History Special: Time Traveler, the White-Foreheaded Tiger that Killed Over 400... Focusing on the Tiger-Hunting Guards

KBS 1TV 'History Special: Time Traveler' will broadcast its 35th episode, 'Catch the Tiger! Joseon's Special Forces, Tiger-Hunting Guards,' on the 30th (Sun) at 9:30 PM. This episode looks back at the causes and scale of the tiger attacks that swept through Joseon and how the Joseon ruling ideology of '爲民除害' was executed through response strategies to prevent them.

The Korean Peninsula has been a major habitat for tigers since the Neolithic Age. Tigers are also engraved on the Bangudae Petroglyphs in Ulsan, and the reason why Siberian tigers are called Baekdusan tigers is due to this background. However, during the Joseon period, continuous state-led farmland reclamation projects caused an ecological collapse, leading tigers that had lost their habitats and prey to head toward human lands.

Tiger attacks turning into a national disaster

Tiger attacks caused numerous casualties every year across the country, excluding Jeju Island and Ulleungdo, and there were instances where tigers infiltrated villages, cities, and even palaces. In Yu Mong-in's 『Eoujip』, "Essay on Tigers," it is recorded: "There is no way to know how many people lose their lives while plowing fields, weeding, or drawing water, dying in the thick forests of deep mountains, leaving behind blood-soaked kin and becoming ghosts who wail all night." Shim Seung-gu, a former professor of the Department of Liberal Arts at Korea National Sport University, explains, "The Joseon Dynasty perceived these tiger attacks, along with famines and epidemics, as one of the greatest disasters of Joseon."

The emergence of Tiger-Hunting Guards and the White-Foreheaded Tiger

To respond to tiger attacks, Joseon organized a special unit called 'Tiger-Hunting Guards' to catch tigers. Tiger-Hunting Guards were selected through top-level tests in archery, spearmanship, and physical strength; as tiger attacks surged, the number of personnel increased from 80 during the reign of Sejong to 440 during the reign of Seongjong. They roamed the mountains using special weapons such as Hojen (tiger arrows) and Hamgi (tiger traps). The "Byeongjeon" section of the 『Gyeongguk Daejeon』 states, "When selecting Tiger-Hunting Guards, they test archery and spearmanship, and appoint those who are strong and brave. Those with experience catching two or more tigers with spears or arrows are exempt from the test and appointed as Tiger-Hunting Guards." In 1571, a white-foreheaded tiger known as 'White-Foreheaded Tiger' appeared and killed about 400 heads of livestock and humans. The record of October 27, the 4th year of Seonjo (1571) in the 『Annals of King Seonjo』 states, "The White-Foreheaded Tiger appeared in the forests of Gongsunreung, Goyang, and other areas, killing about 400 heads of humans and livestock, so the court ordered a large-scale capture," and Seonjo ordered a massive subjugation operation for one month.

From a national symbol to a victim of exploitation

Tigers were also regarded in Joseon society as symbols of bravery and for repelling bad luck, appearing on military officials' rank patches, hat decorations, and as skins placed on bridal palanquins. However, during the Imjin War, as Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered tiger meat, Japanese generals set out to hunt tigers on the Korean Peninsula, and during the Japanese colonial period, the Government-General of Korea led the Korean Peninsula's tigers to extinction under the pretext of a 'wildlife relief' project. This broadcast illuminates these historical circumstances together.

Source: KBS Press Release

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