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A long time ago, many people in Taiwan believed spirits and Gods roamed among us. They believed that animal spirits could transform themselves into human beings to trick other humans before devouring them. This sets the stage for our story of the Tiger Witch, the Hóo-Koo-Pô. 

Auntie Tiger is such a popular story type that there are over 241 versions in Taipei alone. It is believed that the origins of the story come from a Qing Dynasty text called “Great-Aunt Tiger” by Huang Zhijun. Variations include the Hansel and Gretel trope as well as the Little Red Riding Hood tropes. We also have “Grandmother Wolf,” “Grandmother Wolf,” and “Great-Aunt Tiger.”

We also used Samuel W. J. Tan’s paper, “The Story of the Tiger Grandaunt– A folktale field project” to help get a sense of how language shapes the story itself. The Korean tale, “Janghwa Hongryeon jeon” has some similar elements, but ultimately is more a story of an evil Stepmother and murderous ghosts than it is about the tiger.

The Trip to the City

Once upon a time, there was a lady who lived in a mountain house with her two daughters. They lived deep in the woods, far from others and while they were poor, they had an abundance of happiness and peace. Her eldest daughter was called Akim and her younger one was called AGiok. 

One day, the mother had to make a trip to the city, but she was worried about leaving her two daughters home alone. She instructed them to lock the doors and not let anyone in while she was gone. 

The two girls did as instructed and waved her off before securely locking their little house. They wondered who would possibly come this far up the mountain, but true to their word, they did not venture out of the house. 

The Tiger Who Came for Tea

Not long after, there was a sudden loud knocking at the door. The two girls had been sleeping and Akim was the first to bolt awake. She woke her little sister up and they waited frightfully for the pounding to go away.

Instead, it became more insistent and a voice rang out, “Open the door! I am your mother!” 

Both girls felt a chill go up their spines and yelled back, “You are not our mother! She would not be home so soon!” 

The voice called out louder and the pounding at the door became violent, “I am! I thought you would be scared so I returned quickly to get you!” 

The girls looked at each other and thought that it was a plausible answer. No one else would surely know where their house was. So, they unlocked the door and went to peek outside, but the woman forced her way in. At once, the two girls realized they had been tricked. The woman had hair as white as snow and her face was wrinkled like a cat. 

“Who are you!” the sisters asked with trembling voices. 

“Oh, don’t be so scared. I am your great-aunt. I live behind the mountain and haven’t visited you in a long time. Today, I was passing by and came to visit, but I knew you would not open the door so I had to lie.” The old woman gave them a wide smile. AGiok, who was young and naive, believed this explanation and took to her great-aunt quickly. AKim, who was wiser, felt suspicious and wondered why their mother had never mentioned a sister before. 

Illustrated by Carolina Farias

A Night of Horror

Before she could ask any more questions, AGiok yawned and declared she was sleepy. It was the middle of the night and they could ask their great-aunt more questions in the morning. 

AKim still felt nervous, so she went into a different room to sleep by herself. At midnight, Akim woke up to a strange noise coming from the other room. It sounded like someone chewing on roasted nuts or a dog gnawing at bones. AKim tried to listen hard and peek into the other room, but she couldn’t make anything out. Eventually, she called out; “Great-aunt, what are you eating?”

The old woman had not expected the question, so she hesitated before answering quickly, “Oh, I am chewing on some ginger roots! They are hot, hard, and bitter! Not good for children to eat.” 

Akim did not believe her and insisted she try some as well. The old woman refused, but eventually, she got tired of the charade and threw something over to the young girl. When AKim picked it up, she almost threw up. In her hand was a small finger. A small, human finger. 

The old woman went back to gnawing on the dark shape in front of her while AKim sat in silence, trying to think about what to do. She had realized that this was not her great-aunt, but a Tigress Witch! AKim had heard stories of Tiger Spirits devouring children to become humans. 

Auntie Tigress

The Tigress finished her meal before she wondered where her breakfast had gone. She yanked on the rope and heard the sound of water sloshing. Furious, the Tigress Witch tracked the footprints and found AKim hiding in a tree. She could not climb up, but used her strength to claw and viciously chew on the trunk.

Between a Tree and a Tiger

Akim thought on her feet and quickly came up with a new plan.

“Great aunt! You don’t have to ruin your teeth chewing so hard! I am willing to come down! The only problem is that I am so hungry and if you eat me now then I will become a hungry ghost. I’ll have to follow you around forever and torment you! Please, if you just boil a bucket of peanut oil for me then I can fry up some birds here and then eat them. Once I am full, you can eat me without any worry! 

The Tigress witch thought hard about this proposition. She knew that hungry ghosts were unhappy spirits that lingered on the Earth. The last thing she needed was this annoying little girl to haunt her forever. She decided to bring the oil and then use it to fry the girl. 

She boiled the peanut oil and sent it up the tree for AKim. The Tigress stayed close to the trunk, making sure the girl did not escape somehow. After a short while, the girl called down, “thank you great-aunt! I am ready to jump down now! Open your mouth!”

The Tiger Witch opened her mouth wide, preparing herself for another fantastic feast. Instead, the stupid tigress got a whole mouthful of boiling peanut oil and died instantly. 

Auntie Tigress and Other Favorite Chinese Folk Tales by Gia-Zhen Wang with illustrations by Eva Wang