Master Tiger is said to be one of the subordinate spirits of the local Earth God, whose permission is required before a tiger may harm a person. And so a Fukienese proverb has it that "without the god's command, no tiger bites a man."
傳說虎爺是土地公的屬神。兇猛如虎，傷人亦必先得土地公的允許，所以閩南有俗語道：「土地公無畫號，虎不敢咬人。」