Tigers—Real and Imagined—in Korea’s Physical and Cultural Landscape
Tigers—Real and Imagined—in Korea’s Physical and Cultural Landscape
复制标题
韩国自然和文化景观中的老虎——真实的和想象的
作者：
J. Seeley;A. Skabelund
从历史上看，韩国人更看重老虎的象征，而不是真实的生物。现代以前的韩国人赋予老虎不同的文化内涵--包括魔术师、神使者和保护者。然而，老虎和人类之间的大多数实际接触都是暴力的特征。朝鲜的各个朝代，最重要的是Choŏn(1392年至1910年)，都把野生老虎作为威胁和珍贵毛皮的来源。到19世纪末，人口增长、农业扩张和过度狩猎给他们带来了巨大的压力。在日本对朝鲜的殖民统治时期(1910-1945)，民族主义者将老虎重新想象为抵抗帝国统治的象征。然而，人们对野生老虎的传统态度几乎没有改变，因为持续的狩猎和栖息地的破坏导致它们在20世纪中叶消失。但即使在老虎消失的情况下，老虎的文化神秘感仍在继续。老虎的消失鼓励了一种对动物的亲密感，而不是削弱了它们的象征意义。对老虎的怀念促使一些人考虑将它们带回来，但老虎仍然是一种象征，作为一种文化理念，它比活着的动物更重要。
Historically, people in Korea have valued tigers more as symbols than actual living beings. Premodern Koreans gave various cultural meanings to the tiger—including trickster, divine messenger, and protector. Yet violence characterized most actual encounters between tigers and humans. Various Korean dynasties, most significantly the Chosŏn (1392–1910), pursued wild tigers as threats and as sources of valuable fur. Human population growth, agricultural expansion, and overhunting placed significant pressure on them by the late nineteenth century. During the period of Japanese colonial rule over Korea (1910–45), nationalists reimagined tigers as symbols of resistance to imperial rule. Traditional attitudes toward wild tigers changed little, however, as continued hunting and habitat destruction led to their disappearance by the mid-twentieth century. But even in their absence, tigers’ cultural mystique continued. The tiger’s disappearance encouraged a feeling of closeness and affinity for the animal rather than diminishing their symbolic importance. Tiger nostalgia has led some to consider bringing them back, but the tiger remains a symbol with more importance as a cultural idea than a living animal.