You can see the word "Tiger Head" when you turn into the alley on Jiangning Road, which is the only place name sign here. This section of the alley is very short, only more than 2 meters long. There are two historical sites in the depths of the alley, namely "Zhouchu Reading Platform" and "Gushi Guanyin Temple" (namely Guangzhai Temple), which is said to be one of the reasons why the alley is famous.
It is learned from several old people who live here that there are many sayings about tiger heads among the people in Nanjing. An old man said that there used to be a mountain called Tiger Mountain. Because the mountain was shaped like a tiger's head, it was named "Tiger Head".
It is also said that when the tiger, one of the three evils, was eliminated in Zhou, the tiger's head fell here, and later generations named it Tiger's head to commemorate his repentance. An old man also said that there were witnesses among the ancestors who saw the dry season of Louhu Lake, and there were often rocks exposed to the water. These rocks were shaped like fierce tiger heads, so people called this place "Tiger Head." Most residents here believe that this place name has something to do with tigers.
But according to historical records and experts' eyes, it has nothing to do with tigers. Zhou Chu's killing tigers is not in Nanjing, so it is obviously untenable to say that the tiger's head is related to Zhou Chu's killing tigers. In fact, "Tiger Head" is just a homonym of "Louhutou". According to ancient books, Zhang Zhao, the adviser of Sun Quan, lived here during the Dongwu period of the Three Kingdoms, and Zhang Zhao was given the title of Louhou. He dug a pond in front of his house and called it "Louhu Lake". At that time, people called the location of his house "Louhutou". Later, Louhu gradually dried up and became an alley. The name of Louhu also evolved into today's "Tiger Head" through word of mouth.