The tiger is a symbol of Eastern culture in the eyes of some Westerners. TUCHONG
With the Chinese New Year less than a month away, people are getting ready to welcome the Year of the Tiger.
离中国的新年还有不到一个月的时间，大家正准备迎接虎年的到来。
Do you know anyone born in the Year of the Tiger? What's their personality like? Are they brave, strong, tenacious and sympathetic? If so, then they are a typical “tiger”.
你认识虎年出生的人吗？他们有着怎样的性格？他们勇敢、坚定、顽强又富有同情心吗？如果是这样，那他们就是典型的“老虎”。
In Chinese culture, tigers are considered the king of all beasts. They symbolize power, energy, protection, generosity and unpredictability. Tigers are regarded as fearless creatures, so that's why in China you can see images of tigers on the walls of temples and houses to ward off disasters and danger.
在中国文化中，老虎被视为百兽之王。老虎象征着力量、活力、保护、慷慨和难以捉摸。人们认为老虎是无所畏惧的动物，所以在中国你能在寺庙和房屋的墙壁上看到老虎图像，人们以此抵御灾祸和危险。
Tigers have an important cultural significance not just in China, but across Asia.
不仅在中国，老虎在整个亚洲都有重要的文化意义。
As they mostly live in Asia, for many people in the West they have become a cultural symbol of Eastern countries. For example, strong economies in the East – Singapore, South Korea, China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan – were called “The Four Asian Tigers”. In the book Life of Pi, Canadian writer Yann Martel chose a Bengal tiger as the partner for Indian boy Pi on his survival adventure in the Pacific Ocean. French fashion brand KENZO takes the tiger as its main theme when it tries to embody Eastern elements with European design.
由于老虎大多分布在亚洲，对许多西方人来说，老虎已经成为东方国家的文化象征。例如，东方的强大经济体——新加坡、韩国、中国香港和中国台湾——被合称为“亚洲四小龙”（英文译为tiger）。在《少年派的奇幻漂流》一书中，加拿大作家扬·马特尔选择了一只孟加拉虎，作为印度男孩派在太平洋求生的伙伴。法国时尚品牌高田贤三以老虎为主题，试图以欧洲设计体现东方元素。
Instead of tigers, lions are considered as the king of all beasts in the West. Brave warriors were given the name “the lion”. In Europe, the animal is a national emblem for England as well as for Norway, Spain, Belgium and 13 other countries.
在西方，公认的百兽之王不是老虎，而是狮子。人们称呼勇敢的战士为“狮子”。在欧洲，狮子出现在英国、挪威、西班牙、比利时以及其他13个国家的国徽上。
But in the West, tigers are also seen as a very powerful animal. In English, if you want someone to calm down, you can say to them, “easy tiger”. Another famous phrase is: “Eye of the Tiger”, which means fierceness and strength.
但在西方，老虎也被视为一种非常强大的动物。在英语中，如果你想表达希望某人冷静下来，你可以对他们说“老虎，放松点”。另一个著名的短语是:“虎之眼”，这意味着凶猛和力量。
Tigers are also one of my favorite animals. I first learned about the beauty of tigers as a child, while watching animal documentaries. If you ask my mom, she’ll tell you that my most precious toy while growing up was my toy tiger, which I still treasure dearly to this day. As a young animal lover, I felt so sad that they were an endangered species and I wanted to help protect them.
老虎也是笔者最喜欢的动物之一。我第一次领略到老虎之美，是在小时候看动物纪录片时。如果你问我的母亲，她会告诉你，我在成长过程中最珍贵的玩具就是我的玩具老虎，直到今天我仍然非常珍惜它。作为一个年轻的动物爱好者，我因老虎是濒危物种感到十分难过，我希望为保护老虎出一份力。
This is why I love that China has its animal zodiac system, as it shows the connection, understanding and respect that humans can have for animals.
这就是我喜欢中国十二生肖的原因，因为生肖展示了人类与动物的联系，展现出人对动物的理解和尊重。
Just like tigers serve as a symbol of protection in Chinese culture, we can only hope that in the upcoming Year of the Tiger more people can learn about tigers and help protect them and their habitats from further destruction.
正如老虎在中国文化中是一种保护的象征一样，我们只能希望在即将到来的虎年，更多的人能够了解老虎、帮助保护老虎，也保护老虎的栖息地免受进一步破坏。
