| Dragon and Tiger?! |
Question:
I recently saw a documentary on the Shaolin temple, and any
of you guys will recognize it if you've watched Kung Fu the movie.
Shaolin monks, upon "graduating" from the Chamber of the 108 Wooden Men
are required to lift a HOT, heavy charcoal brazier with their forearms to
leave the chamber. When they have done so, the brazier burns a tattoo of
a dragon on one foreman (it looks exactly identical to the "dragon" of
WoT) and a tiger on the other forearm. I guess the tiger doesn't fit
into any of this, but that's where the dragon is from anyways.
Answer:
- Very interesting, I was just reading a Japanese comic book called "Crying
Freeman". In it, the assorted Chinese Triads are turned into a single
group, the "108 Dragons", The Male leader of the group had a full body
tattoo of a dragon, the female leader had a tattoo of a tiger.
This should really be a TAN, so to breath some relevance into it, I will
suggest that maybe the Dragon's consort will be a "Tiger". Elayne
represents the "Lion Throne" and appears to be the "Lion Sword" of the
fortelling in Salidar (side comment: the only real "leonine" trait in
Elayne seems to be pride. Perhaps something will happen in Ebou Dar that
will make her into a woman rather than a petulent child. Ironically, her
"abandonment" of her country provides her with the nescessary tempering to
make her a good queen.) perhaps another kind of big cat will fill in for
the Tiger. On the other hand, Avienda has the right hair, eyes, and
temper for the Tiger (especially when she has been "striped" by the Wise
Ones). Maybe she will go through the columns at Rhuidean (do they still
work?) and come out marked with tigers, marking her as the first female
clan chief. I don't see how Min could be associated with a tiger.
- An initiate (accepted) of the Shaolin temple, when ready to become a full
Shao Lin monk (Aes Sedai), had to go through several trials (not sure,
but I believe three of them) such as mazes, puzzles, etc...all manner of
problems that require the combination of mind and body to solve. Most
were extremely dangerous, and more often than not, fatal. At the end,
the initiate is confronted with a doorway blocked by a giant white-hot
cauldron with the likeness of a dragon and a tiger raised on the sides.
In order to move the cauldron without severly damaging their hands, the
initiate lifted the cauldron with his forearms, branding (b-RAND-ing
*giggle*) the dragon and the tiger onto them.
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