寅 | yín

In Mandarin Chinese, 寅 (Pinyin: yín 🔊) is the third of twelve earthly branches. It corresponds to the Year of the Tiger (虎) of the Chinese zodiac; the first month; the hour of the Tiger (3 am to 5 am, “the time when Tigers hunt their prey more and show their ferocity”); and the direction 60° (where 0° is north). Its associated “fixed element” is Wood, 木. Note that the character 虎 refers to an actual tiger while 寅 refers to the zodiac animal.

In classical Chinese, 寅 also means “respect”. Sure, tigers have to be respected. As for origin of the character, Uncle Hanzi mentions “hands straightening an arrow”.

More photos related to tigers, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

虎 | hǔ

In Mandarin Chinese, 虎 (Pinyin: hǔ) means “tiger”. The Tiger is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 寅.

According to Wiktionary,

虍 represents the tiger’s head. The torso has disappeared and the legs and the tail have transformed into 人 in the small seal script and later 儿 in the clerical script.

As is the case with 犬, many historical forms of 虎 look more like an animal standing on its tail.

More photos related to tigers, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.