What animal is the legendary dragon?
The legendary dragon in my country is composed of nine animals. "The antlers are like a deer, the head is like a camel, the eyes are like a rabbit, the neck is like a snake, the belly is like a mirage, the scales are like a fish, the claws are like an eagle, the palms are like a tiger, and the ears are like an ox."
In Chinese legends, it is said that a dragon can transform into any image. He can be like a small insect, or he can become a mythical beast that flies in the clouds and mist in the sky. He can also transform into a human being, etc. biology.
However, in legends or folk art, dragons still have a fixed image; "three stops and nine resemblances" is a description of the basic shape of a dragon.
According to records seen in ancient books, the dragon's body can be divided into three parts, and the three parts are all the same length, "from head to shoulders, shoulders to waist, waist to tail, "Xianzhangye" Volume 438 of "Yuan Jian Lei Han" quoted from "Huibian Shizhuan". The Nine Symbols were proposed by Luo Yuan of the Song Dynasty in "Erya Wings, Shi Long": "Antlers are like a deer, head is like a camel, eyes are like a rabbit, neck is like a snake, belly is like a mirage, scales are like a fish, claws are like Like an eagle, palms like a tiger, ears like an ox." Later, Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty used this term in the Compendium of Materia Medica, and replaced "scales like a fish" with "scales like a carp" and added "its back has." "Eighty-one scales, with nine-nine yang number", "There are beards beside the mouth, pearls under the chin, and reverse scales under the throat", also because of the nine-nine yang number. This theory explains why the legendary dragon has the ability to subjugate demons and monsters, because the nine-nine is the yang, and the yang thing can of course easily subdue some yin demons and evil spirits. It is also mentioned in "Mengxi Bi Tan" that there is a Yelai Mountain to the west of the Black Water, and there is a Dragon Shooting Temple on the mountain. In the temple, there is a dragon tongue, "shaped like a sword." When people in ancient times painted this mythical beast, they also had some taboos in painting: avoid closing the mouth, avoid closing the eyes, avoid having a fat neck, avoid short body, and avoid lowering the head.