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Title: The Chinese Dragon
Author: L. Newton Hayes
Contributor: Fong F. Sec
Release Date: January 15, 2022 [eBook #67168]
Language: English
Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHINESE DRAGON ***
THE CHINESE DRAGON
BY
L. NEWTON HAYES
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
FONG F. SEC, LL.D.
龍
THIRD EDITION
COMMERCIAL PRESS, LIMITED
SHANGHAI, CHINA
1923
INTRODUCTION
The subject of this little book is of general interest to people who
are acquainted with things Chinese. The dragon has played a large part
in Chinese thought through four thousand and more years. Even in these
days of the Republic it still fills an important place in Chinese life.
The dragon is one of the most common ornamental designs in China and
one meets it wherever one goes in this country. However, in spite of
the significance attached to the dragon, very little has ever been
written concerning it in either Chinese or English. Only a few general
articles on this subject have been published in magazines, and the
references to it in books are very brief. No independent study of the
dragon in book form has been made in either of these two languages
until now.
The author is peculiarly fitted to undertake this piece of work. He was
born in China and speaks the Chinese language as a native. Thus he has
had the first-hand knowledge and the language to help him in his study.
He has been studying on the subject of the dragon for fourteen years.
In this time he has traveled over more than one half the number of
provinces of China. The study is therefore not the result of a few
month’s investigation, nor is it the product of research in only one
city or province. The author’s acquaintance with the people and the
language of China have made it possible for him to go to original
sources and to study the subject from every angle.
Perhaps the last word on the Chinese dragon is not yet said,
nevertheless it is safe to say that this treatise is as complete as our
present knowledge will permit. This little volume should be of value to
all who are interested in China.
This account of the dragon will not only be of value to foreigners, but
it will also be such to Chinese. The author has made this study a hobby
for many years and the result of his research is a splendid
contribution to the literature on China. It would be a good idea for
more people to take up the study of other phases of Chinese life in the
same way and thus help to interpret China to the West.
Fong F. Sec. May 9, 1922.
PREFACE
In the spring of 1909 the writer had the honor of being a guest for a
week in the summer home of Dr. W. A. P. Martin, near Peking. Many
residents of the Capital during the decade preceding the Revolution,
and for a number of years before that, knew “Pearl Grotto” and visited
the venerable senior missionary of China, then lately retired from the
Presidency of the Imperial Tung Wen College.
Dr. Martin was a scholar of the old school and enjoyed few pursuits
better than that of reviewing his remarkable memory of the classical
writers. During the meals the old gentleman, then nearly eighty, would
quote readily from Homer, Horace, and Virgil, and would ask his guest
to translate the passages freely into English and to cite the books and
chapters quoted.
After a few days in this uncomfortable situation the guest began to
cast about for some means of relief. At that time he had been in the
country but a few months, and was just beginning a general study of
Chinese art. The dragon, among other objects of interest, particularly
attracted his attention. It occurred to him to ask Dr. Martin some
questions about this creature whose form was so popular with the
Chinese. Accordingly a carefully prepared list of six or seven
questions about the dragon was launched one morning across the
breakfast table before the attack of Greek and Latin began. The first
question met with a noncommittal reply, the second fared little better,
and so on to the end. Then Dr. Martin admitted that this was one of the
subjects about which he knew very little. He was, however, very warm in
his desire to help find answers to these questions, and he referred his
guest to his personal friend, Sir Robert Hart, the Inspector General of
the Imperial Customs, who had also lived fifty years in China.
Unfortunately Sir Robert’s replies were as vague as those of the
retired Professor. The questions which were asked of these two eminent
Sinologues were also submitted to several other British and Americans
in Peking, and later to many Chinese, but with similar results.
It soon became evident that if the searcher for light on “Things
Chinese” were to learn much about this creature which had challenged
his attention, he must look it up from original sources. He was later
convinced of this fact when he found it impossible to secure any
satisfactory information from books published in English. He then
resolved that before he himself was fifteen years in the country he
would have answers to the seven questions which he had asked of his
friends in Peking. The contents of this brochure are the results of a
study made in ten provinces of China over a period of fourteen years.
While this volume is not offered as the final word upon this subject,
it probably represents the most exhaustive study thus far given to the
Chinese dragon.
This book is not intended primarily for Sinologues and it contains no
Chinese characters. The volume is written for the average reader, who
in his study of things Chinese, has little time to go to original
sources. Most people do not wish to be burdened with long quotations to
prove abstract hypotheses or to have Chinese characters inserted in the
text repeatedly to break the sequence.
If later interest in this subject justifies it, a larger work will be
attempted and a more detailed presentation of the material thus far
collected will be made. The writer’s purpose in this book has been to
make as clear a statement of the subject as could be done within the
compass of a small book, without introducing unnecessary material. If
he has succeeded in this endeavor, he will be more than gratified.
