A picture to understand the culture and spiritual connotation of "Dragon"

In our artistic creation, we are often associated with ancient mythical animals, such as dragons, phoenixes, etc.

When watching Mr. Jin Yong's movies, we can often see a hero in illusory and passionate scenes with beautiful movements and loud lines: "The dragon goes out to sea - the flying dragon is in the sky - the dragon has regrets -" , a set of Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms is played, pushing the plot to a climax.

This is the plot in the movie, but it reflects the screenwriter's accumulation of traditional Chinese culture! Because although this is just the name of a move, the screenwriter is able to quote sentences from the Qian Gua of the "Book of Changes", which not only adds the finishing touch to the movie, but also reflects the rich cultural heritage and is worth learning.

We draw dragons in paintings, we engrave dragons in seal carvings and sculptures, and they appear in literature, film, television, and games. So, how many of us have a deep understanding of dragon culture and connotations?

In the ancient Chinese social belief system, various mythical beasts (birds) represented by dragons and phoenixes are not only numerous in number and variety, but also very systematic, with origins and changes. Not to mention the mythical beasts such as Taotie, Qilin, Kunpeng, Pixiu, White Tiger, Suzaku, and Xuanwu. Just a single dragon has many categories, and the division of labor is detailed. The names "Qiu, Feilong, Jiaolong, Chi (chi)long, Yinglong, Canglong, Shenlong" are found in "Chu Ci". In "Guangya·Shiyu", there is "The one with scales is called Jiaolong, the one with wings is called Ying" "A dragon with horns is called a horned dragon, and a hornless dragon is called a chi dragon."

If you often use these mythical beasts in your creative activities, you should understand the categories and connotations. In this way, not only will you enrich your own cultural heritage and knowledge reserves, but you will also become more comfortable and able to use them freely in your creations.

The image of the dragon began in the Han Dynasty. Due to the gradual penetration of prophecy ideas, it was classified as an important auspicious prophecy. Its practical power to bring good luck and ward off evil was amplified and widely accepted by the people, making it a folk symbol for the next two thousand years. The most important mythical beast in faith. Let’s talk about “Dragon” today.

Han Dynasty depictions of fairyland with immortals riding dragons and phoenixes holding beads

For thousands of years, the Chinese have created numerous mythical beasts in various shapes and forms. Although they belong to the category of deified imagination without real images, our ancestors thought of these mythical beasts in a deified world, a world with richer species and a more refined division of labor. In this world, there are not only "fairies" and "gods" that are close to the human image, but also "mythical beasts" that are consistent with the image of animals. Although these mythical beasts are given a magical color in terms of image and function, they are not inherited through blood. Relationships, "social" attributes and other aspects are very close to the model of our human world, systematic and complete, beyond our imagination. In the dragon's "genealogy", these attribute relationships are also fully reflected.

"Huainanzi Terrain Training" has a deeper connotation of these types of dragons: "Yujia gives birth to flying dragons, flying dragons give birth to phoenixes, phoenixes give birth to luan birds, luan birds give birth to common birds, and those with ordinary feathers give birth to common birds." The calf begets Yinglong, the Yinglong begets Jianma, the Jianma begets Qilin, the Qilin begets common beasts, and the ordinary-haired ones are born from common beasts. The scales beget Jiaolong, the Jiaolong begets Kunkun, Kunkun begets Jianxie, and Jianxie begets commoners. Fish, those with ordinary scales are born from common fish. Those with ordinary scales are born from common fish. Those with ordinary scales are born from common turtles. Those with ordinary scales are born from common turtles. "

The description of this passage can be made into a diagram to make it more clear.

What a complete and detailed family genealogy, and at the same time a huge ecological system. This is the ecological system in the deified world of our ancestors! The role of dragon in it is almost the ancestor of every "ecological chain"! It seems to be understandable here why the dragon can be used as a symbol of Chinese totem and why we are the descendants of the dragon.

As you can see above, the position of dragons in the entire "ecological chain", then what is the classification system of the dragon clan itself?

