To be precise, the answer is yes. Except that there should be no tigers today, during the Song Dynasty, not only did the novel "Water Margin" say there were tigers, but there were indeed records of the existence of tigers in Shandong in history. In addition, during the Song Dynasty, there was a lot of tiger trouble across the country. Moreover, tiger problems have been recorded in China's history since the time of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period without exception.

▲ Bodhidharma's tiger tiger has existed among the people since ancient times

Shandong tiger problem: it has been clearly recorded since the Spring and Autumn Period Confucius' time

In the Spring and Autumn Period Confucius' time, Shandong, my country There are records of related tigers in the area. This is described in "Book of Rites·Tan ??Gong Xia":

At that time, Confucius passed by the side of Mount Tai and saw a woman crying beside the tomb. Confucius asked Zilu to go and ask the reason. He said: "In the past, my uncle died of a tiger, my husband died again, and now my son has died again." In other words, after understanding, I learned that this woman's family was killed by a tiger, so she cried. So Confucius continued to ask, "Why don't you go?", and the woman replied, "There is no harsh government." After hearing this, the master sighed: "You know it, a harsh government is more fierce than a tiger."

▲ "Book of Rites·Tan ??Gongxia" records that "tyranny is more fierce than tigers"

In the Song Dynasty, there were also tigers in Shandong, but with the increase in Shandong's population, there were fewer tigers than Confucius. There are fewer incidents when passing through Shandong.

During the Zhao Kuangyin period of the Song Dynasty, incidents of tiger injuries were common. The emperor explicitly offered rewards for catching tigers.

In ancient China, tiger injuries were common. Human affairs are commonplace, and in the Song Dynasty, this was not even news. There was a record in history that when Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, issued an edict to send envoys to various states to catch tigers. A fund was also allocated specifically to offer a reward for this matter. This can be seen from Zhao Kuangyin’s edict offering a reward for killing tigers.

During the Song Zhenzong Period: Tigers in Shandong are also spiritual.

In real history, is there any record of tigers in Shandong during the Song Dynasty? Coincidentally, it is not difficult to find such a case in Chinese history. In the Song Dynasty, there was a tiger incident in Shandong. It was recorded that during the reign of Song Zhenzong in the Northern Song Dynasty, a military commander encountered a tiger when he was passing through Shandong. However, the tiger did not hurt anyone. When the tiger saw the camel in their team, it might be angry. It's because the camel is so big that in the eyes of the tiger, it is a giant. When the camel barks, the tiger is like a mouse seeing a cat, and actually leaves its three cubs and runs away.

Therefore, in the Shandong generation during the Song Dynasty, there was a saying that Shandong tigers did not eat people.

For another example, once, when Song Zhenzong was going to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen, he sent eunuchs as outposts to inquire about road conditions. A series of things. But the report of the eunuch's return made Song Zhenzong extremely happy, because the eunuch who came back told Song Zhenzong that it was true that there were tigers on the ground in Taishan, and they were easy to see, but the tigers there were very friendly and did not hurt people.

Judging from Song Zhenzong’s historical records about the existence of tigers in Shandong, the tigers that appeared in ancient times were not necessarily vicious and abnormal. They would not attack people easily unless they were really hungry or felt hungry. are facing threats.

How do you view the multiple tiger killing incidents in "Water Margin" and the real historical environment reflected in them?

It is currently certain that in the Song Dynasty, not only were there There are tigers, and there are plenty of them, and Shandong is no exception. Otherwise, the tiger-fighting incidents of the heroes in "Water Margin" would not have happened many times in Shandong just by coincidence.

"Biography" records many tiger killing incidents, and the tiger Wu Song beat with his bare hands was located in Jingyanggang. In fact, the specific location of Jingyanggang at that time happened to be east of Yanggu County in Liaocheng, Shandong Province, about 16 Zhangqiu Town is 1.5 kilometers away. Another example is that Li Kui killed four tigers in "Water Margin". The specific location was Yiling. So where is Yiling today? The exact location is also in today's Shandong. A mountain in Yishui County, Linyi City, Shandong Province

It can be inferred that the tiger fighting incident between Wu Song and Li Kui mentioned in "Water Margin" is entirely possible. These should come from life, but of course not necessarily. It would be Wu Song or Li Kui who would fight, just using the pseudonyms of Wu Song and Li Kui.

Conclusion:

In summary, there is no doubt that there were tigers in the Song Dynasty in ancient China, and it is also true that there were tigers in the Shandong area of ??the Song Dynasty. It can be seen that the tiger hunting incidents recorded in "Water Margin" It's not an exaggeration, it's actually a portrayal of some plots in life.

▲ Tigers in the zoo today, the scene in this picture is

Tiger in ancient China, after the Song Dynasty, and then until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the increase in population, land reclamation continued, Tigers in Shandong are gradually disappearing from the mountains and forests. So today, apart from the virgin forest, the tiger, the king of beasts, can only be seen in zoos.