MODERNIZING TRADITION: TIGER MOTIFS IN CHU ART INDUSTRIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v22.n4.3159Keywords:
Chu Art, Cultural Symbolism, Tiger Imagery, Creative Industries, Traditional IP ModernizationAbstract
This study examines the modernization of tiger motifs in Chu art and their integration into Henan’s cultural and creative industries. Using a mixed-methods approach—combining cultural-historical analysis, case studies, and design-based research—it explores the symbolic resonance of the tiger in traditional Chinese culture and its contemporary reinterpretation in design, branding, and regional development. The research demonstrates that the tiger, historically associated with strength, protection, and fortune, remains a potent cultural asset in sectors such as fashion, gaming, and museum merchandising. The study introduces the Tradition-to-Innovation (T2I) model, a framework for adapting cultural motifs to modern creative contexts while preserving their heritage value. Economic and policy analysis highlights how Chu tiger iconography can strengthen cultural branding and contribute to Henan’s creative economy, aligning with national strategies for cultural revitalization. By bridging tradition and innovation, this research provides both theoretical insights and practical strategies. It offers designers, cultural institutions, and policymakers a model for transforming heritage motifs into intellectual property, demonstrating how cultural preservation can coexist with innovation. The findings demonstrate the potential for tiger motifs to enhance regional identity, drive creative industries, and support sustainable cultural development.
References
Abbas, A. H., Muhammad, O. Y., & Al-Saeed, H. M. (2021). Design identity and heritage revival. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Heritage Research, 4(1), 1–23.
Bihari, S. (2023). Cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge: Reviving traditions for future generations. In Sustainable development goals in SAARC countries: Key issues, opportunities and challenges (Vol. 1, pp. 24–32).
Chang, K. C. (2009). Art, myth, and ritual. Harvard University Press.
Chen, H., & Ryan, C. (2020). Transforming the museum and meeting visitor requirements: The case of the Shaanxi History Museum. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 18, 100483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100483
Childs-Johnson, E., & Major, J. S. (2023). Metamorphic imagery in ancient Chinese art and religion. Routledge.
Chinese Art Research Group. (2019). Ritual vessels in a fourth-century context. In Vessels: The object as container (p. 120).
Chunqing, Z. (2013). The Longshan culture in central Henan province, c. 2600–1900 BC. In A companion to Chinese archaeology (pp. 236–254).
Dam, C., Hartmann, B. J., & Brunk, K. H. (2024). Marketing the past: A literature review and future directions for researching retro, heritage, nostalgia, and vintage. Journal of Marketing Management, 40(9–10), 795–819. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2024.2339454
Dervin, F. (2022). Interculturality in fragments. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2494-9
Gohoungodji, P., & Amara, N. (2023). Art of innovating in the arts: Definitions, determinants, and mode of innovation in creative industries—A systematic review. Review of Managerial Science, 17, 2685–2725. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00597-7
Guo, R. (2013). Henan. In Regional China: A business and economic handbook (pp. 130–141). Palgrave Macmillan.
Guziejko, M. (2022). Revising the tiger: The case of the instrument of Tipu Sultan in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the discussion on contested heritage. Art of the Orient, 11, 152–163.
He, J., Xiang, J., & Wang, J. (2024). Extension of heritage brands and consumer purchase intention with the moderating role of pop culture involvement: An empirical analysis of time-honoured brands in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 36(5), 1131–1149. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-11-2022-0912
He, Q., Tan, G., & Zhang, W. (2025). Residents’ perceptions and behaviors regarding the policy of integrating intangible cultural heritages into the tourism industry: Evidence from Dali, China. Sustainability, 17(2), 795. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020795
Henan Provincial Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Henan regional economic and cultural industry development report 2023 [In Chinese].
Hillenbrand, M. (2020). Negative exposures: Knowing what not to know in contemporary China. Duke University Press.
