Dragon, a miraculous animal in ancient legends of China, has a long body, scales, horns and feet. It can walk, fly, swim, climb clouds and rain. Dragon was a symbol of the emperor in feudal times, and it was also used to refer to the emperor and his objects: dragon face, dragon court and dragon robe. Dragon ranks fifth among the traditional Chinese zodiac animals in China. Dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise are also called "four great 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. Winged animals in western mythology. See the Western Dragon, one of the eight Buddhist dragons.
Although "dragon" is generally translated as "dragon" in English, the image of "dragon" in western culture is similar to the traditional dragon image in China, but the background and symbolic meaning are quite different. The "dragon" in the west is generally evil, which is completely different from the Swiss beast in the east. The person who translated China's dragon into Jackie Chan seems to have given a saint and a murderer the same name, but in fact they are not related by blood. Let a westerner who doesn't understand China culture see that China people worship dragons, which will give westerners a negative impression that China people like to worship evil things. In order to avoid this confusion, some scholars suggest that the English translation of "dragon" should be changed to "loong" with a pronunciation close to that of Chinese. The combination of the word "dragon" and the word "dragon" instead of the current dragon has not been widely recognized.
The predecessors divided dragons into four kinds, and those with scales were called dragons; The winged one is called Ying Long; Those with horns are called dragons, and those without horns are called autumn. For thousands of years, dragons have penetrated into all aspects of China society and become a kind of cultural cohesion and accumulation. The dragon has become a symbol of China, the Chinese nation and China culture. For every Chinese descendant, the image of the dragon is a symbol, a mood, and a feeling of flesh and blood. The names "Descendants of the Dragon" and "Descendants of the Dragon" often make China people excited, energetic and proud.
Interpretation of Long Wen
I hope everyone will actively promote our "dragon" culture instead of passively accepting past mistakes. This should have been led by the state, but now we can only start from ourselves. First of all, when communicating with people abroad, don't use "dragon" to refer to "dragon" and reverse this initial misinterpretation. Let's carry forward the real dragon culture, instead of conforming to mistakes all day and saying things like changing totems. This is the responsibility and obligation as the inheritor of 5000 years of culture.
Pronunciation is long
Sanskrit Nāga
British dragon
Many linguists in China believe that loong should be used to distinguish dragons from west dragons. )
Basic explanation
1. The miraculous animal in ancient legends of China has a long body, scales, horns and feet, and can walk, fly, swim, cloud and rain.
Chinese character "dragon" 2. As a symbol of emperors in feudal times, dragons are also used to refer to emperors and their things: dragon face, dragon body, dragon court and dragon robe.
3. Shaped like a dragon or equipped with a dragon totem: dragon boat, dragon lantern and dragon cart.
4. Long.
5. Dragon ranks fifth among the traditional Chinese zodiac in China. Dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise are also called "four great 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.
6. Winged animals in western mythology.
7. One of the Eight Dragons in Buddhism.
Dragon-the origin of holiness
The mythical dragon
In ancient times, people could not reasonably explain most natural phenomena, so they imagined that there was such an animal that could dominate, manipulate and manage these animals and astronomical phenomena, just as a clan had to have a leader. The characteristics of many of their animals are concentrated together, gradually forming the appearance of a dragon: camel's head, antlers, bull's ears, turtle's eyes, shrimp, horses, snakes, fish scales, salamander's stomach and eagle's claws. This composite structure means that the dragon is the head of all animals and the king of scales.
The fuzzy collection process of dragons began in the Xia Dynasty of Neolithic Age, and various dragons were developed from Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Warring States Period. In the Qin and Han dynasties, the shape of dragons was gradually unified and fixed, and the shapes of subsequent dynasties also changed and developed on this basis.
There are crocodile theory, lizard theory and horse theory about the prototype of the dragon, but it is generally believed that the keynote of the dragon is snake. Wen Yiduo's masterpiece Fuxi Kao was the first to put forward this view systematically. Wen Yiduo believes that after the snake clan merged with other clans, it "absorbed many other totem clans (clans), and the serpent accepted the four feet of animals, the head of horses, the horns of deer, the claws of dogs, the scales and whiskers of fish" and became the later dragon. On the basis of Wen Yiduo's research, later generations have done a lot of enrichment and supplement.
