APPENDIX VIII.
EXTRACT FROM THE “YUEN KEEN LEI HAN.”
The Dragon.—Chap. I.
The Shwoh Wăn says: “The dragon is the chief of scaly reptiles: in the spring he mounts the heavens, in the autumn he frequents the streams. This is favourable.” Again, “When the dragon walks he is called sah, when he flies he is a yao.”
The Kwang Ya says: “When he has scales he is a Kiao,[320] when he has wings a Ying-Lung,[321] when horns a Kiu-Lung,[322] without horns a Chih-Lung.”
The Ming Wuh Kiai of the Odes says the dragon has horns at five hundred years, at one thousand years he is a Ying-Lung.
The P‘i Ya Kwang Yao says: “The dragon has eighty-one scales. This is nine times nine, nine is the yang (male principle). The dragon is produced from an egg, in which he is enfolded.” Again, it says that the Néi Tien says: “Dragon-fire comes in contact with moisture and there is smoke, with water and it is consumed (i.e. a man may extinguish it with water).”
The Fang Yen says: “Before the dragon has ascended to heaven he is a P‘an[323] Lung.” The Yih King says: “When his clouds move the rain falls, and the various things put forth their forms at the time he rides upon the six dragons and ascends the heavens.” “The first nine: The hidden dragon is inactive. The diagram indicates that the subtile ether is below. The second nine: When the dragon is seen in the fields it is profitable to meet the great man. The diagram indicates that virtue is extended. Fifth nine: The flying dragon appears in the heavens: The diagram indicates the great man creates.” Again, “The dragons contend in the wilds, their blood is azure and yellow.” Again, “Thunder is a dragon.”
The Yuen-Ming-Pao section of the Ch‘un ts‘iu says: “The dragons begin to speak, yin and yang[324] are commingled”; thence, it is said, the dragon ascends and clouds are multiplied. The Yih King, in all the diagrams, clearly says: “The summer winds arise and the dragon mounts the skies.”
In the Yuen-Shăn-K‘i of the Hiao King it is said: “Virtue approaches the fountains and the yellow dragon appears. It is the Prince’s image.”