Description & Definition of Chinese Dragons

In the Far East, the dragon managed to retain its prestige and is known as a beneficent creature. The Chinese dragon, lung, represented yang, the principle of heaven, activity, and maleness in the yin-yang of Chinese cosmology. From ancient times, it was the emblem of the Imperial family, and until the founding of the republic (1911) the dragon adorned the Chinese flag. The dragon came to Japan with much of the rest of Chinese culture, and there, the Japanese dragons (as ryu or tatsu) it became capable of changing its size at will, even to the point of becoming invisible. Both Chinese dragons and Japanese dragons, though regarded as powers of the air, are usually wingless. The Chinese dragons are among the deified forces of nature in Taoism.

The term dragon has no zoological meaning, but dragon has been applied in the Latin generic name Draco to a number of species of small lizards found in the Indo-Malayan region. The name dragon is also popularly applied to the giant monitor dragon, varanus komodoensis, discovered on Komodo, in Indonesia. (Popularly called komodo dragons)

‘LUNG’ as in LUNG DE CHUAN REN’

The Chinese Pinyin LONG (Chinese: „dragon”), in Chinese mythology, a type of majestic beast that dwells in rivers, lakes, and oceans and roams the skies. Originally a rain divinity, the Chinese dragon, unlike its malevolent European counterpart (see dragon), is associated with heavenly beneficence and fecundity. Rain rituals as early as the 6th century BC involved a dragon image animated by a procession of dancers; similar dances are still practiced in traditional Chinese communities to secure good fortune.

Ancient Chinese cosmogonists defined four types of dragons: the Celestial Dragon (T’ien Lung), who guards the heavenly dwellings of the gods; the Dragon of Hidden Treasure (Fu Tsang Lung); the Earth Dragon (Ti Lung), who controls the waterways; and the Spiritual Dragon (Shen Lung), who controls the rain and winds. In popular belief, only the latter two dragons were significant; they were transformed into the Dragon Kings (Lung Wang), gods who lived in the four oceans, delivered rain, and protected seafarers.

The Chinese dragon, generally depicted as a four-legged animal with a scaled, snakelike body, horns, claws, and large, demonic eyes, the Chinese dragon or ‘lung’ was considered the king of animals, and the dragon image was appropriated by Chinese emperors as a sacred symbol of imperial power.

THE DRAGON

Legendary monster usually conceived as a huge, bat-winged, fire-breathing, scaly lizard or snake with a barbed tail. The belief in these creatures apparently arose without the slightest knowledge on the part of the ancients of the gigantic, prehistoric, dragon like reptiles. In Greece the word drakon, from which the English word Dragon was derived, was used originally for any large serpent (see sea serpent), and the dragon of mythology, whatever shape it later assumed, remained essentially a snake.

In general, the dragons in the Middle Eastern world, where snakes are large and deadly, the serpent or dragon was symbolic of the principle of evil. Thus, the Egyptian god Apepi, for example, was the great serpent of the world of darkness. But the Greeks and Romans, though accepting the Middle Eastern idea of the serpent as an evil power, also at times conceived the drakontes as beneficent powers–sharp-eyed dwellers in the inner parts of the Earth. On the whole, however, the evil reputation of dragons was the stronger, and in Europe the dragons outlived the other. Christianity confused the ancient benevolent and malevolent serpent deities in a common condemnation. In Christian art the dragon came to be symbolic of sin and paganism and, as such, was depicted prostrate beneath the heels of saints and martyrs.

The dragon’s form varied from the earliest times. The Chaldean dragon Tiamat had four legs, a scaly body, and wings, whereas the biblical dragon of Revelation, „the old serpent,” was many-headed like the Greek Hydra. Because the dragons not only possessed both protective and terror-inspiring qualities but also had decorative effigies, dragons were early used as warlike emblems. Thus, in the Iliad, King Agamemnon had on his shield a blue three-headed snake, just as the Norse warriors in later times painted dragons on their shields and carved dragons’ heads on the prows of their ships. In England before the Norman Conquest, the dragon was chief among the royal ensigns in war, having been instituted as such by Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur. In the 20th century the dragon was officially incorporated in the armorial bearings of the prince of Wales.

