……that 2010 is the year of not just any tiger, but the white tiger? Every 60 years, we greet the White Tiger year, which is supposed to bring forth luck and wealth. And to top it off, Lunar New Year this year begins on Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day. These two tidbits, some are hoping, just may make conditions ripe for babymaking in South Korea, which is suffering from a low birth rate.
And isn’t it appropro for this large, striped cat to be bringing people together? In ancient Korea, the tiger may have been deemed a scary beast for obvious reasons, but “our ancestors weren’t consumed by that fear,” Gu Mun-hoe, curator of the National Folk Museum of Korea, told the Korea Times/Seoul in a recent article. “What is rather mystifying is that people also saw it as a guardian that drove away evil spirits.” Because of that reverence, our ancestors made talismans and statues to resemble its shape.
Even in modern times, the feline serves as an elite critter. Who can forget the adorable 1988 Seoul Olympic mascot, Hodori?