan 荊南 were travelling in the mountains. When a storm came, they sought refuge in a cave. A tiger came and crouched at the cave entrance, staring intently at them. The eight men secretly conspired to push out one of their companions, who they deemed foolish, so the tiger would eat him, thinking that the tiger would leave afterwards. The tiger grabbed the man and dragged him to another place, but [returned and] sat in front of the cave as before. Shortly afterwards, the cave collapsed, and the eight men were crushed to death. The "foolish" man survived in the end. |
Many quotations constitute veritable stories and thus also have a literary value. The bibliography Qianqingtang shumu 千頃堂書目, therefore, lists the Huyuan in the section of novellas (xiaoshuojia 小說家). Each chapter is concluded by a summarising praise (zan 讚).
The Huyuan is included in the series Shugu congchao 述古叢抄, Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Cuilangganguan congshu 翠琅玕館叢書, Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書, Yuyuan congshu 芋園叢書, Xu shuofu 續說郛 (abbreviated) and Yishu congshu 藝術叢書.
Chen Jiru 陳繼儒 (1558–1639) took Wang's book as an example and compiled a similar book on tigers, with a length of 6 juan. Unlike Wang's book, Chen's Huhui 虎薈 is not divided into chapters but assembles various stories on tigers without categorising them.
In his foreword from 1597, Chen Jiru tells how he was once afflicted by a protracted illness. His friend Wang Zhideng, who had written the Huyuan, visited Chen and gave him the book with the promise that the uncanny power of the tigers would help him to escape (keyi bi nüe 可以辟瘧) the power of the rigid disease (kunnüe 困瘧). Although Chen didn't get better, he became interested in the subject after reading it and decided to expand Wang's book.
| 漢景帝好遊獵，見虎不便得之，乃為珍饌祭所見之虎。帝乃夢虎曰：爾祭我，欲得我牙皮耶，我自殺，從汝取之。明日，帝入山，果見此虎死在祭所，乃命剝取牙皮。餘肉復化為虎焉。 | Emperor Jing 漢景帝 (157-141 BCE) of the [Former] Han dynasty 前漢 (206 BCE-8 CE) was fond of hunting and went on many excursions. Once, he saw a tiger but was unable to catch it. He then prepared a fine offering and made a sacrifice to the tiger he had seen. That night, the emperor dreamed of the tiger, which said to him: "You have sacrificed to me—do you wish to obtain my fangs and skin? I shall kill myself, and you may take them." The next day, the emperor went into the mountains and indeed found the tiger dead at the place where the sacrifice had been made. He then ordered its fangs and skin to be removed. The remaining flesh transformed back into a tiger. |
| 虪、虎一物也，以色別之，則黃質黑章者無異名，斑毛者謂之虦，毛白者謂之甝，黑者謂之虪，此物同而別者也。虪亦有斑，但以淺色為質，深色而章耳。 《海內·東北經》幽都之山，黑水出焉，其上有黑鳥、黑蛇、黑豹、黑虎、黑狐，蓬尾，此虪之所聚。而孟山之獸多白狼、白虎、白雉、白翟。兩山之間而鳥獸各以其毛色相從，理之不可曉者。然虪尤猛。 今野人言三虎之別：黃虎竊人羊豕，多方窺伺得之。黑虎所見無所不取。白虎坐食而已，不甚搏殺。或云：黃是其幼弱者，黑適壯，白者則老矣。此亦理之近者也。 郭氏稱：晉永嘉中，秭歸縣檻黑虎，狀如小虎而黑色深者為斑。此豈得其小者爾，未可全據也。 |
Shu 虪 and hu 虎 are the same kind of creature, but they are distinguished by their colors. The one with a yellow body and black stripes has no special name, while the one with mottled fur is called zhan 虦; the one with white fur is called han 甝; and the black one is called shu. These are the same creature but differentiated by appearance. The shu also has stripes, but its base color is lighter, with darker patterns on top. According to the [Shanhaijing "Classic of Mountains and Seas",] chapter "Regions Beyond the Seas: Northeast", on Mount Youdu 幽都山, the Black River flows, and on this mountain are black birds, black snakes, black leopards, black tigers, and black foxes with bushy tails — these are the places where shu tigers gather. On Mount Mengshan 孟山, there are many white wolves, white tigers, white pheasants, and white swans. The birds and beasts of the two mountains are distinguished by the colors of their fur and feathers, yet the reason for this is difficult to understand. Nevertheless, the shu is especially fierce. Nowadays, country folk speak of three types of tigers: the yellow tiger, which steals people, sheep, and pigs, often lurking and waiting to catch them; the black tiger, which takes whatever it sees; and the white tiger, which simply eats and does not frequently hunt or kill. Some say the yellow tiger is the youngest and weakest, the black one is in its prime, and the white one is old. This explanation seems reasonable. Master Guo 郭氏 mentions that during the Yongjia reign-period 永嘉 (307-312) of the Jin dynasty 晉 (265-420), a black tiger was captured in the district of Zigui 秭歸縣. It looked like a small tiger but was black with deep stripes. However, this might have been a young one, so this cannot be fully confirmed. |
The Huhui is found in the series Baoyantang miji 寶顏堂秘笈 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.