Dragons are versatile, only the slender body of snakes has never changed. In ancient times, the clan tribes who worshipped snakes were very common. Snakes have strong vitality, which accords with the wishes of primitive ancestors. Snakes are also a great threat to people, especially poisonous snakes, which can kill people and make people afraid. Many gods in Shan Hai Jing are snakes or dragons. Snakes themselves are multi-ethnic. In modern terms, the worship of snakes was very popular at that time. Taking it as the main body of the dragon is a sign of great national integration, and even those who are integrated are willing to accept it. There is also a saying that snakes evolved after eating elixir.
Classification of dragon gods
Four-claw dragon
Dragons are ever-changing and changeable. Those with scales are called dragons, those with horns are called dragons, and those without horns are called autumn (Hongbu quoted Sao and Guangya). The one with wings is called (Wang Note). Dragon, Qiu, are not the orthodoxy of dragons. Dragon orthodoxy is called black dragon! These different kinds of dragons can be seen on bronzes of Shang, Zhou and Warring States Dynasties in China.
Lun Heng said: "The image of a dragon is the tail of a horse." It is also said that the shape of the dragon is the horn of a deer, the ears of a cow, the head of a camel, the eyes of a rabbit, the neck of a snake, the belly of a slug, the scales of a fish, the soles of a deer's feet and the claws of an eagle. Compendium of Materia Medica says that "dragons have nine similarities", which is a heterogeneous animal with the advantages of all kinds of animals. 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.
About five claw dragons, four claw dragons and three claw dragons.
Before the Yuan Dynasty, the dragon spine had three claws, sometimes the first two feet had three claws, and the last two feet had four claws. Examples can be found in porcelain ornamentation in Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties. Four-claw dragon was popular in Ming dynasty, and five-claw dragon was the most popular in Qing dynasty. The folk saying of "Emperor with Five Claws, Emperor with Four Claws, and Doctor with Three Claws" in Zhou Dynasty was formed in Qing Dynasty, mainly because of the differences between emperors and ministers in dress decoration. The emperor wears the "dragon robe", while other royal families and ministers wear the "embroidered robe", but this is only the difference in name. From the shape of dragons, dragons and pythons are quadrupeds, and there is no difference in appearance.
Octopus: It's an early kind of dragon, which is modeled on a reptile-snake and often moves in the water. "It takes five hundred years to become a jiaozi, and it takes a thousand years to become a dragon." It is the embryonic form of the dragon, which once appeared on the bronze decoration in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, but not much.
Qiu: Generally speaking, a little dragon without horns is called Qiu Long, which is a growing dragon. Therefore, the ancient literature records: "The horn is called autumn, and the horn is called dragon." Another said that the baby dragon was born.
A legendary little dragon with horns.
Autumn is called after the horn. Although there are differences between the two statements. But everyone is called the growing Longqiu. Others call the dragon of Panqu the dragon, and Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, has a sentence of "A thousand plays play a sheep's intestines" in his poem "Talking about Qingyun".
Pan Guo is a snake-shaped monster of the genus Dragon, which is an early dragon without horns. There is a description of "killing dragons without horns" in Guangya. There are also two views on dragons, one refers to the yellow horned dragon and the other refers to the female dragon. There is a note in Han Zhuan that "the red dragon is also a female dragon", so the unearthed Warring States period is decorated with dragons and dragons, which means that men and women mate. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, bronzes, jade carvings, bronze mirrors or buildings were often decorated in the shape of flat flies, including single flies, double flies, three flies, five flies and even swarms of flies. Or as a title card, or as a ring, or as a book. In addition, there are Bo Gu beetles, ring beetles and other changes.
Jiao: Generally speaking, it refers to a scaly dragon that can cause floods. According to legend, the water of the dragon can make clouds and fog and soar in space. In ancient Chinese, it is often used to mean that talented people get the opportunity to display their talents. There are different opinions about the origin and shape of jiaozi in classical literature, some say that "dragons have no horns and are called jiaozi", while others say that "scales are called Xiaolong". The third volume of Mo Ke Dao Rhinoceros is more specific: Jiao is shaped like a snake, with a head like a tiger and an elder of dozens of feet. Most of them live under the caves in Xitan, and their voices are like cattle. If Jiao sees pedestrians on the shore or in the ravine, he will entangle them with his mouth and make people fall into the water, that is, suck their blood under his arm until the blood runs out. People on shore and on board often suffer from it. There is a story in Liu Yiqing's Shi Shuo Xin Yu in the Southern Song Dynasty, saying that he went into the water for three days and three nights at the beginning of the week to chop jiaozi back. Jiao may be a crocodile.
