Huye (虎爺), a guardian spirit, often found at the bottom of Taoist temple shrines. Worshipers revere the tiger spirit to curse spiritual enemies. Rituals include stomping an effigy of a spiritual enemy in front of the tiger spirit, as well as sacrificing meat offerings, paper gold, and others.
Master Tiger:
An important subsidiary animal deity in popular religion. His emergence can be traced back to the reverence of tigers prevalent amongst the nature worship of ancient China. The tiger’s reputation for brutality and ferocity in the eyes of the Han (漢) Chinese aroused feelings of awe, and this combined with Daoist beliefs to evolve into the Master tiger worship of contemporary folk religion.The tiger’s status as an important accompanying deity comes despite the fact that tigers are not found in Taiwan. Master Tiger is closely associated with various other gods, and his role in most cases is that of the attendant, mount, or porter of the master deity. However, because Master Tiger accompanies a number of different gods, popular region bestows on him all their various divine powers, making him a formidable deity in his one right. For example, Master Tiger accompanies the God of Wealth (武財神) Zhao Gongming (趙公明), and therefore has the power to make people rich; Master Tiger also serves at the side of Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝, the Emperor of Life Protection), and so acquires the ability to heal, becoming the patron saint of the people when their children fall ill. Among Master Tiger’s other roles, some of the more important include acting as the guide and vanguard for touring deities, offering protection for temples, overseeing traffic safety, and being responsible for the safety of fishermen at sea and a bountiful catch upon their return.
Offerings in Taiwanese temples to Master Tiger are traditionally placed below the location of the main deity, befitting his position as a god of relatively low status. Nonetheless, there is no shortage of tales describing Master Tiger’s bold feats in folklore, and because of this in some areas offerings to Master Tiger are now placed on the table itself, and separate temples have even been built. To distinguish them from the traditional custom of placing Master Tiger offerings below the main deity (Earth Tiger), these are known as “Sky Tiger” temples, and have become symbols of the diverse nature of popular religion in Taiwan. An important region for temples to the “Sky Tiger” is Chiayi (嘉義), and in addition to Master Tiger accompanying touring gods on pilgrimages, grand celebrations are held there to commemorate Master Tiger’s birthday on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. In addition, temples dedicated to Master Tiger as the main deity are also seen in Changhua (彰化), Waipu (外埔) in Taichung (臺中), and Shiding (石碇) in Taipei.
The vast majority of Master Tiger images seen in temples still depict him in the form of a tiger, but differences in style among craftsmen have led to the emergence of “cute,” “ferocious,” and “cartoon” Master Tigers. With the rise in status of Master Tiger and in recognition of his legendary feats, he has also appeared in human form with a tiger head, or as a human wearing a tiger hat; this diversity in form is most marked in Xinmin Hall (新民堂) in Yilan (宜蘭), where offerings are made to all three of the above manifestations.
(http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/en/content?ID=1988)
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