The Ancient Legend about Pulling a Thom from a Tiger's Paw:From the Text of the Story to Images from the Hagiographies——Plus a Discussion on the Collective Nature of Wondering Monks in Dunhuang Art
Focusing on ancient stories about people curing ailments for animals and receiving rewards in exchange for their generosity,especially the ancient Chinese story of pulling a thorn out of a tiger's paw,this paper begins by deciphering the textual origins and development of the story,highlighting the influence of ancient Indian Buddhist legends and stories,and then compares the creation and development of similar stories in China and western Eurasia.This comparative study is interested in this story as a good example of the mutual learning that occurs between civilizations,in which a legend or a story was passed down to later generations,absorbed into religious literature,and finally became a narrative model for writing stories about the lives of Buddhist monks and saints.As a narrative device developed from these stories,images from Dunhuang of important monks represent a kind of ideal image of what it meant to be a monk:a figure of religion wandering among the people.The interaction of ancient religious figures and animals,as depicted in both texts and images,was intended to accord with the common view of nature at the time,and the animals existed more as converts,guardians,or symbols of the identity of the person who cured them than dangerous beasts.
pulling a thorn from a tiger's pawSaint Hieromwandering monk accompanied by a tigermutual learning among different civilizations
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