The third earthly branch is called yin (寅) or tiger. Tigers are apex predators. People who are tiger zodiac sign might have a bit of the apex predator energy that makes the rest of us shudder a bit when we come near.

Tigers hunt. They’re obligate carnivores that must take life and eat flesh. Nothing really hunts tigers. However, this doesn’t mean that tigers are invincible. Their survival depends on whether they can catch enough food or not. Because tigers are obligate carnivores, they can’t simply decide to eat leaves when prey is scarce like a bear. Tigers have to eat meat.

Predators may seem like they’re in charge but it’s really prey animals who control the ecology. You see, prey animals will birth less children when they’re more stressed. They get more stressed when there are too many predators. This means that, when there are too many tigers, there will be less prey. Prey do this to kill their own predators. Predators have to work and chase and pounce to kill prey but prey can kill predators by controlling the environment itself.

That’s why there’s not that many tigers. You don’t usually look around a forest and see hundreds of tigers. If you do, then all of those tigers will be hungry since prey will already be dwindling in number. Tigers can’t really group the way prey animals can. They have to be independent.

But tigers are not born knowing how to hunt! That sets them back even further! Tiger cubs are not good at hunting. They have to learn and they have to practice. How they practice is through play. Tigers are animals that play.

Tiger people are playful! They like to spar and they like to compete. They like to tease and they like to be teased—just a little so that they feel some friction. Conversing with a tiger can feel like play. Tigers are charismatic and fun but you do get the feeling that they’re toying with you and batting you around their paw.

Seokjin from BTS is a tiger day pillar. Did you see the Run BTS episode where they pretend to be Youtubers? Jin is the sassiest. His online persona is very taunting. He’s always telling fans to not be ridiculous, to wake up, and once responded to a fan saying and their heart is fluttering for him with, “go to hospital.”

Tigers are fun! They’re fun to be around! They’re also incredibly relaxed. Seokjin is known for this too. He’s always talking about how he spends entire weeks inside without changing or showering. When Seokjin rests, he rests.

Have you ever watched a cat hunt? Tigers hunt like cats. I often find playing with my cat incredibly frustrating because she doesn’t go for a prey unless she knows she can catch it. She just doesn’t. She doesn’t waste energy like that. She’d rather sit there until the prey moves to a better spot. She’ll keep observing until she loses interest.

But you know what? When she pounces, she aims to kill. Very rarely does she let her target escape.

Very, very often tigers are told off for appearing lazy. Cats sleep for 16 hours a day. Tiger people can spend years in listlessness without appearing to be working towards any goal whatsoever. This tiger trait shows up in the zodiac story too. The tiger came in third not because it’s slower than the cow but because it’s faster. The tiger, being so fast and efficient, thought that it would sleep in. It overslept but it still came in very early. In fact, it was surprised it came in third and not first even though it overslept.

Tigers are ambitious but they don’t go after their goals day in and day out. They wait. They play around. They have fun. When they do go after their goals, they pounce. A cat will use every single one of its muscles when it launches forward. That’s why cats can jump many times its own height and also why it’s able to land so precisely. A cat can jump to and land on a tiny little ledge four or five times its own height.

Are tigers lazy? Maybe not. It takes a huge amount of training and practice and play to achieve the efficiency that they are capable of.

Tiger people are hunters. They don’t waste energy or resources. They’ll make a move when they make a move and they don’t feel like they have to explain themselves to you. As tigers, they also don’t feel the need to control their environment. They’re not concerned about every single little thing. They’re only concerned about the line between themselves and their target.

The other thing about tigers? That has to do with their tree climbing too. Tigers, like most cats, sleep on trees. They have enough balance to jump on a branch and they can also climb. Tiger earthly branch, you see, is wood and it is yang wood. Tigers behave like big trees.

Tigers are upward reaching. They like to grow. They want to see things from another angle and they don’t want to stay limited in the perspective that they were born into. Remember how tiger cubs are born without knowing how to hunt? They have to cultivate that skill. Tigers people, too, love to learn new things. They like to stretch themselves intellectually. Like a tree, they reach upwards.

That’s why tigers are incredibly flexible. Every single bone in a cat’s spine can actually loosen and stretch. They have no collarbones. A tiger prefers to wait until its goal is reachable and then it will pounce. They don’t like to fail and tigers will refrain from trying until they know that they have a chance. However, if a tiger fails then it’s also not the end of the world. Tigers are flexible. They will go after another goal. They can bend. Now, if a tiger fails at something, they will also not try the same thing twice. That's true of cats too. They remember their moments of folly forever. That's because tigers have to learn to be tigers. Cubs can't hunt.

So, this is an apex predator. They like toys. They develop skill and they’re built for efficiency. Tigers are relaxed most of the time but they will succeed when they decide to. Their attention is focused. They don’t control their environment so they’re unconcerned with most things. They just need to get one thing right. That’s why their eyes are forward facing.

The name of the tiger earthly branch, 寅, implies both efficiency and focus. The character is an arrow inside of a sheath. An arrow runs forward and launches at a target the way a tiger pounces. However, the arrow isn’t in motion in the character. It’s resting inside of a carrier. That’s the tiger. It’s a weapon that can be used but isn’t yet. Just being in a position of rest does something. You tend to take the words of someone who carries an arrow seriously. That’s why 寅 also refers to local lords.

There’s five types of tigers. You can use a bazi chart calculator to see if you have one of the five in your chart. There’s wood tiger (jia yin), fire tiger (bing yin), earth tiger (wu yin), metal tiger (geng yin), and water tiger (ren yin).

Wood tiger is the most accomplished tiger. Wood tiger is like a tiger in a tree. Not only is it an apex predator, it’s also in a position where nothing can bother it and it can surveil everything around itself. This tiger is ready to sleep. It’s completely fulfilled. Fire tiger or bing yin is social and loves to be around people. This tiger is also concerned with order and cooperation. The fire here is actually the sun so this tiger is really routine driven. The sun is a consistent source of light.

Earth tiger is like a mountain cat. A mountain is a really difficult place to survive so this cat has learned it all. It just has to trust its own skills now. Metal tiger is actually a dead tiger. The tiger has been slain and is now just a hide. Something new can happen now. That’s why metal tiger wants to break tradition. It’s kind of a weird tiger since tigers are seen to be rulers and symbols of power. Metal tiger wants to fight against power. Ai Weiwei is a metal tiger day pillar.

Lastly, water tiger! Tigers love to swim. They might do it to hunt but they mostly do it for fun and to cool off. Tigers are solo hunters but they’ll group together to play by the water. Water tiger is a really social and playful tiger. They’re here to have fun.