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction vii
Preface ix
Illustrations xv
CHAPTER ONE
The Place of the Dragon in Chinese Life 3
CHAPTER TWO
How the Dragon Idea Originated 10
CHAPTER THREE
The Varieties of Dragons 15
CHAPTER FOUR
What Dragons Really Look Like 23
CHAPTER FIVE
People Who Have Seen Dragons 31
CHAPTER SIX
The Dragon in Western Mythology 38
CHAPTER SEVEN
Quaint Beliefs About the Dragon 45
CHAPTER EIGHT
How Dragons Control the Fortunes of Men 51
CHAPTER NINE
The Hold of the Dragon on China 57
ILLUSTRATIONS
Bronze Dragon, Kang Hsi Period
Dragon Colonnade at Chufu Frontispieces
Page
Emperor Kang Hsi in Dragon Robes 1
The Dragon Throne of the Recent Emperors 2
The Han Dynasty Dragons 7
The Porcelain Dragon Screen 8
The Dragon Staircase 13
An Imperial Dragon 14
Tablet to Confucius 17
Dragon Gateway 18
The Dragon Stone 21
Dragon Eaves-Tile 22
Dragon-Guarded Astrolabe 25
Surrounded by Dragons 26
A Dragon-Mounted Bell 29
A Cloud Dragon 30
Circular Dragon Eaves-Tile 35
Chien Lung Vases 36
A Living Dragon 43
Two Porcelain Dragons 44
The “Dragon Square” 49
The “Dragon Disk” 50
Emperor Kang Hsi on the Dragon Throne 55
A Dragon Lantern 56
A Dragon Column 59
The Gateway to the Dragon Well 60
The Dragon Tablet 63
A Dragon Boat Race in Foochow 64
CHAPTER ONE
THE PLACE OF THE DRAGON IN CHINESE LIFE
There are real dragons living in China to-day. These are not the
horrible monsters that some have imagined them to be. They are friendly
creatures highly revered by all the people. They possess marvelous
powers and they occasionally permit themselves to be seen by mortal
eyes. Such is the belief of at least seven out of every ten Chinese.
The popular belief in the dragon is so deeply rooted and so widespread
that it is advisable for one to secure an accurate knowledge of the
Chinese idea of the venerated saurian if he desires to gain a truly
sympathetic understanding of this remarkable people. Nearly every phase
of Chinese life bears evidence of the influence of this unique member
of the animal kingdom. Particularly is this true in the realms of their
art, literature, folklore, zoölogy, history, and religion.
Chinese art employs dragon designs in endless variety. The graceful
lines of its symmetrically proportioned body are found in every part of
the country painted upon silks and porcelain, woven into brocades,
carved on wood, embroidered upon satin, cast in bronze, and chiseled
upon marble. It is the most characteristically Chinese of the many
Oriental designs which are so attractive to Western students of art.
The literature of the country abounds in references to this marvelous
creature as one may readily discover by even a cursory study of its
books of history, poetry, letters, medicine, and fiction.
Chinese folklore is replete with countless entertaining stories of the
wonderful feats of this great animal, while an infinite number of
proverbs and old folks’ sayings bear their testimony to the almost
universal belief in its existence.
Popular zoölogy places the dragon next to man, at the head of the list
of all living creatures, thus occupying the position of the lion or
tiger in our Western classification. Strictly speaking, Chinese natural
history gives the dragon the rank of king only of scale-covered animals
or creatures which live in the sea; the two fabulous creatures, the Chi
Ling and the Phœnix respectively, have first place above all beasts and
other animals which live upon the earth, and all birds and other
creatures which fly in the air. But because the dragon is equally at
home in the air and on the earth, as well as in the sea, it has been
ranked as the ruler of all created life below man.
Chinese geomancy for ages has looked to the dragon as a means of
determining the fates and fortunes of the “Sons of Han.” Until very
recently comparatively few Chinese would build a house or bury a corpse
without first consulting a geomancer, who would, in one way or another,
refer to its probable influence upon his action. It is, moreover, a
generally accepted belief that every twelfth hour, day, month, and year
of the lunar calendar are under the dragon’s dominating control.
Chinese history records scores of appearances of the king of beasts
through the four thousand or more years since the age of the three
mythical rulers. Appearances of the dragon are connected with the
stories of many prominent characters of China’s past. Perhaps the most
noteworthy reference is one which states that two dragons as guards of
honor visited the home of Confucius on the day that great sage was
born. These frequent references to the dragon are considered, for the
most part, by the majority of Chinese scholars quite as authentic as
the statements about the famous worthies themselves.
Chinese religion places the dragon in the calendar of its deities as
the God of Rain and the Ruler of Rivers, Lakes, and Seas. As such it
has been worshiped for centuries. There are probably very few cities of
any size in the whole country which, at least until the recent
revolution, were without a temple or shrine to the dragon king. This
deity was worshiped on the first and fifteenth of every month.
In the opinion of the writer dwellers in other lands commonly think of
the dragon in much the same light as they think of the centaurs, of
Geryon or the Minotaur of Grecian fables: a strange mythical creature
merely the product of human fancy. It is also probable that most of
them think that the majority of Chinese consider it in the same way,
but this is a mistaken conception. It may be considered a very
conservative estimate to state that at least three hundred and sixty
million Chinese believe in the actual existence of dragons as firmly as
other peoples believe that there are such animals as tigers roaming in
the jungles of Bengal and such monsters as walruses wandering over the
icy stretches which border the arctic circle, though they themselves
may never have set foot upon the shores of India nor have crossed the
Arctic Sea.
Quite recently the writer made a localized study of the universality of
the belief in dragons. One hundred representative Chinese of different
ages and walks in life in an important city were asked the following
questions: Do you believe in the present existence of the dragon? And
what percentage of the people of China do you think hold this belief?
