文化 | Dragons; Qilin and Phoenix in China
Dragons; Qilin and Phoenix in China
Chinese Dragon
Chinese dragons, also known as East Asian dragons, are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and East Asian culture at large. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs.
They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it in East Asian culture. During the days of Imperial China, the Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength.
Dragon stone relief, between flights of steps in the Forbidden City.
Portrait of the Yongle Emperor wearing a dragon robe
In Chinese culture, excellent and outstanding people are compared to a dragon, while incapable people with no achievements are compared to other, disesteemed creatures, such as a worm. A number of Chinese proverbs and idioms feature references to a dragon, such as "Hoping one's son will become a dragon" (simplified Chinese: 望子成龙; traditional Chinese: 朢子成龍; pinyin: wàng zǐ chéng lóng).
Chinese dragons are powerful and benevolent symbols in Chinese culture, with supposed control over watery phenomenon, e.g. summoning rain during a drought. Dragons are everywhere in China — in legends, festivals, astrology, art, names, and idioms.
Dragons are seen as lucky and good — quite different to the evil, dangerous, fire-breathing dragons of most Western stories.
A Chinese dragon was the symbol of the Emperor of China. The dragon in the Qing Dynasty came out on national flags.
Dragons are often found in Chinese art and stories. Since people discovered dragons in Chinese art and stories, dragons are sometimes thought of as a symbol for China.
There are people inside Chinese dragons. Dragons are very popular in China. The phoenix is a dragon that has five claws and was a powerful symbol for the emperors in China.
Imperial dragon at the Shenyang Imperial Palace, Liaoning
Dragons in China are not the fire-breathing, evil monsters that they are portrayed elsewhere in the world. May be a different word should have been used to distinguish the Chinese version of these mythological creatures.
The Chinese dragon is imperious, powerful but good-natured. People need to seek the favor of dragons and keep them on their side. It is a strong ‘yang’ animal (male; sun; light). As such it associated with the number nine (3 is 'yang' so 3x3 is very 'yang') and so Nine Dragons 九龙 jiǔ lóng are extremely propitious.
Kowloon, part of Hong Kong means ‘nine dragons’ in Cantonese. There is an impressive imperial nine dragon wall of glazed tiles at both the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City at Beijing.
According to an ancient classification the dragon is considered the chief of all scaled creatures, while birds are represented by the phoenix; animals by the unicorn and all shelled creatures by the tortoise.
It is second only to humans in the hierarchy of animals. It has a sinuous body covered in scales, with four legs and two horns. It is said to be a composite of nine different creatures: camel's head; deer's horns; rabbit's eyes; cow's ears; snake's neck; frog's belly; carp's scales; hawk's claws and tiger's palm. There are traditionally 81 (9x9) scales running along its spine. Its face has whiskers and a beard. Dragons were well established in the Chinese mind as far back as the Shang dynasty. There are hints that the original inspiration for a dragon may be the alligator of Southern China. Dragons are lords of nature, commanding mountains; sky; sea and land. Dragons belong to various categories: heaven dragons (天龙 tianlong) ruling the sky; spirit dragons (神龙 shenlong) ruling the rain; earth dragons (地龙 dilong) ruling springs and streams, and treasure dragons (伏藏龙 fucanglong) which guard buried riches. The blue-green dragon (青龙qinglong) represents the East; Spring and is one of the four divisions of the traditional month. The river forming a long stretch of China's north-eastern border is the 黑龙江 hēi lóng jiāng ‘Black Dragon River’ which in turn gives its name to the whole province. Buddhists brought with them into China a rather different view of dragons more akin to the Europeans, Buddhist dragons are more cantankerous and prone to malice.
A representation of a 贪龙 tān lóng ‘greedy dragon’ was often put at the entrance to the administrator's house (the yamen) so that the administrator and all the supplicants were encouraged to keep honest by this savage and hungry representation of a dragon.
Imperial dragon at the Forbidden City
Hidden Dragons
Feng shui favors sites with a ‘hidden dragon’, which is found where the form of the surrounding hills look like a huge protecting dragon. Ideally this should be to the east of the location as with Nanjing. The film title Crouching tiger, Hidden dragon comes from a place of hidden strength, and a most auspicious Feng Shui location.
藏龙卧虎
Cáng lóng wò hǔ
Hidden dragon, crouching tiger
There are often people around with great power and skill
Chinese Dragons are mostly associated with water, with the power to bring drought or floods, and so they control the lives of all those who cultivate the fields. Legend has it that a son of the Emperor Hongwu chose the site for city of Beijing as the Ming capital after he had managed to tame two dragons who controlled the city's water supply. The belief in dragons has remained strong, at the start of the 20th century 82% of people believed they existed and Yuan Shikai in 1912 sought to legitimize his usurpation of power by the appearance of a dragon - he sent teams of people to go and look for one.
