In ancient China, the image of the tiger was greatly admired, especially in the military. For example, the military symbol of dispatching troops carved a tiger with gold, which is called the tiger symbol.

The symbol of the tiger first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, the bronze tiger was used as a transfer certificate issued by the central government to local officials or garrison leaders, and was called the tiger symbol. There is an inscription on the back of the drum, which is divided into two halves. The right half is kept in the imperial court, and the left half is given to generals or local governors. It is always dedicated to a place and a symbol. It is absolutely impossible to mobilize troops from two places at the same time with one roller. It takes two halves to verify the truth before it takes effect. In the Chinese History Museum, there is a 7.9 cm long, 2.5 cm long, tiger-shaped, flat-headed, with two lines of seal characters engraved between the left and right neck ribs. The words are the same, saying that "Hu Fu takes Tang Yanghou first". The Shaanxi Museum in xi also has a tiger sign found in the western suburbs of Xi. It is a cultural relic of the Warring States Period from 475 BC to 22 BC1year. It is known as the symbol of the "Du" mace tiger in Qin Dynasty. It is 4 cm high and looks like a tiger pounce, symbolizing military strength and urgent March. The body of the tiger symbol is engraved with a 40-word gold inscription, which describes the object and scope of transfer, but it is extremely beautifully made.

Tiger symbols played an important role in ancient wars, and many related stories happened. According to Records of the Historian, in 257 BC, during the Warring States Period, the State of Qin sent troops to besiege Handan, the capital of Zhao. Zhao's wife was Wei Xinling's sister, and he asked Wang Wei and Xin Lingjun for help. Wang Wei asked the veteran to lead a 654.38+ 10,000-strong army to save Zhao, but later he was afraid of the strength of Qin State and ordered the troops to sit tight. In order to save Han, Xin, the son of Wei, conspired with Ruji, Wang Wei's wife, to let Ruji steal the tiger symbol in Wang Wei's bedroom, and used this tiger symbol to seize the army, defeat Chi and save Zhao. Mr. Guo Moruo once chose this theme to create the script of the famous drama Tiger Fu, which was performed by Beijing People's Art Theatre. In Chapter 51 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao and Battle of Red Cliffs suffered a crushing defeat. Zhuge Liang took advantage of the emptiness of the southern county, ordered Zhao Yun to capture the city successfully, and captured the commander-in-chief of the garrison, Chen Jiao, to obtain a spell, and then used this spell to cheat the garrison of Jingzhou out of the southern county. Then Zhang Fei attacked Jingzhou, and then transferred the garrison of Xiangyang in the same way. Guan Yu took the opportunity to attack Xiangyang. Zhuge Liang drove Cao Bing away with a little tiger symbol and captured the three cities without bloodshed, while Zhou Yu of Soochow, who spent a lot of money, food and military forces, got nothing. How can he not be angry? This also shows the great role of the tiger symbol at that time.

Historically, the shape, quantity, inscription and grade of tiger symbols have also changed greatly. From the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, the tiger symbols were all made of copper, and on the right was the respect for the inscription on the riding seam. In the Sui Dynasty, it was changed to Fu Lin. In the Tang dynasty, because of avoiding tigers, they switched to fish symbols or rabbit symbols, and later switched to turtle symbols. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the symbol of the tiger was restored. Tiger-headed cards were used in the Yuan Dynasty, and later generations evolved into bronze medals.