Chinese Dragon Lore
Dragon Rain-god and Tiger-god of Mountains and Woods—Thunder-gods of East and West—Shark-gods as Guardians of Treasure—Dragon and Whale—Fish Vertebræ as Charms—Dragon and Dugong, Crocodile, Eel, &c.—Polynesian Dragon as “Pearl-mother”—Chinese Dragon and “Stag of the Sky”—Babylonian Sea-god and the Antelope, Gazelle, Stag, and Goat—Babylonian Dragon-slayers—Egyptian Gazelle- and Antelope-gods—Osiris as a Sea-god—African Antelope and Asiatic Dragon—The Serpent as “Water Confiner” in Egypt and India—Chinese Dragon has “Nature of Serpent”—Ancient Attributes of Far-Eastern Dragon—Dragon Battles—Dragons in East and West—Stones as “Dragon Eggs”—Dragon Mother and World Dragon—Dragons and Emperors.
The Chinese dragon is a strange mixture of several animals. Ancient native writers like Wang Fu inform us that it has the head of a camel, the horns of a stag, the eyes of a demon, the ears of a cow, the neck of a snake, the belly of a clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, and the soles of a tiger. On its head is the chiʼih muh lump that (like a “gas-bag”) enables it to soar through the air. The body has three jointed parts, the first being “head to shoulders”, the second, “shoulders to breast”, and the third, “breast to tail”. The scales number 117, of which 81 are imbued with good influence (yang) and 36 with bad influence (yin), for the dragon is partly a Preserver and partly a Destroyer. Under the neck the scales are reversed. There are five “fingers” or claws on each foot. The male dragon has whiskers, and under the chin, or in the throat, is a luminous pearl. [[47]]There is no denying the importance and significance of that pearl.
A male dragon can be distinguished from a female one by its undulating horn, which is thickest in the upper part. A female dragon’s nose is straight. A horned dragon is called kʼiu-lung and a hornless one chʼi-lung. Some dragons have wings. In addition there are horse-dragons, snake-dragons, cow-dragons, toad-dragons, dog-dragons, fish-dragons, &c., in China and Japan. Indeed, all hairy, feathered, and scaled animals are more or less associated with what may be called the “Orthodox Dragon”. The tiger is an enemy of the dragon, but there are references to tiger-headed dragons. The dragon is a divinity of water and rain, and the tiger a divinity of mountains and woods.[1] The white tiger is a god of the west.
Like the deities of other countries, the Chinese dragon-god (and the Japanese dragon) may appear in different shapes—as a youth or aged man, as a lovely girl or an old hag, as a rat, a snake, a fish, a tree, a weapon, or an implement. But no matter what its shape may be, the dragon is intimately connected with water. It is a “rain lord” and therefore the thunder-god who causes rain to fall. The Chinese dragon thus links with the Aryo-Indian god Indra and other rain- and thunder-gods connected with agriculture, including Zeus of Greece, Tarku of Asia Minor, Thor of northern Europe, the Babylonian Marduk (Merodach), &c. There are sea-dragons that send storms like the wind-gods, and may be appeased with offerings. These are guardians of treasure and especially of pearling-grounds. Apparently the early pearl-fishers regarded the shark as the guardian of pearls. It seized and carried away the “robbers” who dived for [[48]]oysters. The chief sea-god of China sometimes appeared in shark form—an enormous lion-headed shark.
Procopius, a sixth-century writer, says in this connection: “Sea-dogs are wonderful admirers of the pearl-fish, and follow them out to sea.… A certain fisherman, having watched for the moment when the shell-fish was deprived of the attention of its attendant sea-dog … seized the shell-fish and made for the shore. The sea-dog, however, was soon aware of the theft, and, making straight for the fisherman, seized him. Finding himself thus caught, he made a last effort, and threw the pearl-fish on shore, immediately on which he was torn to pieces by its protector.”[2]
CHINESE DRAGONS AMONG THE CLOUDS
From a Chinese painting in the British Museum
In Polynesia the natives have superstitious ideas about the shark. “Although”, says Ellis, “they would not only kill but eat certain kinds of shark, the large blue sharks, Squalus glaucus, were deified by them, and, rather than attempt to destroy them, they would endeavour to propitiate their favour by prayers and offerings. Temples were erected, in which priests officiated, and offerings were presented to the deified sharks, while fishermen, and others who were much at sea, sought their favour.”[3] Polynesian gods, like Chinese dragons, appeared in various shapes. “One, for instance,” writes Turner, “saw his god in the eel, another in the shark, another in the turtle, another in the dog, another in the owl, another in the lizard; and so on throughout all the fish of the sea, and birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping things. In some of the shell-fish, even, gods were supposed to be present.”[4] Here we meet again [[49]]with the shell beliefs. The avatars of dragons had pearls. In an old Chinese work the story is told of a dragon that appeared in the shape of a little girl sitting at the entrance of a cave and playing with three pearls. When a man appeared, the child fled into the cave, and, reassuming dragon form, put the pearls in its left ear.[5] As the guardian of pearls, the Chinese dragon links with the shark-god of the early pearl-fishers. There were varieties of these sea-gods. In Polynesia “they had”, Ellis has recorded, “gods who were supposed to preside over the fisheries, and to direct to their coasts the various shoals by which they were periodically visited.” The Polynesians invoked their aid “either before launching their canoes, or while engaged at sea”. It is of interest to find in this connection that the dragon had associations with the whale. Ancient mariners reverenced the whale. The Ligurians and Cretans carried home portions of the backbones of whales.[6] The habit of placing spines of fish in graves is of great antiquity in Europe. The early seafarers who reached California during its prehistoric age perpetuated this very ancient custom. Beuchat gives an illustration of a kitchen-midden grave in California in which a whale’s vertebra is shown near the human skeleton.[7] The swashtika appears among the pottery designs of early American pottery.[8] The ancient Peruvians worshipped the whale, and the Maori dragon was compared to one.[9] In Scottish folk-lore witches sometimes assume the forms of whales. [[50]]