Traditional dragon dance, Foshan, 2013 Copyright © Dreamstime see image license
Dragon Kings
The seas are ruled by dragon kings (Long Wang 龙王), one for each of the traditional four seas that surround China. If a dragon king takes to the air it brings a great storm and rain - a typhoon (台风 taifeng in Chinese). Death by drowning was considered a sacrifice to the dragon king and this is tied to the origin of the Dragon Boat festival which at a later date came to commemorate the drowning of Qu Yuan. Originally people pleaded with the dragons to bring rain for a good harvest at this mid-summer festival. A drought was more ruinous than a flood.
In ancient times lightning was considered to be ‘dragon fire’. An eclipse of the moon or sun was supposed to be caused by a dragon eating the celestial body. The Moon rose between the horns of the Spring Dragon; as the moon is often represented as a pearl, the common depiction of two dragons chasing and holding pearls (as in the Dragon Dance) is related to the moon and thunder. Others say the pearl represents the sun.
A lower category of dragon are the 'hornless dragons' 螭 chī also known as 'mountain demons'. They are depicted as small dragons without horns: 螭吻 ‘Chī wěn’ considered by some to be the Chinese chimera and sometimes termed 辟邪 bì xié. An early form of the dragon is the 夔 Kuí dragon that is shown more like a snake with one leg or no legs typically decorating Shang dynasty bronzes. The kui is considered an emblem to remind people to refrain from greed.
Fossils of animals were known as ‘dragon's bones and teeth’. Traditional medicines are often named after parts of the dragon to advertise their potency. The Dragon Dance takes place at Chinese New Year and marriage ceremonies. Carvings of dragons and chiwen are some of the mythological beasts placed at the ends of the roof ridges of buildings. On the very top of the roof ridge they acted as lightning conductors.
Proverbial Dragons
强龙难压地头蛇
Qiáng lóng nán yā dì tóu shé
Even a dragon finds it difficult to conquer a snake in its lair
Knowledge of local area and people gives them a distinct advantage even against a strong enemy
一龙生九种,种种不同
Yī lóng shēng jiǔ zhǒng, zhǒng zhǒng bù tóng
The dragon has nine sons, each different from the others
Brothers and sisters may not resemble each other
龙飞凤舞
Lóng fēi fèng wǔ
A dragon's flight and a phoenix's dance - very powerful and invigorating.
Flamboyant. Lively and vigorous
龙争虎斗
Lóng zhēng hǔ dòu
Bitter fight between a dragon and tiger. An evenly matched big fight
Struggle between two equal leaders
Dragons are one of the twelve animals of the astrological year, people born in a dragon year are born leaders and lucky. For more on dragon symbolism please refer to our symbolism section.
The dragon as an Imperial Emblem
The symbol of the Emperor has been a dragon since the Han dynasty. The Emperor ruled China from the Dragon Throne ➚ at the Imperial capital (Beijing, Nanjing and other cities over the centuries). The throne faces south and is considered the very center of the civilized world. The number of claws of the dragon's feet is important. The five clawed dragon is reserved for the Emperor and his sons; anyone else found with a depiction of a 5 clawed dragon could be executed. Princes of the third and fourth rank were allowed four clawed dragons, three claws or less were reserved for the officials at court.
The 9 Types of the Chinese Dragon
According to Chinese myths, the dragon has nine sons with different characters, and their images are widely used in architectural decoration, especially in the imperial palaces. The nine sons are often used in buildings' decorations and sculptures.
Names of the 9 Types of Dragons in China
Bixi (赑屃 Bìxì /bee-sshee/) — eldest, turtle-shaped with sharp teeth, fond of carrying heavy objects; often on graves/monuments
Qiuniu (囚牛 Qiúniú /chyoh-nyoh/) — yellow scaly dragon, likes and excels in music; often adorns musical instruments
Yazi (睚眦 Yázì /yaa-dzrr/) — snake belly and leopard head, keen on fighting/killing; often decorates sword grips
Chaofeng (嘲风 Cháofēng /chaoww-fnng/) — instinctively adventurous; often adorns palace roof ridges
Pulao (蒲牢 Púláo /poo-laoww/) — known for loud crying; often on bell handles
Chiwen (螭吻 chīwěn /chrr-wnn/) — lives in the sea, harsh-voiced, delights in devouring creatures; often on palace ridgepole ends
Bi'an (狴犴 Bì'àn /bee-an/) — likes lawsuits, often stands by jail gates
Suanni (狻猊 Suānní /swann-nee/) — lion-shaped, delights in sitting cross-legged and smelling incense; often on Buddhist temple incense burners and seats
Fuxi (负屃 Fùxì /foo-sshee/) — most Chinese dragon-like; often on stone tablets
The Chinese Zodiac Dragon
Chinese zodiac sign of the Dragon: Every year within each 12-year cycle of the lunar calendar is represented in Chinese mythology by one of 12 animals. People born in the year of 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, or 2024 belong to the Dragon zodiac sign.