Ceratosaurus: refers to a horned dragon. According to Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, "A Thousand-year-old Dragon, a Hundred-year-old dragon five Horned Dragon", Horned Dragon is an old man among dragons.
Ying Long: The winged dragon is called Ying Long. According to Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, "dragon five has been a Ceratosaurus for a hundred years, and Ying Long for a thousand years", Ying Long is the essence of the dragon, so he has wings. According to legend, Ying Long was the dragon of the ancient Yellow Emperor. It was ordered by the Yellow Emperor to crusade against Chiyou and kill Chiyou to become a hero. When Yu was harnessing the water, the dragon once swept it with its tail.
Long Ying
The dragon is also called Huanglong, and Huanglong is it, so it is Yu's hero. Ying Long is characterized by wings, prickly scales, long head, small nose, eyes and ears, big eyes, high eyebrow arch, sharp teeth, protruding forehead, thin neck, long tail tip and strong limbs, just like a Chinese alligator with wings. The image of Ying Long often appears in jade carvings, stone carvings, silk paintings and lacquerware in the Han Dynasty during the Warring States Period.
Fire dragon: It is a dragon threatened by fire. The whole body is purple fire, and wherever the fire dragon passes, it is all burnt.
Panlong: refers to the dragon that crouches on the ground and does not ascend to heaven. The shape of a dragon is coiled. In ancient buildings in China, dragons coiled on pillars and dragons on decorative beams and ceilings are customarily called Panlong. There is another explanation for Panlong in "Taiping Magnolia": "Panlong is four feet long, blue-black, with a brocade-like red belt, and often goes down with the water and into the sea. Toxic, it hurts. " I mix dragons with jiaozi, snakes and things like that.
Qinglong is one of the "four spirits" or "four gods", also known as the black dragon. Ancient astronomers in China divided some stars in the sky into twenty-eight star zones, that is, twenty-eight nights, to observe the movement of the moon and divide the seasons, and divided the twenty-eight nights into four groups, with seven nights in each group, four colors of blue, red, white and black, and four animals, namely dragons, birds, tigers and basalts (where turtles and snakes intersect), called "four elephants". Dragon means the east, blue, the so-called "East Palace Qinglong". In the Qin and Han dynasties, these four images became "four spirits" or "four gods" (dragon, phoenix, turtle and forest), and their mystery became more and more intense. The existing stone relief of the East Palace Black Dragon constellation in Nanyang Han Painting Academy consists of a dragon, eighteen stars and the moon, and is engraved with jade toad. This dragon is the symbol of the whole black dragon constellation. In the bricks, stones and tiles of the Han Dynasty, there are many images of "four spirits".
Yu Hualong: It is a dragon with a dragon head and a fish body, and it is also a form of "mutual change of arowana and fish", which existed in ancient China. In Shuo Yuan, there is a record that "the white dragon turned into a fish in the cold abyss in the past", and in Chang 'an ballad, "the big fish in the East China Sea turned into a dragon", and the carp circulated among the people jumped over the Longmen, all of which told the mutual changes of arowana. This kind of modeling appeared in jade carvings as early as the late Shang Dynasty, and it has developed in all previous dynasties.
Dragon-Historical Records
Brush dragon
Fu Shi, there are dragons, so there is a dragon chronicle, creating words. Zuozhuan? In the seventeenth year of Zhao, Taigang was named the Dragon Master because of its dragon discipline. The Chronicle of Bamboo Slips records three clans: Fu You, Qianlong, Julong, Shuilong, Qinglong, Chilong, Bailong, Heilong and Huanglong.
Zuozhuan? Twenty-nine years of Zhao: the record of "the public gave the public a lamb and a fur, so that the dragon was offered to assist Qi Hou"; "Notes" also said: Shun Dynasty "Nanxun country presented Mao Long, a woman and a man, and set up the Dragon Palace. In Zhixia's generation, dragons were controlled because they were ordered by their families. ". It shows that the custom of raising dragons and taking them as family names prevailed in Xia Dynasty. Some ancient books recorded that the ruler of Xia Dynasty raised dragons named Liu, which is impossible to test!
Yi Kun: "The dragon fights in the wild, and the blood is mysterious and yellow." Zuozhuan? Zhao Nineteen Years: "Zheng Dashui, the dragon is outside the door." "Ceremony? Liu Yun: "Scale Phoenix Fish Dragon, called Four Spirits", "Zhuangzi? Lieyukou: "The pearl of a thousand dollars must be in the nine depths, under the dragon's chin."
