Why does it seem the Lion is more popular as a national symbol than the Tiger in Asia? (culture, names)
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When it comes to big cats, one associates tigers with Asia. In 1900, they roamed from Turkey to Siberia to Indonesia, pretty much inhabiting all of Asia. Now, there are only 3,500 in the wild, mostly in India. While Lions also did inhabit much of West Asia and India, lions as national symbols sand motifs seem commoner throughout all Asia than tigers. While I do like tigers more as lions, they are both equally majestic creatures imo, yet it seems a lion with its male just seems to capture the imagination more for some reason.
Some examples include Singapore (Singapura, Lion City), Sri Lanka and the lion motif in China. Of course the tiger features quite heavily in Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Indian culture as well.
I think if any animal represents Asia the tiger has got to be it. Unfortunately, nowadays it seems to represent India moreso, although some remain in SE Asia, Manchuria, North Korea, Russia and perhaps a few dozen in China.
I dunno if I agree with your premise. Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore were known as the Asian 'Tiger' economies. Overbearing Chinese moms are called as 'Tiger' moms. The Chinese zodiac has a year of the tiger but no lion. At any rate an animal does not have to be native to a particular landmass to be adopted as a symbol. The lion is a national symbol of Great Britain even though you won't find any wild lions for thousands of miles.
I dunno if I agree with your premise. Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore were known as the Asian 'Tiger' economies. Overbearing Chinese moms are called as 'Tiger' moms. The Chinese zodiac has a year of the tiger but no lion. At any rate an animal does not have to be native to a particular landmass to be adopted as a symbol. The lion is a national symbol of Great Britain even though you won't find any wild lions for thousands of miles.
That's true. I guess I was thinking of the lion on the Sri Lankan flag, or all those lions guarding Chinese buildings (not tigers as much), but tigers probably dominate Asian iconography more.
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