According to the names there are Qiu, Feilong, Jiaolong, Yinglong, Canglong, Shenlong, Kuilong, hui, panchi, horned dragon, etc.;

If we look at it in terms of shape there are also horned and hornless dragons, footed and footless dragons, pterodactyls and pterodactyls;

According to color, there are yellow dragon, green dragon (blue dragon), black dragon, white dragon and red dragon.

The picture above is a diagram of the "Heaven-Earth-Water" system that can be drawn based on the main characteristics and functions of various dragons in Han Dynasty thought. You can clearly see the distribution of various dragons between heaven, earth and water.

"Heavenly System". The spiritual animals here, including dragons, are all animalized imaginary simulations of celestial phenomena and constellations.

Spiritual beasts including green dragon figures in seals

Canglong, also known as Qinglong,together with white tiger, rosefinch and Xuanwu, they are the four great spiritual beasts. They are auspicious beasts and represent nobility, status and power. It is recorded in Volume 3 of "Huainanzi": No one is more noble than Qinglong.

Ancient Chinese astronomers divided the stars in the sky into twenty-eight star regions, namely the Twenty-Eight Constellations, to observe the movement of the moon and divide the seasons. The four directions of , west and north, the four colors of green, red, white and black, and the four animals of dragon, bird, tiger and basalt are matched, which are called "four images" or "four palaces". The green dragon is the east palace mythical beast among the four images. It can also represent spring or the east, or it can be used as an object of sacrifice to pray for rain.

"Heaven-Earth System", "Earth-Water System". The dragons here express people’s wishes to “ascend” or “cross the sea” and become immortals with the help of different divine powers of different dragon genus.

Portraits of flying dragons on the cliffs of Changning in the Eastern Han Dynasty

Flying dragon has wings and can soar to the sky with the help of clouds. "Hanshu·Liyuezhi" has a description of "flying dragon in autumn, swimming up to the sky... riding a flying dragon with colorful feathers." Ying Feilong has wings, hair, horns, etc., and its appearance is similar to that of birds.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the image of Yinglong on the stone lintel of the Nanyang tomb gate

Yinglong is a winged dragon in ancient Chinese myths and legends, also known as the Yellow Dragon. Some scholars speculate that Yinglong is named after Gengchen. It originally lived in heaven and served as a general of the Yellow Emperor to kill Chi You and others. Kuafu once painted the ground with his tail to form a river, helped Dayu control the floods, and captured Wuzhi Qi. The Yinglong has wings, hair, horns, etc., and can also be "lifted by the clouds". For example, in "Huainanzi Zhushu Xun", "The concubine snake swims in the mist and moves, and the Yinglong is lifted by the clouds."

Yinglong's appearance is closer to that of an animal. Like flying dragons, they mainly move between heaven and earth. They have powerful divinity and can be ridden and lead people to immortality. They have auspicious meanings.

The image of a horned dragon in a gold and silver lacquer box in a Han tomb in Mancheng, Western Han Dynasty

The Horned Dragon It has the body of a horned beast, a wingless snake tail, and a body with scales. It is said that it is the son of a dragon. Generally, the growing dragon is called Qiu. Some people call the coiled dragon the Qiu dragon. Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in his poem "On Qingyun Shuo" that "a Qiu Pan and a Thousand Renren play like a sheep's intestines".

The dragon on the stone lintel of the Xinfeng Cemetery in Yuzhou, Henan during the Eastern Han Dynasty

Panchi (panchi) is a snake-like monster of the genus Dragon. It is an early dragon without horns. It has no wings or horns and can swim in water and be ridden. Panlong or Panlong refers to a dragon that has not ascended to heaven, and is mostly in a curved and coiled shape. These types of dragons mainly move between the earth and water, and many of them can also be ridden. People may think that they can use them to cross the sea and become immortals, such as "Chi dragons flow side by side" in "Chu Ci Dazhao".

There are also two views on Panchi, one refers to the yellow hornless dragon, and the other refers to the female dragon. In "Han Shu." There is an annotation in "The Biography of Sima Xiangru" that "Red Chi is also a female dragon", so the unearthed Warring States jade pendant is decorated with the shape of a dragon and chi, which means male and female mating. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, bronzes, jade carvings, bronze mirrors or buildings were often decorated with the shape of a panchi. There were many forms, including single, double, three, five and even groups of chims. It may be in the shape of a title card, a ring, or a scroll. In addition, there are various changes such as Bogu Chi and Huanshen Chi.

