Perhaps no other creature has captivated the human imagination in both the East and West like the dragon has. In Chinese culture, dragon mythology has wound its way through the drama of the country’s history and through the present. Hailed as a supreme guardian, emblem of virtue, and embodiment of divine power, the dragon has endured throughout Chinese history as both the most real and most fantastic of animal legends.

Dragon Tales: forms and functions of dragons

The dragon represents strength, nobility, imperial greatness and wisdom. It is associated with the yang , which in Chinese philosophy is the force of clarity, light, virility and action.

But dragons are mercurial creatures and can be difficult to classify. Many variants of dragon populate Chinese mythology. Dragons can come in any size, assume a variety of hues, perform many different duties, and inhabit the water as well as the heavens.

According to legend, the dragon sought to usurp the tiger as king of the beasts. To resolve the conflict, the Jade Emperor became the arbiter of the dispute. The dragon stole the rooster’s horn to make himself look more formidable, and the emperor was ultimately so impressed that he divided the throne, appointing the dragon king of the water, and the tiger king of the earth.

Thus, the dragon is frequently associated with elements of nature. For instance, the blue dragon , which takes its place alongside the phoenix, turtle and tiger as one of the four celestial beings, is associated with the element of wood.

But other spiritual schemes link the dragon’s awesome power to rainfall. Interestingly, Hindu mythology also ties the dragon to rainfall, but whereas the Chinese see the dragon as a giver of rain, the Indian dragon, Vitra, blocks the rain by fiercely guarding the water supply until the rain god Indra slays him.

In Chinese astrology, the Year of the Dragon is part of the twelve-year zodiac cycle, and the dragon sign symbolizes various personality traits, depending on the year of birth. The fire dragon is ambitious and hot-tempered; the water dragon more subdued; the metal dragon authoritarian and aggressive; the wood dragon the most intellectually inclined and philosophical; and the earth dragon the most even-handed and cooperative.

The dragon can take on multiple personalities as well. The four so-called Dragon Kings each represent one of the cardinal directions. Appearing frequently in literary works, such as the classical novel Journey to the West, they had the ability to morph into human form and to control the weather to destroy earthlings that angered them. They dwelled in crystal palaces, guarded by shrimp and crabs.

The physical composition of the dragon varies. The number of toes on the dragon ranges from three to five, with five generally reserved for the imperial dragon that denotes the emperor. Japanese dragons tend to have three toes and Indonesian dragons generally have four. Legend has it that the dragon lost toes as it migrated to other lands, which might explain why the Eastern dragon has not strayed very far from its origins. According to the dragon-information website The Serene Dragon, the dragon of Taoism features exactly 117 scales infused with spiritual energy, in 81-to-36 yin-to-yang ratio for regular dragons, and 100-percent yang for the imperial dragon.

Like humans, dragons are known for reproducing in small numbers and with great care, laying only one egg at a time, with a gestation period of 1,000 years. It takes dragons roughly 1,500 years to reach maturity. There are nine proverbial “sons of the dragon.” The Chinese culture website Chinapage.com provides the following description:

While both Eastern and Western cultures, seemingly independently, have imagined the dragon as a symbol of power, there are significant distinctions between the Asian and European species. The Western dragon is known for being an intimidating and sometimes wrathful creature. In contrast to the European dragon of terror, the dragon of China manifests greatness and benevolence. Perhaps the closest analog to the Chinese dragon in Western culture would be the occasional “friendly dragon” character of children’s stories and folklore, such as the 1960s icon Puff the Magic Dragon.

Many Chinese cultural traditions and arts draw on dragon mythology.

As an artistic theme, dragons are fixtures in sculptures, decorations of imperial buildings, vases and other art forms. The dragon is often portrayed playing with a pearl, which in Taoist philosophy represents power, fertility and spiritual energy. According to the Jiu Long Ba Zhuang Chinese theology website, the pearl symbolizes “'truth' and 'life' - perhaps even everlasting life which is made available to those who perceive the truth and attain enlightenment.”

The dragon’s most famous companion in art and decoration is the phoenix or fenghuang, the imperial bird. The dragon-phoenix duo is a popular emblem of matrimony, often used in wedding decorations. The phoenix also symbolizes the empress, as a counterpoint to the emperor’s dragon. While the dragon is overwhelmingly yang in spirit, the phoenix represents a balance of yin and yang. Like the dragon, it is a medley of creatures, embodying features of the stag, the tortoise, the goose and the rooster.

There are nine major artistic contexts in which the dragon image appears, each of which highlights a different quality: on instruments, for his love of music; on stone tablets, for his love of literature; at the base of stone structures, for his strength; atop temples, for his vigilance; on bridges, for his love of water; on the Buddha’s throne, to let him relax; on swords, because he is an avid fighter; and on the prison gates, for he is mischievous.

The Nine Dragon Wall

in Beijing’s Bei Hai Park, built in 1756, portrays nine majestic dragons spanning a surface about 23 meters long and 5 meters high. A total of over 600 dragons large and small inhabit the wall.

During the Qing dynasty, dragons became the chief symbol of royalty, adorning imperial robes and the national flag. The image of five-toed dragon was exclusively reserved for the emperor, empress and empress dowager. Others who dared sport the dragon image could be sentenced to death.

The Chinese expression for dragon, long, laces the Chinese language in various forms. The term long shen or “dragon-spirit” refers to a celestial being, endowed with superior wisdom, in the body of a human. A self-proclaimed title for the Chinese people is long de chuan ren, or “descendents of the dragon.”

The common idiom “long ma jing shen,” or “spirit of a dragon-horse,” exhorts one to take on the energy and vitality that these two animals represent. The phrase “wo hu chang long,” or “crouching tiger, hidden dragon,” for which the hit movie was named, reminds one never to underestimate individuals who may have hidden talents.

Another popular phrase, “hua long dian jing,” or “to draw a dragon and dot the eyes,” describes the legend of a gifted artist’s eternal predicament: he could never complete his lifelike dragon paintings because once he drew in the creature’s eyes, it would spring to life and fly off the paper.

The Dragon Boat Race is the main attraction of the festival. Dragon boats, which resemble long canoes and are rowed in a manner similar to that of the Western crew racing, range from 40 to 100 feet long. Teams of young men and women compete for the title, rowing powerfully toward the finish line to the rousing beat of the drummers nested at the head of each boat.

But before the festivities begin, the participants must pay homage to their celestial vehicles by “bringing the dragon to life.” Following the lore of the dragon-painter's secret, the festival organizers have the eyes of the dragon boat dotted and drawn in red… and like magic, the spirit is unleashed.