Dragon worship
Mr. He Longtu Chen Minsheng
China people worship dragons for seven reasons:
First, the dragon culture of the Chinese nation has a long history and has been excavated in an orderly way. The earliest dragon image is a Xinglongwa Culture stone carving dragon found in the Chahai site in Fuxin, Liaoning Province, followed by the clam shell dragon in Xishuipo, Henan Province, attracting worldwide attention. The third piece is a dragon made of pebbles found in Jiaodun site of Zhangcheng Village, Baihu Township, Huangmei County. The well-known Inner Mongolia Samsung Tara Yulong and so on. All these fully prove that dragon worship was very common in China as early as six or seven thousand years ago, and that dragon culture is a local culture in China, not a foreign culture.
Secondly, according to the earliest archaeological data of Indian dragons, it is the mural "The Dragon King and His Family" in the first century BC, and the "Dragon Worship Bodhi Tree" before and after the times, which is about 5,000 years later than the Shilong in Chahai, Liaoning, China.
Thirdly, in terms of written records, according to the known historical data, the earliest written record of dragons in India is The Theory of Wisdom written by Long Shu around the second century A.D., which is only about 1800 years ago. China recorded dragons much earlier than India. There are many "dragons" and some records of dragon worship in Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty, which shows that dragon worship in China was very common 3500 years ago.
Fourthly, since its formation, Dragon Culture has spread rapidly not only at home, but also abroad. Long Dan in Indian Buddhism was handed down from China. There may be two ways of transmission: one is through the southwest of China. According to archaeological data, as early as the Neolithic age, the stone culture in the Yellow River basin was
Dragon culture
Spread to Tibet and its southern region; In the early Qin and Han Dynasties, the commodity trade between China and India was frequent. Therefore, it is entirely possible that China's dragon worship was introduced into India in this way. Another way to spread dragon culture is the Silk Road in the Western Regions. The Central Plains Dynasty had contact with the Western Regions as early as 3,000 years ago. It is said that immigrants came to Conglindong at the beginning of the week. After the Shang Dynasty destroyed Xia Hou, some Xia tribes migrated to the northwest. After arriving in Gansu and other places, they continued to migrate to the west and entered the Yanqi country in the western regions. Later, these dragon tribes who moved into Yanqi became the rulers of the country in the Jin Dynasty, and took "Dragon" as their surname. To be sure, they brought their own dragon culture to the western regions.
Fifthly, from the linguistic point of view, there is no special word for "dragon" in Sanskrit in ancient India, and "dragon" and "snake" are represented by the same word. In ancient Indian mythology, lightning was caused by Indra, a great god riding a white elephant and holding a lightning chisel. After the dragon was introduced into India, the dragon god quickly replaced Indra and became the master of wind, rain, thunder and lightning. So the word "snake" also means "dragon".
Sixthly, there are about 20 dragon legends recorded in "The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang", including 5 in the Western Regions, 5 in North India, 0/0 in China and 0/0 in South India. Judging from the contents of the coming year, the dragon legends of Qiuci and Yutian are very similar to those of ancient China. There is a story about Lapras and dragons mating with women, which has nothing to do with Buddhism. However, the myths and legends about the dragon south of Congling and adjacent to India in the Records of the Western Regions of Datang are related to the figures in Buddhism. This also shows that the western regions are a way for the dragon culture to spread to India.
Seventh, primitive dragons in China have many images and attributes of snakes, and so do Indian dragons, which are closely related to snakes. In Buddhist painting and sculpture, the dragon king usually has an unfolded cobra crown with three or five or seven heads behind his head. In addition, Buddhist scriptures often say that "dragons are shaped like snakes", which also shows that Indian dragons have the attributes of snakes. Dragon-Religion and Dragon
Buddhist golden dragon wall
Taoism and dragons
Taoism is a native religion in China, and early Taoists have realized that dragons come from snakes. There is a cloud in "Yellow and White Articles": "The dragon of a snake is no different from its own life. However, the root causes are all caused by natural feelings. The descendants of Zhang Daoling, the founder of Taoism, all inherited his career and were called "Shi Tian", and were told that they were predestined friends with dragons. According to legend, the third generation surnamed Lu had ten sons, nicknamed "Zhang's Ten Dragons".