Qilin
Qilin also known as Kylin or Kirin, is a mythical Chinese creature that brings serenity and prosperity
The Qilin is a mythical creature just like the Dragon and Phoenix. The Chinese name is 骐麟 qílín which is sometimes written as ‘kilin’ or ‘kylin’. The character ‘Qi’ is a type of horse and so has the horse radical while the ‘Lin’ character is a complex character made with 23 individual strokes.
A stone qilin often guards a tomb, sometimes as one of the creatures along a Sacred Way. The best known example is on the Spirit Way to the Ming tombs in Beijing.
Although described as the ‘Chinese Unicorn’ the creature is different to the Western Unicorn, it normally has two horns but may have one or three and a deer's body but often the sculptor has gone to town with their imagination and embellished with fish scales and an ox's tail; it is usually portrayed in white. A qilin is the representative of all animals bearing fur (horses; cows; goats; deer etc.). It is one of the four sacred animals with the dragon, turtle and phoenix. When Zheng He's voyages to Africa brought back a giraffe as a gift to Emperor Yongle, it was considered to be some sort of Qilin, the Emperor did not agree but in Japan the giraffe is given the name qilin to this day.
The similarity to the Western unicorn is mainly due to its association with gentleness, virtue and benevolence. One tradition has a qilin bringing a piece a jade to the mother of Confucius. Its walk is so gentle that its hooves do not crush the grass and it can walk on water. The appearance of a qilin is considered an auspicious omen; and so it is said to have appeared during the reign of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) and the birth of Confucius. They are solitary animals. It became associated with a talented young son, and now that is what it usually signifies. The Qilin is often used as a symbol in paintings and ceramics with the hidden meaning to wish that a young man will produce sons.
"Ways of souls" tombs of the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644CE). 50km north west of Beijing, in Changping. December 2005. Image by ofol available under a Creative Commons License.
Phoenix - Fenghuang
Stone phoenix at the tombs of the Song Dynasty, Gongyi, Henan
As with the dragon the Chinese phoenix has little in common with the mythical bird of Egyptian origin. The Europeans chose to give the Chinese phoenix, Feng huang 凤凰 the same name as a vaguely similar bird; it does not have the link to rebirth and immortality as with the Western phoenix. The history of the ancient Chinese mythological creature goes back at least 4,000 years. Like the Qilin it is considered a creature signifying the just rule of the Emperor. The Chinese name is made up of fèng (wind) and huáng (a homophone with emperor showing the emperor under a canopy). The phoenix appears at auspicious times, and is associated with sun, south, justice, obedience and loyalty. It is a peaceful creature accompanied by small birds. It perches on the admired 梧桐 wútóng tree 'Chinese Parasol' (Firmiana simplex). It is associated with the sun and summer.
Landmarks named after the phoenix include the mountain ‘Fenghuang Shan’ near Dandong, Liaoning with many Daoist temples dotted over it. Fenghuangfu in Anhui is the place credited with its last sighting, where it scratched at the grave of Emperor Hongwu's father, giving him legitimacy to rule.The phoenix represents the class of all birds. Early (Zhou and Shang) representations make it more like a bird of prey with a curved beak; in later centuries it became to look like a pheasant whiuch is native to China.
In later centuries the Empress became associated with the phoenix. As the dragon represents the Emperor, the dragon and phoenix together stand for Emperor and Empress. A picture with a dragon and phoenix symbolizes a married couple; and based on this there has been a long association of the phoenix with conjugal sex. Famously the Qing dynastic tomb near Beijing of the Dowager Empress Cixi has the phoenix dominating the dragon, underlying her dominance at the Imperial court.
Proverbial Phoenixes
凤毛麟角
Fèng máo lín jiǎo
As rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns
Seeking the unobtainable
宁做鸡头,不当凤尾
Nìng zuò jītóu, bù dāng fèng wěi
Rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail
Better to be leader of a humble organization than the stooge of a grand one
A big fish in a small pond