Eighty-two of the one hundred answered the first question in the
affirmative. Regarding the universality of the belief in the dragon
these men estimated that at least eighty-six and six-tenths per cent of
their fellow nationals believe in its existence. The above study bore
out very accurately the writer’s estimate of the extent of the popular
belief in the dragon. His judgment was based upon questions asked many
scores of Chinese in ten different provinces of the country through a
period of fourteen years.
CHAPTER TWO
HOW THE DRAGON IDEA ORIGINATED
The elaborate conception of the dragon which we find to-day in Chinese
art and literature is undoubtedly a very different animal from the one
which was responsible for the origin of the dragon idea. The fabled sea
serpent, the alligator, the salamander, and the boa constrictor have
each been regarded as the prototype of this unique creature. It is far
more likely, however, that some antediluvian saurian was the true
source from which the dragon idea has sprung. Back in the dawn of
history some early member of the human race may have met with one of
these monstrous creatures which paleontologists tell us were, in some
period of their development, equally at home on land and in the sea,
and because of its gigantic size and marvelous powers attributed to it
a supernatural origin. In later ages, even the unearthed skeleton of
one of these monsters might have been sufficient to have led to the
inception of the story. If this theory is correct it is easy to
understand how through succeeding ages the belief could have grown and
how superstition and coincidence would have done their share to
elaborate from the early monster the marvelous creature of the present
day.
According to the theory advanced above, the writer believes that the
most probable prototype of the dragon is the Brontosaurus of the
Mesozoic age, although the present conception of the dragon may easily
have sprung from such other prehistoric animals, as the plesiosaurus of
the same period or the Iguanodon of the Cenozoic age. Skeletons of
these giants of the saurian family and pictures of the reconstructed
animals indicate a striking resemblance to the graceful creatures that
dominate the art of China.
The first appearance of the true dragon, according to the records of
what is considered to be authentic Chinese history, occurred some
forty-six centuries ago during the reign of Huang Ti, or Hsuan Yuan,
the third of the five great rulers. We are told that after this
personage had reigned one hundred and eleven years a large dragon
appeared and took him to heaven upon his back. Since that day dragons
have been seen in every dynasty and by hundreds of witnesses, as
Chinese history abundantly attests. Dragon appearances were considered
auspicious, and augured well for the affairs of state. In support of
this belief, it is interesting to note that when the late President
Yuan Shih-kai was trying to make himself emperor his friends made at
least one attempt to unearth what were supposed to be the bones of a
dragon. This was done in order that the superstitious among his
countrymen might be led to feel that his desire to reëstablish the
empire was according to the law of heaven.
For centuries it was the custom for anyone who saw a dragon, either
himself or through the magistrate of the district in which he lived,
immediately to announce the fact to the emperor. In early days history
was often counted from the appearance of a particular dragon.
A popular fable relates that Yü Wang was able to end the great flood
2297 B.C. only after he had succeeded in capturing the dragon, who was
said to be responsible for the deluge. The animal was chained in heavy
irons and imprisoned, after which the flood subsided. Ever since that
time all dragons, we are told, have trembled at the memory of the only
man who ever conquered their kind.
CHAPTER THREE
THE VARIETIES OF DRAGONS
To the majority of people the word “dragon” denotes one animal only.
There are, however, at least eight species of animals which bear this
name. These are the Lung Wang, the Shen Lung, the Li Lung, the Chiao
Lung, the Ying Lung, the Chiu Lung, the Tsao Lung, and the Tu Lung.
They all belong to the genus dragon (Lung), but each has one or more
characteristics which differentiates it from the others. For example,
the Li Lung, or Chih Lung, as it is also named, has and is the only
species which possesses wings. It is, however, but one of these
species, the Shen Lung, which will be considered at this time. Of the
eight varieties this is the one best known. The others may be dismissed
with a word. Dr. Williams, in his “Middle Kingdom,” mentions only three
varieties and says that these are respectively dragons of the sky, of
the sea, and of marshes. However, it seems that the Chinese are not
generally accustomed to make such a classification. They rather
consider that the one species, Shen Lung, controls and operates in all
of these three spheres. Most of the other varieties are minor creatures
which are practically unknown and have slight bearing upon this study.
The one exception to this rule is the Lung Wang, or dragon king. This
species differs from the others in that its members possess a dragon’s
head upon a human body. By some this dragon is said to answer to
Neptune in Western mythology. Each ocean has a dragon king. The members
of this species differ from those of the one in which we are the most
interested in that dragon kings rarely grow old and never die. The
remaining varieties are all quite secondary and practically never
appear in any form of art. These are mentioned only occasionally in
Chinese literature. This article will therefore be confined to an
account of the Shen Lung, or spirit dragon, the real dragon, the dragon
which has held China in its spell since the days of Yao and Shun.
All true dragons are of two kinds: those which are such by birth and
those which become dragons by transformation from fish of the carp
species. The transformed variety become dragons by leaping up the
waters of a certain cataract upon a western mountain stream. Large
numbers of carp swim once each year, we learn, to this waterfall known
as the “Dragon’s Gate.” Here under the cataract they flounder about,
jumping and springing up out of the swirling waters; a few of them
succeed in getting over the falls to the higher waters above. Those
which are successful in this effort become dragons. After the story of
this strange occurrence became known to the public, it was incorporated
into the life of the people in a popular saying, and scholars who
succeeded in passing the great triennial literary examinations were
said to have “passed the Dragon Gate.” The use of this figure was
doubtless to illustrate the difficulty of passing the examinations, for
it implied that it was as difficult a task for a man to succeed at
these examinations as it was for the carp to leap up over the falls.
