Dragons and Water
For the Chinese, the dragon is most closely associated with water. The common people of China believed that dragons were bringers of the rain. The appearance of a dragon could mean there would be a torrential downpour, as was documented within Spring and Autumn Annals. "In the year 523 BC several dragons appeared in the Zheng area of China and brought about a great flood. " When there was desperate need for one of these downpours, it was common for the people to make sacrifices to the local Dragon King. Each village had their very own temple in which this Dragon King could receive gifts, which varied depending on the region. It says in the Masters of the Kingdom of Huainan, written by several Daoist philosophers around 100 BC, that "the clay dragon regulates the rain," which explains why it was so common around this time period for the people to make clay images of the dragon. In Beijing, between 1644-1911, it was customary for the people to throw iron into the Pool of the Black Dragon if there had been a drought. This practice is based on the Ancient Chinese Philosophy of the Five Elements...
The Chinese Philosophy of the Five Elements
Chinese philosophy recognizes five distinct elements of cyclical change called water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. These five elements work together in either a generating cycle of interaction or an overcoming cycle of interaction. For example; wood generates fire, which generates earth, which generates metal, which generates water, which generates wood etc. The overcoming cycle is wood overcomes earth, which overcomes water, which overcomes fire, which overcomes metal, which overcomes wood etc...
which explains that metal creates water, the intended goal of the people. Also, Dragons were thought of as being very scared of iron and by throwing it at them, they would be awakened from their slumber and spurred into ending the drought.
Processions were held within the villages to encourage the dragons to take action during the droughts. These processions were typically held in the fifth moon, which is considered to be the birthday of this mythical creature. There would be a humongous paper dragon held up by several men who were camoflouged as the scales of the elongated body. This gigantic dragon would be accompanied by Chinese gongs and fireworks, and on either side of the creature there would be lanterns of many different colors. This procession still exists today and is known as the Dragon Dance. It is usually done for the entertainment of tourists.
It was also common practice for the Chinese people to sacrifice virgin maidens to the dragons in an attempt to bring the rain. These maidens were thrown into the lakes and seas in order to appease the dragons gigantic appetites. As was stated earlier, dragons were thought of as male, so the Chinese men would ask themselves what they personally would want for a gift. The answer was, naturally, virginal girls.
|
