The tiger is not related to the white tiger among the four holy beasts. The white tiger is a mythical beast. It is only called the white tiger because its shape is similar to that of a tiger, or because people think it looks like a tiger. The white tiger and the other three sacred animals are gods, not mortal creatures, so the color of the tiger has nothing to do with the white tiger. And tigers are not all yellow, there are also white tigers.
The white tiger is the god of war and killing. The white tiger has many magical powers such as avoiding evil, warding off disasters, praying for prosperity and punishing evil, promoting good deeds, making wealth, and getting married. And it is one of the four spirits, and of course it is also made of stars. Among the twenty-eight constellations, it is located in the seven constellations in the west. Therefore, it is the representative of the West, and its white color is because it is the West. The West belongs to gold among the five elements, and its color is white.
Jin's "Zhongxing Zhengxiang" says: The white tiger is a benevolent beast. The tiger is white, with a body like snow, no hair, angry eyes, short ears, four legs and five claws, and a long tail. It can soar into the clouds and roar to make the wind blow. That is to say, the white tiger is as white as snow and has no stray hairs. Therefore, the white tigers in many pictures now have stripes, which is wrong.
The worship of white tigers should originate from the totem worship of tigers in Chu culture. The tiger has always been worshiped by many ethnic groups and is a symbol of justice, bravery and majesty. According to research, the image of the white tiger also appeared among the ancient Qiangrong people, but it was most popular in southwest my country.
White tigers also exist in reality. They are a white variant of the Bengal tiger, a cat in the family. Incredibly, all the hundreds of white tigers in the world today are descendants of a white tiger named Mohan. Today, white tigers are only found in captivity and are extinct in the wild. Because white tigers lack protective coloration, it is difficult for them to survive in the wild.
But the actual white tiger only has a different color due to mutation. In fact, the species has not changed. And it is also different from the white tiger, one of the four spirits in our fantasy. The mythical white tiger is completely white and has no stripes.