This figure has, in addition, the happy inference that even as the
carp, an ordinary fish, might become a mighty dragon, just so by this
supreme effort a scholar might become a master of arts, thus placing
the value of the transformation on a very high scale.
One ancient authority tells us that there is a class of these great
saurians which are known as “lazy dragons.” These do not like to exert
themselves in the task of directing clouds which carry rain over the
surface of the earth. They sometimes make themselves small in size,
drop to the surface of the earth and hide in trees, under roofs of
houses, and even in the clothing of unsuspecting countrymen. The
Thunder God, learning of their desertion from their posts of duty,
sends his messengers to search for them and when he discovers their
location, kills them with thunderbolts during an electric storm, after
the manner of Zeus. This explains to many an unsophisticated man the
frequent destruction of life and property during thunderstorms. An
epithet that in some parts of the country is often hurled at lazy
people is “Lan Lung,” or “lazy dragon.”
CHAPTER FOUR
WHAT DRAGONS REALLY LOOK LIKE
Comparatively few Chinese of the older generation seem to question the
existence of dragons or to doubt the marvelous powers usually
attributed to them. In view of this fact it is surprising to find how
ignorant is the average person who holds this belief when asked to give
an accurate description of the great creature. Perhaps this is not
strange, however, when we remember that there are apparently no books
which purport to give any complete account of the dragon. The
innumerable references to it in Chinese literature largely deal with
the dragon’s performances and say little about his appearance. In order
to make a satisfactory study of the dragon one must, therefore, follow
a tedious process of collecting, eliminating, and coördinating a
multitude of stories, proverbs, and incidents from history, and make a
careful study of selected pictures and carvings, and if possible secure
interviews with those who profess to have seen the great king of the
animal creation.
One writer, who is anxious to make intelligible to the average person
the accepted representation of the king of all created life below man,
describes the dragon in terms of animals with many of which we are
quite familiar. He says that it has the head of a camel, the horns of a
deer, the ears of a cow, the neck of a snake, the body of a fish, the
scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, the eyes of a devil, and the
paws of a tiger.
The bodies of all dragons, we are informed, are symmetrically divided
into three sections of equal length, these divisions being from the
point of the nose to the shoulders, from the shoulders to the thighs,
and from the thighs to the tip of the tail.
The “Shoh Wen,” a book written during the Tang dynasty, says that the
dragon has the following marvelous powers: “It may cause itself to
become visible or invisible at will, and it can become long or short,
and coarse or fine, at its own good pleasure.” This wonderful
versatility, of course, makes it difficult for us to find any recorded
statement of the maximum length of this creature, since there is no
limit set for its expansion. Another book of the Tang dynasty helps out
a little, however, when it describes a certain dragon, which was found
dead, as having been over one hundred feet long, while other accounts
lead us to believe that the dragon at times assumes a size several
miles in length. The smallest size of which any statement has been
found was the length of a silkworm.
In color, dragons are differentiated as being red, yellow, blue, white,
or black. During the Manchu dynasty, yellow was the imperial color, and
the yellow or golden dragon was designated the imperial dragon. In the
preceding dynasty, the Ming dynasty, when red was the national color,
it is believed that the red dragon was proclaimed, by decree of the
emperor, the official dragon of the empire.
Every careful observer in the Far East has noticed a difference in the
number of claws in the pictures of dragons—some possessing three,
others four, and still others five claws. The smallest number is found
on the dragons of Japanese art. Ordinarily Chinese dragons have four
claws, while those of five were recognized as imperial dragons. The two
types of Chinese dragons, with these slight variations, are, however,
one and the same species, and are identical in every other respect. An
attempt has been made to prove that the variation of claws from three
through four to five is a historic development, but we can find no
conclusive proof to substantiate this theory. It is possible that the
ancient dragon designs of China have only three claws on each foot.
Japan borrowed her art from China, and it is not unlikely that at the
period when she borrowed this design the Chinese dragon was represented
with only three claws.
It is said of the carp that it always has exactly thirty-six scales in
each row, leading from its head to its tail. After the same manner,
dragons are described as possessing eighty-one scales in each series.
The true dragon has nine sons. Each is different in appearance from the
other and each possesses his own peculiar characteristics. These
children of the dragon are the variants in appearance from the general
line which we are accustomed to look for in the dragon, and which we
often see in carvings and architecture. The dragon heads on bells, on
the peak tiles of temples and palaces, on sword hilts, on monuments,
and in similar places are representations of the progeny of the God of
Rain and do not portray that god himself.
CHAPTER FIVE
PEOPLE WHO HAVE SEEN DRAGONS
In spite of the fact that modern zoölogy has never included in the
pages of its textbooks descriptions and pictures of the dragon as a
creature of reality, yet there are men in China to-day who claim to
have seen these animals, some of which have been described very
accurately. The writer has had the pleasure of conversing with several
Chinese who assert that they have seen the dragon at close range. He
has also secured, at secondhand, information from others who are said
to have looked upon this most marvelous of creatures. All of the men
whom the writer interviewed were of sound mind and were accredited by
their acquaintances with being men of reliable character. There is no
reason to believe that any one of them were inebriate or under the
power of hallucination at the time they witnessed the creatures of
their description.