Ho, C. F. S. (2019). Museum processes in China: The institutional regulation, production and consumption of the art museums in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region. Amsterdam University Press. https://www.torrossa.com/it/resources/an/4736762
Hu, W., Li, M., Chi, X., Wang, X., & Khan, A. U. (2024). Intangible cultural heritage research in China from the perspective of intellectual property rights based on bibliometrics and knowledge mapping. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02689-9
Jalais, A. (2018). Reworlding the ancient Chinese tiger in the realm of the Asian Anthropocene. International Communication of Chinese Culture, 5(1), 121–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-017-0084-2
Jingcheng, L., Lei, Y., & Tongjing, S. (2023). Design thinking driven digital cultural and creative design: Pattern construction and practice examples. Frontiers in Art Research, 5(11), 9–19. https://doi.org/10.54691/far.v5i11.4751
Johnsson, D. Z. (2012). The branding of traditional cultural expressions: To whose benefit? In P. Drahos & S. Frankel (Eds.), Indigenous people's innovation: Intellectual property pathways to development (pp. 147–164). ANU Press.
Joyeux-Prunel, B. (2019). Art history and the global: Deconstructing the latest canonical narrative. Journal of Global History, 14(3), 413–435. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740022819000199
Keane, M. (2013). Creative industries in China: Art, design and media. John Wiley & Sons.
Larrivé-Bass, S. (2023). Jade for bones in Hongshan craftsmanship: Human anatomy as the genesis of a prehistoric style. Arts, 12(5), 206. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts12050206
Lerro, A., Schiuma, G., & Manfredi, F. (2022). Entrepreneurial development and digital transformation in creative and cultural industries: Trends, opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 28(8), 1929–1939. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-05-2021-0416
Lin, Y., & Zhang, D. (2024). Historical inheritance and folklore memory—Development and innovation of imagery expression in Chinese painting. Cultura: International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.2478/cultura-2024-0002
Luo, S., & Song, Y. (2019). Exploring the traces of translation and the cultural characteristics of Chu lacquer wares. IRA-International Journal of Management & Social Sciences, 15(4), 122–130. http://research-advances.org/index.php/RAJMSS/article/view/1601
Lu, H. (2017, October). Research on the education about development of cultural tourism about Henan Province. In 7th International Conference on Management, Education, Information and Control (MEICI 2017) (pp. 50–53). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/meici-17.2017.12
Ma, Z., & Guo, Y. (2024). Leveraging intangible cultural heritage resources for advancing China’s knowledge-based economy. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 15, 12946–12978. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01643-9
Nelson, R., Duxbury, N., & Murray, C. (2012). Cultural and creative economy strategies for community transformation: Four approaches. In N. Duxbury (Ed.), The social transformation of rural Canada: New insights into community, culture and citizenship (pp. 368–386). Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Peng, W. (2008, November). The analysis to the Chu—art in the international cultural vision. In 2008 9th International Conference on Computer-Aided Industrial Design and Conceptual Design (pp. 1149–1153). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/CAIDCD.2008.4730654
Piddubna, O., & Kornytska, L. (2025). The revival of ancient artistic techniques in the modern world. Актуальні питання гуманітарних наук, 45.
Qiang, W., & Majid, A. Z. B. A. (2024). Crafting cultural sustainability: Exploring intangible cultural heritage preservation through product design in Henan Nigugu, China. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 22(1), 945–959. https://doi.org/10.57239/PJLSS-2024-22.1.0066
Rindell, A., & Santos, F. P. (2021). What makes a corporate heritage brand authentic for consumers? A semiotic approach. Journal of Brand Management, 28, 545–558. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-021-00243-9
Santos, F. P. (2012). The semiotic conception of brand and the traditional marketing view. Irish Journal of Management, 32(1), 95–106.
Schroeder, J., Borgerson, J., & Wu, Z. (2015). A brand culture approach to Chinese cultural heritage brands. Journal of Brand Management, 22, 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2015.3
So, J. (1999). Chu art. In W. Watson (Ed.), Defining Chu: Image and reality in ancient China (pp. 33–47). The Art Museum, Princeton University.
Song, G., Prompongsaton, N., & Kotchapakdee, P. (2024). Cultural preservation and revival: Discuss efforts to preserve and revive traditional Miao costume patterns. Library of Progress—Library Science, Information Technology & Computer, 44(3).
Song, X., Cheong, K. C., Wang, Q., & Li, Y. (2020). Developmental sustainability through heritage preservation: Two Chinese case studies. Sustainability, 12(9), 3705.
