虎符 hǔ fú

DEFINITIONS

  1. tiger tally (a two-piece object made in the shape of a tiger, used in ancient China as proof of authority. One half of a tally could be issued to a military officer and this would be matched with the other half when verification was required.)

CHARACTERS

虎 hǔ tiger; brave, fierce; surname
符 fú i.d. tag, tally, symbol, charm