The most important role of dragons in Taoism is to help Taoists bury themselves and communicate with ghosts and gods. The dragon is considered as one of the "three sedan chairs". The "three sedan chairs" referred to here are dragon sedan chairs, tiger sedan chairs and deer sedan chairs. The sedan chair of Taoism is mainly used as a riding tool for burial. Mr. Zhang Guangzhi thinks: "The owner of No.45 tomb in Puyang is the primitive Taoist or wizard in Yangshao cultural society, and the dragon, tiger and deer made of clam shells are the artistic images of the three sedan chairs he can summon." He linked the clam, dragon, tiger and deer with the three sedan chairs in ancient primitive Taoism, and thought they were related.
Legend has it that Shi Tian and Zhenjun, who have magical powers, can also summon and drive away dragons. "Youyang Miscellaneous Skills" said: In a landlord named Yun 'an, there are fifteen dangerous beaches along the river, and no one pulls the fiber, so the boat can't cross.
Buddhism and dragons
In Buddhist scriptures, the Dragon King (Nāgarāja) has many names. For example, the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Method says that there are eight dragon kings, one is the dragon king who is difficult to reach, the other is the dragon king who is difficult to reach, the third is the dragon king who is in Gagaluo, the fourth is the dragon king who is with Xiuji, the fifth is the dragon king who is in the German family, the sixth is the dragon king in Anaboda, the seventh is the dragon king in Monas and the eighth is the dragon king in Fu Bo.
The relationship between dragon and Buddhism is still controversial in academic circles. It is said that China's worship of the "Dragon King" was introduced from India with Buddhism. The reason is that there is no "Dragon King" worship in China. Before the Han Dynasty, there were only "dragon gods" but no "dragon kings". After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddhist beliefs were introduced into China, and the belief in the Dragon King spread throughout the Middle-earth. Another way of saying this is that the dragon in Indian Buddhism was handed down from China and recreated by Indians to become the "Dragon King".
Dragon-western dragon
The dragon in the west is a legendary creature with great power and magical ability. There are many kinds, and the family size is not inferior to that of dragons in the East. China's dragon is "the dragon gives birth to nine children, and each child is different", while the western dragon is "the dragon gives birth to a hundred children, and each child is different". There are sea dragons living in the deep sea, and some sleep in the fire.
Xifanglong
On the mountain, there are dragon dragons dormant in the swamp and countless grotesque dragons, as well as nine-headed dragon, dragon beast, Yalong, biped dragon and so on.
Western dragons have strong bodies, long thick necks, angular or wrinkled heads, sharp teeth and long tails. It walks with four powerful feet and flies with a pair of big wings like bat wings. Its body is covered with scales to protect it. Its eyes have four layers of eyelids, of which the inner three layers are transparent, which can protect the eyes from injury and the ears can be opened and closed, but not all dragons have external ears. Teeth are sharp and sharp, usually bending inward to tear prey.
Western dragons live in caves and like treasures. Usually, there are many treasures in caves. It can carry out spewing attacks, depending on the type of dragon. For example, the red dragon can fire and the blue dragon can spray electricity. But also immune to similar energy attacks. The dragon is a terrible creature, which exudes a frightening momentum. It can also use some magical effects, depending on the species.
Western dragons have a strong territorial concept. Generally, there will only be one dragon in an area, and there will be no other creatures. Most dragons in the west act alone and sleep all the year round. Only when their treasure or territory is violated will they wake up from a deep sleep and defend their treasure and territory.
Dragon-related items
Although "dragon" is generally translated as "dragon" in English, the image of "dragon" in western culture is similar to the traditional dragon image in China, but the background and symbolic meaning are quite different. The western "dragon" is generally fierce and fierce, which is completely different from the eastern Swiss beast. The person who translated China's dragon into Jackie Chan seems to have given a saint and a murderer the same name, but in fact they are not related by blood. Let a westerner who doesn't understand China culture see that China people worship dragons, which will give westerners a negative impression that China people like to worship evil things. In order to avoid this confusion, some scholars suggest that the English translation of "dragon" should be changed to "loong" with a pronunciation close to that of Chinese. The combination of the word "dragon" and the word "dragon" instead of the current dragon has not been widely recognized.
I suggest that we actively promote our "dragon" culture instead of passively accepting past mistakes. This should have been led by the state, but now we can only start from ourselves. First, when communicating with people abroad, don't use the word "dragon" to represent "dragon" to reverse this initial misinterpretation. Let's carry forward the real dragon culture, instead of conforming to mistakes all day and saying things like changing totems. This is the responsibility and obligation as the inheritor of 5000 years of culture. )