A teacher in a Tientsin school related that he once saw a dragon in his
native province, Shantung. The animal had been killed, so it was
believed, by the order of heaven, as a punishment for some misdeed, and
had fallen to the earth, where it lay as the center of attraction for
hundreds of people who came in crowds from that whole countryside. Its
appearance was identical with that of the popular pictures with which
we are familiar. A school servant, who was also a native of Shantung,
and whose home was near the sea, declared that he once saw a dragon. He
told the writer that it was about fifteen feet long and that it fell to
the earth during a severe rainstorm. It, too, attracted a large crowd
of spectators. Although this man was unable to give very satisfactory
details, yet his unusual earnestness and apparent sincerity were
convincing evidence that he had really seen a monster of a remarkable
type.
A third person, an elderly gentleman, who is a teacher of classics in
one of the schools of Nanking, informed the writer that when he was a
young man a dragon fell one night from the sky and lay for twenty-four
hours near his home. The country folk respectfully covered it with
matting, but he managed to raise the covering and saw its great cowlike
head, its four legs, and its scale-covered body. It was about fifty
feet long and blue in color. As in the other two cases, this dragon
disappeared from the earth during a heavy storm. It was generally
believed that it came to life again and was taken up into the heavens
upon a cloud, which formed beneath its body.
The artist who drew the picture of the cloud dragon recounted that,
during the thirty-fourth year of the Emperor Kuang Hsu, while he
himself was on his way to Peking to receive the seals of a district
magistrate, he came across a dragon lying upon the banks of the Yellow
River in Shantung province. It was blue in color and was several tens
of feet in length. The whole air was filled with a very offensive salt
sea odor, and out of respect for the creature, which was supposed to
have fallen from heaven, the crowd of people that stood around was
busily engaged in sprinkling water upon its body. The head resembled
that of a cow and the artist said that except for the long eyebrows the
picture of the cloud dragon represented very faithfully what he
actually saw.
Another Chinese has related that a business partner of his, while on a
journey up the Yangtze River, saw three dragons crossing a mountain
range near the shore. Every person on board was spellbound as they
watched the three monsters—one yellow, another white, and the third
blue—as they majestically made their way with great undulating strides
up the mountain side. The dragons passed by so near the boat that the
observers saw every detail of their heads and the lacelike scales of
their bodies. The boat was respectfully stopped in mid-river, and only
when the dragons had disappeared over the ridge did the boatmen resume
their task at the oars.
Various stories have come to the writer, of dragons which have been
seen either riding upon banks of fog or dangling from passing clouds
during great windstorms or rainstorms. Invariably these have been
described as having scale-covered bodies. One reasonable explanation
for the suspended dragons may be found in insipient tornadoes and water
spouts which never reach the ground. There seems, however, to be no
explanation for the dragon visits described by the five observers,
unless it be that strange monsters of the deep either crawled up out of
the river and lay on the bank, in a dormant state, or were sucked up by
ocean- or river-water spouts, and when the columns of water broke over
the land the creatures were dropped far from their natural habitat. Two
difficulties at once present themselves to combat this hypothesis. The
first of these is the improbability that there are such creatures in
existence, and the second difficulty lies in the strangeness of their
disappearance after coming to the earth. As a possible explanation of
the first difficulty, we wish to ask whether it is not possible that
there are still existing in the depths of the sea and in great rivers
curious reptiles and strange monsters such as no human beings now
living have ever seen, the descendants of the mighty saurians which
lived upon the earth long ages ago, and which geologists tell us later
entered the sea, making that their more secretive habitat?
As an explanation for the disappearance of the dragon in these three
instances the writer notes two facts. The dragons in each case were
seen on the banks of great rivers and in each case disappeared after a
heavy rain. Might it not have been that the monsters were in reality
not dead but only unconscious, and that the heavy flood washed the
creatures back into the river whence they were carried out to sea?
CHAPTER SIX
THE DRAGON IN WESTERN MYTHOLOGY
The dragon is not a conception of the Chinese mind alone. It also
occupies a prominent place in the legends and literature of most of the
countries of Europe. Cicero in his “de Divinatione” (Book II, line 30),
Euripides in his “Philostratus” (Book I, line 2), and Homer in the
“Iliad” (Book II, line 309) all mention a dragon.
The Bible, in twenty-two references in the Old Testament and thirteen
instances in the New, refers to the dragon either allegorically or as a
real animal; however, in many of these passages, especially in the Old
Testament, the word “dragon” is an unfortunate rendition, for in
several places the writers of the Scriptures very evidently had the
conception of an animal that was in all probability the modern jackal.
The myths and legends of Europe have preserved for us numerous dragon
stories with which we are more or less familiar. Among others are the
tale of Perseus, who rescued Andromeda from a dragon; the story of St.
George and the Dragon; the account of Sigfried, who killed a dragon at
Worms; and the story of Beowulf, who in the early days of history’s
dawn dispatched a dragon after slaying Grendel.
