Bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan - Tiger Head

Originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Yuanmingyuan. The bronze statue of the tiger head represents the Yin period (3 to 5 o'clock) and is one of the twelve zodiac bronze statues. It was designed by European missionary, Italian Lang Shining, supervised by French Jiang Youren, and produced by Qing court craftsmen. The bronze statue with a tiger's head symbolizes bravery and authority, and is regarded as the embodiment of a king. In 1860, the Anglo French coalition invaded China and burned down the Old Summer Palace, causing the tiger headed bronze statue to begin to be lost overseas. After wandering overseas for many years, he was finally purchased by Dr. Ho Hung shen, a patriot, in 2000 and donated to Poly Art Museum for collection, so that he could return to the motherland.