TALES OF 3-TOED & 4-TOED DRAGON

The legend of a rich and powerful landlord who had two giant dragons perched atop the perimeter wall of his mansion. When this news was brought to the attention of the imperial guards, the court ordered it to be removed, failing which the landlord will have to face the punishment of execution in public.

The feudal lord sought the advise of a brave and witty advisor. His argument that the imperial dragon had five claws wheras the dragon of his master had four claws and as such they were different. The feudal landlord was finally pardoned and allowed to retain his two dragons. Since that day, dragon motifs with three claws or four claws can be use by ordinary folks.

CHINESE ASTROLOGY

In Chinese Astrology (Asiapac Books) by renowned feng shui master Kwok Man Ho, who is based in Manchester, England, he describes the dragon as an ambitious animal who wanted to replace the tiger as king of the animals. The Jade Emperor had to intervene as judge when the dragon and the tiger both broke into a fight. The dragon heard that he was not impressive as he did not have a horn like the rooster. the centipede coaxed his friend, the rooster, to lend his horn to dragon. On judgment day, the dragon and the tiger both looked ferocious. The Emperor made the dragon the king of the water and the tiger the king of the earth.

After gaining status as a celestial animal, the dragon refused to return the horn to the rooster. Therefore, the rooster went after the centipede who coaxed the rooster to lend the horn to the dragon. The centipede went into hiding. It is believed that the rooster loves to feed on centipede because of this reason.

DETAILS OF CHINESE DRAGONS

In Taoism, the dragon has 117 scales, 81 scales are infused with yang energy and 36 scales with yin energy to reflect a dragon’s personality. All Chinese Dragons bear this scale pattern except the great Heavenly Dragon which has all yang energy. Dragons lay an egg at a time and it takes 1,000 years to hatch and another 1,500 years for the dragon to be full-grown.

CHINESE-DRAGON

In the Far East, the dragon managed to retain its prestige and is known as a beneficent creature. The lung, represented yang, the principle of heaven, activity, and maleness in the yin-yang of their cosmology. From ancient times, it was the emblem of the Imperial family, and until the founding of the republic (1911) it adorned the National flag. It came to Japan with much of the rest of Chinese culture, and there (as ryu or tatsu) it became capable of changing its size at will, even to the point of becoming invisible. Both Chinese-dragon and Japanese dragons, though regarded as powers of the air, are usually wingless. They are among the deified forces of nature in Taoism.

In the Latin generic name Draco; a number of species of small lizards found in the Indo-Malayan region. The name is also popularly applied to the giant monitor, Varanus Komodoensis, discovered on Komodo, in Indonesia.

DRAGON MYTHOLOGY OF THE ORIENT

In the mythology of various Oriental countries, notably Japan and China, the dragon is the supreme spiritual power, the most ancient emblem in Oriental mythology and the most ubiquitous dragon motif in Oriental art. Oriental-Dragons represent celestial and terrestrial power, wisdom, and strength. They reside in water and bring wealth and good luck and, belief, rainfall for crops. In traditional Chinese New Year’s Day parades is believed to repel evil spirits that would spoil the new year. The five-clawed-dragon became the Chinese-Imperial emblem (the four-clawed being the common dragon). The three-clawed-dragon is the Japanese-dragon. In Hindu mythology, Indra, god of the sky and giver of rain, slays Vitra, Dragon of the Waters, to release rainfall.

Different region has its own dragonology or dragon mythology. (Read more tales of the mythical creature, spread all over the site in no specific order.)

Chinese Dragons

Unlike the fierce fire-breathing dragons of European mythology, Chinese dragons were believed to be water-gods who ascended to the skies each spring to make rain for the benefit of humans. In autumn, they would return to their underwater homes in lakes, pools, rivers and seas. Since good harvests were so essential to the well-being of the people, it is not surprising that the dragon was worshipped and honored.

From the most ancient times in China, the dragon was considered the emblem of royalty and the symbol of greatness. A man of great courage was said to be like a dragon. There was no greater honored than to have the dragon’s name associated with one’s own.

The Dragon’s Pearl by Julie Lawson, Oxford University Press, 1992.