King Arthur, who was spoken of as the “dread Pendragon,” is described
by Tennyson, in his “Idylls of the King,” as sitting upon a veritable
dragon throne which would vie in splendor with that of China’s Manchu
emperors. The vivid imagination of the poet laureate gives us this
picture:
“To his crown the golden dragon clung
And down his robe the dragon writhed in gold
And from the carven work behind him crept
Two dragons gilded, sloping down to make
Arms to his chair, while all the rest of them
Through knots and loops and folds innumerable,
Fled ever through the woodwork till they found
The new design wherein they lost themselves.”
Many coast and river cities of England, France, Italy, and Egypt still
proudly recount their local legends of cruel dragons which were slain,
after battles royal, upon near-by rivers or in adjacent seas. We may
read of the Green Dragon of Mordiford, the Dragon of Norwich, the Great
Dragon of Pittempton, the Dragon of Naples, the Dragon of Arles, the
Dragon of Lyons, the Dragon of Marseilles, Sebec, the Dragon of the
Nile, and many more. These stories are proudly treasured as the sacred
traditions of their respective cities and countries.
The Chinese conception of the dragon presents a very different creature
from that of the nations bordering on the Mediterranean and the
Atlantic. It is true that there are a few points of similarity, but
there is only one to which we shall call attention at this time. That
is regarding its keenness of eyesight. Both types are endowed with
marvelous vision. The Chinese dragon is deaf and it is explained that
its eyes, through natural compensation, have attained an extraordinary
power. His vision is so keen that he can easily distinguish a blade of
grass one hundred li away. In this connection it is interesting to
recall that the English word “dragon” is derived from the Greek
“drakon” (δράκων), which means “to gaze” or “to see,” and the classics
more than once refer to the animal as “sharpsighted.”
We do not know who first attached the English name “dragon” to the
Chinese conception “lung,” but it is hardly fair to the Oriental ruler
of the sea to be branded with the stigma which accompanies the English
designation. Since the recent revolution, several devout Westerners
have been heard to express their great satisfaction that the dragon
flag has now forever disappeared. A misconception of the use of the
word “dragon” had caused the speakers to confuse the evil monster
mentioned in the book of Revelation with the animal so highly revered
by the Chinese. The dragon of the Chinese differs from the generally
accepted Western idea in three striking particulars: in appearance, in
disposition, and in the regard in which it is held.
In appearance, the European conception varies but slightly from the
creature which was its probable prototype, save for the addition of a
pair of wings. The Chinese species is developed to a higher degree. The
latter has a more massive head from which protrude two branching horns.
This species, with the single exception of the Chih Lung, or Li Lung,
has no wings but travels from place to place upon the clouds.
A still greater difference between the two varieties exists in the
matter of disposition. The European dragon is usually portrayed as a
cruel monster, the personification of all that is evil, and the enemy
of man. Christian art represents it as opposed to law, harmony, and
progress and symbolic of sin and paganism. In this allegorical sense it
is painted in struggles with St. George, St. Michael, and St.
Sylvester, who personified Christianity and enlightenment. Saints and
martyrs are pictured in the process of crushing the dragon beneath
their feet. The Chinese dragon, on the other hand, is in this respect
very nearly its antithesis. It is a beneficent creature, a friend to
man. It brings the rain which produces the crops that in turn supply
his food.
The third point of distinction between the two dragons lies in the
esteem in which it is held. The Western species was a horrible,
loathesome creature, shunned and dreaded by all mortals, while the
Asiatic dragon is held in reverence and even worshiped by the Chinese.
This creature is in fact so highly revered that one of the most sacred
titles which was bestowed upon the emperors was “The True Dragon.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
QUAINT BELIEFS ABOUT THE DRAGON
“The whiskers of the dragon,” according to a book of the Yuan dynasty,
“are three feet long and purple in color. If dragon whiskers are
mounted upon a crystal handle like a horsehair whip and are placed in a
room at night, flies and mosquitoes will not enter.” We are further
informed that “if this instrument is swished through the air it will
make such a noise that chickens, dogs, cows, and horses on hearing it
will try to hide. If dragon whiskers are placed in deep water all
scale-covered animals will swim immediately to the spot, thinking that
their master, the dragon, is there.”
A strange fire plays about the body of the dragon. This differs from
the fire with which we are familiar in that it blazes brightly when
brought into contact with water. If, however, terrestrial fire touches
the dragon flames, the latter will immediately be extinguished.
As long as the dragon has moisture in the form of water or clouds
surrounding its body, it retains its marvelous powers of motion and of
mutability, but when this moisture dries up, the dragon becomes
powerless and dies.
It is said that the blood of some dragons is red; of others, black.
Rubies are often supposed to be petrified drops of the red variety.
We are informed of the remarkable fact that dragons change their bones
periodically and as regularly as snakes shed their skins and deer their
horns. Dragon bones are supposed to be buried in many high mountains,
and their presence has much to do with the determination of fêng-shui.
Lofty peaks that are frequently tipped with clouds or enveloped in mist
are believed to contain the bones of some great dragon which attract to
themselves the moisture of the passing clouds.
The saliva of the dragon, we are told, is purple in color, and is
considered the most fragrant of all perfumes. It is said to be employed
in the manufacture of a very valuable incense. “Dragon’s saliva
incense” was formerly sent as a tribute to the emperor by one of the
western provinces.