Su, M., Perumal, V., Yusoff, I. S. M., & Tualeka, A. R. (2024). Semiotic examination of the animal-shaped jade artifacts during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) in China. Cultura: International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.2478/cultura-2024-0003
Sun, X. (2019). The cultural economy of Henan Province: Challenges and opportunities in the creative sector. Journal of Regional Economic Studies, 8(1), 33–46. https://doi.org/10.8765/jres.v8i1.3345
Sun, Y. (2022). A study on the application of computer-assisted translation in Henan Museum translation. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 359, p. 01027). EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/202235901027
Tang, X. (2015). Visual culture in contemporary China. Cambridge University Press.
Teodorescu, A. (2022). Tiger symbolism in the British Raj: Colonialism and animal history of the Indian subcontinent. The Columbia Journal of Asia, 1(2), 66–77.
Tian, Y. (2021). The cultural interpretation framework: How experienced graphic designers innovate Chinese culture? Case study of six experienced Chinese designers [Unpublished doctoral dissertation].
Wang, C. H. (2014). A global perspective on eighteenth-century Chinese art and visual culture. The Art Bulletin, 96(4), 379–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043079.2014.916549
Wang, M. Y., Li, Y. Q., Ruan, W. Q., Zhang, S. N., & Li, R. (2024). Influencing factors and formation process of cultural inheritance-based innovation at heritage tourism destinations. Tourism Management, 100, 104799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104799
Wang, S. (2021). Marketing strategies of museum culture and creative industry in China. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences.
Wang, Y., & Zhang, S. (2024). Research on the innovative design of digital IP images based on the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine culture. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 181, p. 01044). EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202418101044
Wang, Z., Liu, W., Sun, Z., & Zhao, H. (2024). Understanding the world heritage sites’ brand diffusion and formation via social media: A mixed-method study. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(2), 602–631. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2022-1223
Welch, P. B. (2013). Chinese art: A guide to motifs and visual imagery. Tuttle Publishing.
Williams, C. A. S. (2012). Chinese symbolism and art motifs (4th rev. ed.). Tuttle Publishing.
Yang, X. (2023). Encountering the nonhuman: Body and ecological thinking in contemporary Chinese literature and visual culture (Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota). University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/258697
Yi, E. (2025). Thinking through the tiger: Korean cultural identity, space, and time. Humanities, 14(2), Article 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/h14020019
Yin, C. (2023). An examination of the symbolic significance and cultural inheritance of intangible cultural heritage in China: A case study of Nantong blue calico (Master’s thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore). Nanyang Technological University Repository. https://dr.ntu.edu.sg
Zhang, B. (2015, November). Research on sustainable development of folk culture industry in Henan. In 2015 2nd International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication (ICELAIC-15) (pp. 706–709). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/icelaic-15.2016.181
Zhang, B., Jia, T., & Bae, K. H. (2021). A study on the spill-over economic effect analysis of cultural and creative industries in Henan Province, China. The Journal of the Korea Contents Association, 21(7), 363–373. https://doi.org/10.5392/JKCA.2021.21.07.363
Zhang, M., Guo, X., Guo, X., & Jolibert, A. (2023). Consumer purchase intention of intangible cultural heritage products (ICHP): Effects of cultural identity, consumer knowledge and manufacture type. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 35(3), 726–744. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-11-2021-0885
Zhang, S. (2022). The black tiger cult in Anze: A local history of tigers, humans, and gods in late imperial and modern China (Doctoral dissertation, Arizona State University). Arizona State University Repository. https://keep.lib.asu.edu/items/173702
Zhou, J., Hu, T. F., Wei, Z., & Ji, D. (2024). Evaluation of high-quality development level of regional economy and exploration of index obstacle degree: A case study of Henan Province. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-01640-7
Zhu, Y., Qi, G., Guo, Y., & Wang, D. (2024). Analysis of decorative paintings in the Dragon and Tiger Hall of Yuzhen Palace: Culture, materials, and technology. Coatings, 14(8), 1022. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14081022
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
I (we) submit this article which is original and unpublished, of my (our) own authorship, to the evaluation of the Veredas do Direito Journal, and agree that the related copyrights will become exclusive property of the Journal, being prohibited any partial or total copy in any other part or other printed or online communication vehicle dissociated from the Veredas do Direito Journal, without the necessary and prior authorization that should be requested in writing to Editor in Chief. I (we) also declare that there is no conflict of interest between the articles theme, the author (s) and enterprises, institutions or individuals.
I (we) recognize that the Veredas do Direito Journal is licensed under a CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE.
Licença Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