Dragon graphics on portrait bricks in Zhengzhou, Henan, Western Han Dynasty

Jiao generally refers to a scaly dragon that can cause floods. According to legend, when a dragon gets water, it can stir up clouds, create mist, and soar across space. In ancient Chinese literature, it is often used to describe talented people getting opportunities to display their talents. Regarding the origin and shape of the dragon, there are different opinions in classical literature. Some say that "a dragon without horns is called a dragon", and some say that "a dragon with scales is called a dragon". The third volume of "The Mohist Wields the Rhinoceros" is more specific: the dragon's shape is like a snake, its head is like a tiger, its length can be several feet, and it mostly lives under stone caves in streams and ponds, and its sound is like the croaking of a cow. If the dragon sees a person walking on the bank or in a valley, it will surround it with the fishy saliva in its mouth, causing the person to fall into the water, and then suck its blood under its armpits until the blood is gone. People on shore and people on boats often suffer from it. In "Shi Shuo Xin Yu" written by Liu Yiqing of the Southern Song Dynasty, there is a story about Zhou Chu who went into the water for three days and three nights and killed the dragon and came back.

From the picture, we can see that except for the blue dragon in the sky, all the other dragons in the sky and the earth are yellow dragons. Huanglong is related to the "central color yellow" of the five directions, and "yellow" means earth and the middle. Among the five colored dragons, the blue dragon lives in the east, the white dragon lives in the west, the red dragon lives in the south, the black dragon lives in the north, and the yellow dragon lives in the center. The Yellow Dragon combines the characteristics and functions of various dragons. It is a divine dragon that can ascend to heaven and enter water, and has powerful divinity. It later became one of the important prophecy symbols. The yellow dragon is the most noble and is a true dragon. All other dragons are not true dragons. Ancient emperors were all true dragon emperors, so they all wore yellow dragon robes. Officials and ordinary people are not allowed to wear it, otherwise they will be killed.

Although some mythical beasts are not in the distribution map of dragons, some are inextricably related because they are the predecessors or derivatives of dragons. Ru Kui, also called Kui Dragon, is an imaginative one-legged monster animal, which is the embryonic stage of the dragon. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas." The Great Wilderness Eastern Classic describes Kui as follows: "It looks like an ox, with a pale body and no horns. It has one foot. When it goes in and out of water, there must be wind and rain. Its light is like the sun and moon, and its sound is like thunder. Its name is Kui." But more ancient books say that Kui is a snake-like monster. "Kui, a divine charm, like a dragon's leg." ("Shuowen Jiezi")

Kui pattern is a commonly used decoration on bronzes during the Warring States Period.

Hui is an early dragon, imagined with the reptile-snake as a model, and often lives in the water. "A scorpion turns into a dragon in five hundred years, and a dragon turns into a dragon in a thousand years." It is the juvenile stage of the dragon, and it appears many times as decoration on ancient bronze mirrors.

Han Bronze Mirror with Four Breasts and Four Snake Mirrors

At the same time, there are also many legends about various mythical beasts derived from dragons and related legends. For example, according to "Shu Yi Ji": "A dragon turns into a dragon after a thousand years, and a dragon turns into a horned dragon after five hundred years." The old among the dragons is the horned dragon. There is also a saying that the dragon's nature is lustful. When it has sex with an ox, it will give birth to a unicorn, and when it has sex with a pig, it will give birth to an elephant. There are also nine sons born from the dragon: Qi Niu, 睚禦(yá zì), Chaofeng, Pulao, Suān ní, Baxia, 狴犴(bì àn), Negative Xi(fù xì), Chiki(chī) wěn).

Summary. Although dragons and various mythical beasts are built in the illusory mythical world of imagination, they contain the wisdom and rich knowledge of the ancestors, rich imagination, rigorous logic, and integrate astronomy, geography, biology, etc. The knowledge of the subject embodies the wish for a better life, embodies the concept of suppressing evil and promoting good and the spirit of traditional cultural thought.

The pictures and some text in this article are based on published books, publications and the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original owner.

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