The Chinese Dragon
The Chinese dragon, mythical in nature, is considered to be the ultimate symbol of good fortune. It is a benevolent creature, possessing noble spiritual qualities and magical abilities that far exceed those of every day man. Although the Buddhists view the dragon to be evil, Chinese dragons, on the whole, have a reputation for being good natured and masterful deities.
The Origin of the Chinese Dragon
There is much speculation about the origin of the Chinese dragon. Many think that the bones of dinosaurs may have given the Chinese, or mankind for that matter, the raw material for their imaginings. This seems plausible, as images of the Terranasaurus Rex, Bronatasaurus, and Teradactyle all bear likeness to what is commonly perceived of as the dragon. In An Instict for Dragons, writer David E. Jones refutes this idea pointing out that many widely accepted traits of the dinosaur are not observable through studying fossils.
Roy Bates, author of Chinese Dragons, furthers this point of view, saying that, "dinosaurs vanished long before the concept of a dragon arose, and just because fossilized dinosaur bones were revered by the Chinese, and ground up for medicine, this has no relevance to the dragon's origin."
Another theory is that the famed Emperor Huang Di (*cite below) was responsible for the creation of the dinosaur. Huang Di, meaning Yellow Emperor, was accredited as the father of Taoism, astronomy, the discovery of magnets and the first medical text on the principles of Chinese medicine. He was also known as the legendary creator of the Han Dynasty and, some believe, the creator of the mythical dragon. It was said that when at war, he would conquer a tribe and would then implement that tribe's animal into his coat of arms. Thus, the dragon was created as an amalgam of many different creatures. In the wikipedia.com it says that Huang Di's dragon, "has a body of a snake; the scales and tail of a fish; the antlers of a deer; the face of a qilin (a deer-like mythical creature with fire all over its body); and two pairs of talons of eagles; and the eyes of a demon.
The last, and perhaps most likely explanation, is that the dragon originated from the Indian Nagas, a group of dragon like serpents who were protectors of the Buddhist faith. They were known to have human faces and serpent tails, and were divided into four categories that closely resemble the four types of Chinese dragons that we know of today, excluding the Imperial Dragon. (This is explained further in the Five Types of Dragons below)
- Heavenly; these Nagas correspond closely with the Tian Long, the dragons who were responsible for protecting the Gods.
- Divine; these Nagas correspond with the Shen Long, or spirit dragons, who were in charge of the rain and weather
- Earthly; these Nagas correspond to the Di Long, who were in charge of the lakes and streams
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Hidden; these Nagas correspond to the Cang Long, who dealt with the treasures of the underworld.
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