One writer expresses a remarkable theory of the dragon’s posthumous
state. He says that when they die dragons turn into crabs. Dragons are
punished for minor offenses, according to the will of heaven, by having
their ears cut off; for greater offenses, by being sent to the earth,
where they are exposed to the view of men in a state as if dead.
Three things of which dragons are exceedingly fond are bamboo trees,
arsenic, and the flesh of swallows. The graceful branches of the bamboo
are very pleasing to the eye of the dragon who, when there is no human
being in sight, delights to lie under their shade and hear the wind
rustling the leaves above. Arsenic, which is to mortal man a deadly
poison, is food to the dragon. In fact, it is a favorite article of
diet, and dragons grow fat upon it. The delicacy, however, for which
the dragon has the greatest fondness, is swallows’ flesh. Woe to the
man who ever tries to cross a body of water in a boat after having
eaten a dish of roasted swallows, for a peculiar fragrance, which
dragons are always able to detect, will cling to his person. The man in
the boat will be pursued by one of these animals, who will cause a
storm to rise, the boat will be upset, and the unfortunate person
precipitated into the water, where he will fall easy prey to the ruler
of the sea. Under ordinary conditions the dragon shows no fondness for
human flesh, but with such provocation we are told that he should be
considered entirely excusable.
At the autumnal equinox, according to one source, the majority of
dragons descend into the sea where they hibernate for six months. In
fact, the home of dragons is on the floor of the ocean where they dwell
in beautiful palaces. At the vernal equinox dragons leave the sea and
ascend again into the clouds. Destructive typhoons and equinoctial
hurricanes along the coast, in the spring and autumn, are caused by the
disturbance of the waters when the great animals thus enter or leave
their maritime home.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HOW DRAGONS CONTROL THE FORTUNES OF MEN
The surface of the earth is believed to be covered with a network of
invisible paths of the dragon known as Lung Mei. People who build their
houses or find graves for their dead upon one of these courses are
extremely fortunate. The ruling emperors, however, made efforts to
prevent their subjects from occupying the positions upon such
auspicious sites. When Chao Ming, the founder of the Sung dynasty,
while still an unknown young man in reduced financial straits, was
forced to move his father’s bones, he carried them in a reed bag and
buried them by accident upon one of these dragon paths. As a result of
this fact, we are told, heaven smiled upon him and he himself not long
afterward became an emperor.
Within the past few years, a young Chinese, who had been studying in
Japan, committed suicide for political reasons while on his way across
the ocean. Because he was so well beloved he was buried by his friends
in a beautiful mountain valley on a dragon path. The Board of Rites in
Peking, on hearing of this, ordered the grave removed, sending telegram
after telegram to the local magistrates to have the coffin disinterred
at once and taken to another spot. Since the Revolution, it is said
that the student’s body has been taken back to its first resting place.
When Chinese observe the natural phenomenon which in the West is
commonly described as “the sun drawing up water,” they say that what is
seen is the dragon sucking up water to form the clouds.
When rain falls upon one man’s field and not upon his neighbor’s, or
upon one half of a man’s farm and not upon the other, one explanation
which is advanced for this fact is that the line which marks the
division of dry and wet land is directly beneath the boundary line of
the territory governed by two different dragons. One sees fit to order
rain when the other does not. The territories controlled by the
different dragons are redistributed once each year, on the seventeenth
of the third month, which is known as “Li Hsia,” “The Festival of the
Beginning of Summer.”
A few amusing illustrations of the way in which dragon superstitions
have been allowed to play a leading part in Chinese life have come to
the writer’s attention. A Tientsin district magistrate, about forty
years ago, tried to make an outlet from the Pei River in order to turn
off the water at the time of a flood. After spending too much money in
what proved to be an unsuccessful effort, he jumped into the river and
was drowned. The story goes that the flood immediately subsided and the
official turned into a dragon. Shortly afterwards he was changed into a
snake and was captured. This creature was carried in state into
Tientsin City where it was placed in the dragon temple and was
worshiped by the viceroy of Chihli province, who was none other than Li
Hung Chang. This official later became prime minister and held that
position for twenty years.
In the heart of Wuchang there is a steep hill which cuts the business
part of the city into two sections. This hill is so steep that it is
practically impossible to carry the traffic over it. Some Chinese claim
the hill to be the dwelling place of a tortoise, others of a serpent,
and still others of a dragon. Some years ago, when Chang Chih Tung was
living in that city as viceroy of Hunan and Hupeh, he caused a tunnel
to be cut through the hill so that communication from one business
center to the other would be facilitated. Not long after this was
completed, the viceroy began to suffer from a carbuncle on his neck.
Chinese and foreign physicians alike failed in their attempts to cure
him. At last a geomancer was consulted. “I know the reason for your
Excellency’s illness,” he said without hesitation. “You have caused the
dragon’s haunt to be penetrated. Block up the tunnel in the hill and
you will get well.” The thing was done, the viceroy soon recovered, and
faith in the dragon on the part of the people of Wuchang was more
firmly established than ever. It might be added that since the
Revolution the tunnel through the hill has again been opened.
Many years ago large numbers of the students of Hangchow City failed to
pass the Chu Jen, or Master of Arts, Examination. The fact sorely
puzzled the city magistrates, who lost much “face.” No explanation
could be found for this fact until a geomancer explained that a dragon
living in the mountain range northwest of the city had no room to wag
his head, and that a large section of one end of the range must be dug
away before Hangchow students would be able to succeed. The geomancer’s
suggestion was carried out, the dragon was given the chance he desired,
and it is needless to say that since that time all has been well.
