The Chinese origin of 'Paper Tiger'

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Ben Zimmer, The Chinese origin of 'Paper Tiger.'  Wall Street Journal, Feb 25, 2017 (in th e column "Word on the Street," about etymology of a word or term).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the ... er-tiger-1487873046
http://www.todayevery.com/share/ ... sponsive=y/articles

Quote:

(a) " 'Paper tiger' is one of a handful of Chinese idioms that have been translated directly into English through a process that linguists call 'loan-translation' or 'calquing.' Other examples include 'running dog,' 'brainwashing,' and 'losing face.'

In Mandarin Chinese, the expression zhilaohu (from zhi meaning 'paper' and laohu meaning 'tiger') goes back to the 14th century, during the early Ming dynasty. Even then, the figure of the paper tiger represented an empty threat. In the classical novel 'Water Margin 水浒传,' credited to the writer Shi Nai'an [明朝] 施耐庵, a character says, 'But when the time comes for action, what good are you? Seeing a paper tiger, you cry out in fright.'

(b) "But 'paper tiger' didn't get popularized in English until the 1964 translation of Mao Zedong's 'Little Red Book,' which asserted that 'imperialism and all reactionaries are paper tigers.' Mao had described the US as a 'paper tiger' as early as 1956, observing, 'Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain.

Note: 水浒传 第二十五回: "那妇人顶住着门，慌做一团，口里便说道：'闲常时只如鸟嘴卖弄杀好拳棒。急上场时便没些用，见个纸虎，也吓一跤。'
(武大郎捉奸，西门庆慌作一团，潘金莲道)