China's dragon, with its unique oriental mysticism form and complex artistic modeling, contains China people's unique dragon view and China culture. Judging from the image of the dragon, there is a world view that China people attach importance to the unity of man and nature. It is the appeal of the concept of benevolence as the main body; The development view of yin-yang intercourse; The inclusive view of multiculturalism.
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Dragon ranks fifth among the traditional Zodiac animals in China, and its corresponding earthly branch is Chen.
Dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise are also called "four great beasts", and the banknotes issued by Standard Chartered Bank of Hong Kong from 65438 to 0979 are all based on these beasts. (There are also many ancient books and history books that refer to the "four auspicious beasts" as: caring for each other, nurturing, caring for each other and caring for each other. )
Qinglong and Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu are the four astronomical phenomena in China.
In a narrow sense, the dragon is the symbol of the emperor in China. Only the emperor can use five-claw dragon as a symbol or embroidery on his yellow robe, while other ministers and royalty can only use four-claw dragon, also known as python. Ordinary people, that is, the civilian class, are not allowed to own any dragons or items or images related to dragons, otherwise it is rebellion and usurpation, and can be directly executed. Many temples in Taiwan Province Province have statues or portraits of dragons, all with four claws.
Since the beginning of this century, there have been more than 100 kinds of books and papers about the origin and essence of dragons, and there are different opinions. Here is a brief introduction:
Qinglong is one of the four elephants in China traditional culture. According to the theory of five elements, it is a spirit beast representing the East. Qinglong is both a name and a family, and its orientation is east to left, representing spring. The orientation of the white tiger is west to right, representing autumn; Suzaku's orientation is south, representing summer; Xuanwu is located in the north, representing winter.
Among the 28 constellations in China, Qinglong is the general name of the seven eastern stars (horn, sound, phase, room, heart, tail and dustpan).
Dragon and phoenix are not paired, and phoenix is paired. "Dragon-phoenix duel" is a misunderstanding of traditional culture. In fact, the phoenix has always played the role of a male auspicious animal in traditional culture.
The prototype of the dragon appeared in the late Neolithic period. There are many different images of dragons in ancient books. The ancients had various explanations for this. It is said that poisonous snakes can fly without feet (see Xunzi's "Persuasion"); Those with scales are called dragons, those with horns are called [mound prisoners], and those without horns are called set dragons. (See Qu Yuan's Lisao and Hong Bu's Guangya in the Warring States Period) The name with long wings (Wang Note of Qu Yuan's Tian Wen in the Warring States Period). We can see these different kinds of dragons on the bronzes of Shang, Zhou and Warring States in China. Some people say that dragons are like dogs and cows, while Lun Heng said, "The image of dragons is anticlimactic." It is also said that the shape of the dragon is the horn of a deer, the ear of a cow, the head of a camel, the eyes of a rabbit, the neck of a snake, the belly of a stork, the scales of a fish, the feet of a tiger and the claws of an eagle. There are crocodiles, lizards, horses and so on. Lun Heng said: "The image of a dragon is the tail of a horse." In Han Dynasty stone reliefs, dragons with scales or wings on their heads are common. Dragon has various meanings in the Han dynasty, such as the inscription on the bronze mirror of the Han dynasty: left dragon and right tiger are ominous. Play a role in ward off evil spirits; "The Legend of the White Tiger" says: Germany and Italy are birds and beasts, then the white tiger will arrive. Here, it shows the kindness of the rulers to the people.
The case in the Han Dynasty stone relief is the image of the dragon at that time.
Compendium of Materia Medica says that "dragons have nine similarities", which is a heterogeneous animal with the advantages of all kinds of animals. The little one is called Jiao, and the big one is called Dragon. Legend has it that it can be hidden, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, and the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, omnipotent. After the later development, the images of these dragons are more and more complex than the original dragons, and more and more totems are incorporated, which shows that they are constantly enriching and developing.
Er Ya Yi says: The dragon is the length of the scale worm. Wang has nine shapes: head like an ox, horns like a deer, eyes like a shrimp, ears like a snake, belly like a snake, scales like a fish, claws like a phoenix, palms like a tiger. It has 8 1 scales on its back, and the number is nine and nine yang. It sounds like a coin. There is a beard near the mouth, pearls under the chin and scales under the throat. There is Boshan on the head, also known as ruler wood, and the dragon can't ascend to heaven without ruler wood. Breathing into the clouds can change water and fire.
The other is: "Mouth like a horse, eyes like a crab, beard like a sheep, horns like a deer, ears like an ox, mane like a lion, scales like a carp, body like a snake, claws like an eagle ..."; There is also a saying that "the head is like a camel, the eyes are like ghosts, the ears are like cows, the horns are like deer, the neck is like a snake, the abdomen is like a dragonfly, the scales are like carp, the claws are like eagles, and the palms are like tigers".
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The formula for drawing dragons handed down by painters in Taiwan Province Province is also quite interesting: "Draw antlers one, shrimp two, dog nose four, lion mane six scales five, snake body eight fires seven, chicken feet nine and dragon nine".
The dragon has the image of rabbit's eyes, antlers, ox's mouth, camel's head, salamander's belly, Tiger Claw, eagle's claws, fish scales and snake's body, and nine animals are combined into one (also called nine unlike). However, some people say that dragons are composed of nine kinds of animals: shrimp eyes, antlers, ox mouths, dog noses, catfish whiskers, lion bristles, eagle claws, fish scales and snake tails.