CHAPTER NINE
THE HOLD OF THE DRAGON ON CHINA
The word “dragon” occupies a prominent place in the common phraseology
of the country. Some illustrations of this fact are as follows:
Deaf people are called “lung,” a character formed by the combination of
the dragon and ear characters signifying a person with ears like a
dragon (which we are informed is deaf).
The asparagus plant is known as “dragon’s beard grass.”
The gentian flower is called the “dragon’s gall.”
A common variety of pine is known as “dragon’s tail pine,” from the
supposed similarity of its branches to the tail of the dragon.
Amaryllis lilies and also the blossoms of a certain locust tree are
called “dragon’s claw flowers.” This is no doubt on account of the
shape of the flower clusters.
Fire engines are called “water dragons.”
Locomotives and water faucets are commonly designated as “dragon
heads.”
The keel of a ship goes by the name of the “dragon bone.”
Water spouts are known as “dangling dragons.” The name was probably
given them by junkmen and fishermen who considered these to be the
tails of dragons suspended from the clouds.
Spirited horses are said to have “dragon dispositions.”
Betrothal certificates are known as “dragon-phœnix papers.”
Wedding cakes are called “dragon-phœnix cakes.”
The published list of Master of Arts graduates was known as the
“Dragon-Tiger Register.”
A large number of cities, prefectures, rivers, and mountains have the
character “dragon” incorporated into their names. One of the largest
rivers of Manchuria and one of its three provinces are named Hei Lung
Kiang (Black Dragon River), because it is related that a large black
dragon once made its appearance in its waters.
One of the most famous mountains of the province of Kiangsi is known as
the “Dragon-Tiger Mountain.”
Perhaps the most popular kind of tea in China is the “Dragon’s Well
Tea.” This received its designation from the fact that its original
home was in a valley of that name. Among the hills on the farther
shores of Hangchow’s beautiful West Lake is nestled a monastery, on the
estate of which is a pool of crystal-clear water. From the depths of
this “well” a dragon was once seen to rise. The “Dragon’s Well” is now
the name of the monastery and also of the surrounding hills. Tea of
this name, though it may never have grown near Hangchow, is as highly
prized in distant Szechwan and in other distant parts of China as it is
in the capital of Chekiang province.
In the excellent new encyclopedia recently issued by the Commercial
Press, there are no less than 257 references to the dragon. Fifty-one
of these are the names of cities or villages, twenty-four of mountains
and rivers, and fifteen the names of flora of various genera.
The emperor’s most reverential title was “The True Dragon,” and in
harmony with that idea the word “dragon” in the adjectival sense was
used in names of all that had to do with his life and position. As an
example of this his throne was the “dragon’s seat,” his hands the
“dragon’s claws,” the pen he used was the “dragon’s brush,” the
imperial robes were called “dragon’s garments,” and the imperial glance
was known as “dragon’s eyes.”
The “Dragon Tablet” was the name given to the imperial tablet, which
was worshiped during the Ching dynasty in every large temple and
monastery in the land, and even in Mohammedan mosques. The inscription
on the tablet read as follows: “To the reigning Emperor. May he live
ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand
years.” The tablet received its name from the fact that it represented
the Emperor, “The True Dragon,” and because it bore at its top a
dragon’s head.
One insignia of official rank, until the recent Revolution, was the
picture-square embroidered in gold and silver thread and worn on the
front and back of official robes. The squares worn by civil officers
bore the pictures of birds, while those of military officials were
decorated with the pictures of animals; each rank and grade having its
corresponding variety of bird or beast. The emperor, the princes, and
the prime minister were allowed the special privilege of wearing the
dragon on one of these embroidered squares.
The round disk on the Chinese Dragon Flag, which is often pictured
before the mouth of the dragon, is explained by some as a pearl, by
others as a huge spider metamorphosed into a ball. We are repeatedly
told in fables that dragons have a peculiar fondness for teasing
spiders. A more satisfactory theory, however, is that the disk
represents the sun. According to this explanation, the dragon is not
trying to devour that heavenly body, as some would lead us to suppose,
but is gazing with a great longing, for it desires to become like the
sun in brilliance.
In referring to the Dragon Flag, the fact is worthy of notice that
although this design appeared upon Chinese military banners through
many centuries, the selection of the dragon emblem as a national
insignia was of comparatively recent date. It is probable that the
custom of foreign nations of using national emblems had a large part to
play with the adoption of a national flag.
There is a feeling among many friends of China, and even among a few
Chinese as well, that the effect of the Revolution and the passing of
the Dragon Flag will very shortly kill out the dragon idea. This the
writer believes is impossible. A belief that has gripped the nation for
over forty centuries is not to be shaken even by a great revolution,
which, though cataclysmic in itself, yet in relation to the ages which
have passed, is little more than a ripple upon the surface of the sea
of time. The dragon is neither a symbol of the Manchu dynasty nor a
type of absolute monarchy, and has nothing in common with either. The
idea is distinctly a heritage of the Chinese race itself, and as such
it will probably live as long as this people. It will survive at least
until a generation after Western science has permeated and dominated
every seaside village, every mountain hamlet, and every inland city, to
the remotest bounds and limits of this vast Republic.
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