So is there anybody out there who can explain this image?

I bought this card in Korea some years ago after having seen this theme - a tiger and a rabbit seemingly getting stoned together - in a number of places. There must be a story behind it, but my meager search skills have never managed to turn it up. I do still love the image, though...

@corbet I could get some info about that from wife. I think I've seen similar things in child books around the house.

@corbet Seems to be common in Korean tales. https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/14928/why-do-many-korean-folk-tales-start-with-back-when-tigers-smoked

@corbet never heard of the story that is shown in the picture as a kid. ‘Tobacco smoking two friends’ might not become a good story tell the kids even in the ‘70s I guess.

@corbet I think there are a series of children's stories in Korean culture where they have similar pictures like this. A few months ago I came across this reddit thread which was quite interesting: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtHistory/s/GlhjzFC96b

Few users had mentioned that "When tigers used to smoke" is a phrase equivalent of "Once upon a time".

@corbet I used Google Lens to pull up results about Korean Minhwa (Korean folk painting)

A ‘Minhwa’ represents Korean folklore created by unknown artists over centuries. The tiger is a figure associated with the Korean culture and an ugly or misshapen animal can represent foolish or corrupt aristocrats according to legend. This minhwa depicts a tiger smoking a pipe with a rabbit ...

@corbet Back when tigers smoked pipes it was a wise rabbit that offered a tiger a pipe (smoking supresses the appetite).

@corbet See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQHZzOotqN0.

Clever Rabbit foils Tiger, who wants to eat it, in the original tale.

So I think the pair of them getting high together is a joke. Just forget the eating and having to think up a way of escaping, settle down with some hash.

@corbet if by stoned you mean opium, then you might be right. This is a Japanese opium pipe: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQL4nc3wYP5QfaCkjTyOoJs7_-f9HWNSM9Jur5HqCLtmVrtK7XKed-L2OE&s=10

@DevraWiz @corbet Veeery beautiful - and wise. Thanx for sharing! ☺️👍✨

@corbet The tiger and the rabbit are hanging out while smoking together using traditional Korean pipes called Gom-Bang-Dae (곰방대). In Korea, smoking was a very common habbit that can be a social activity, like many other countries. People told even animals did that in old times. "When tigers were smoking (호랑이 담배 피던 시절)" is a very popular idiom like "once upon a time" in Korea. I think the picture is based on the idiom, and you may find more such images by Googling the idiom ("호랑이 담배 피던 시절").

@corbet According to https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_animals and https://blog.batchgeo.com/national-animals/,
the Siberian tiger is the national animal of South Korea.

The rabbit is a bit more mysterious.
https://www.farmandpetplace.co.uk/6-pets-which-are-little-known-national-symbols/ says it is the national symbol of Monaco, which is a far trip from South Korea.

Perhaps the rabbit represents China, as per
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202301/1283137.shtml#:~:text=As%20an%20image%20representing%20China,popping%20up%20here%20and%20there. ?

@corbet My first thought was "Alice in Wonderland." The Cheshire Cat and the Rabbit.

Boosted. I also love it.

@corbet here ya go-

https://hikoco.co.nz/blogs/tmi/korean-folklore

@geert @corbet Tigers and rabbits were some of the most common animals in Korea in the past, which is why they are the subject of many Korean folk tales. Tigers, as you said, have special meanings and symbolisms, but many Korean folk tales feature a variety of animals that were common in the past. To me, it just looks like one of those ordinary pictures from the past.

@corbet I remembered after some time. We found some info, the theme is historical. I'll give you a link soon.