Earliest legends described it an animal with fish scales and long beard. The "nine dragon wall" in Forbidden City, displaying in brilliant colors, each playing with a pearl, was carved vividly.Ĭhinese dragon was firstly adopted as the imaginary animal in prehistoric tribe, and then discovered as decoration on the bronze vessels of Shang Dynasty (over 3,000 years ago). Lung gradually adopted the meaning of power and boldness, intelligent and ambitious, heroism and nobility, and then referred to the authority and power of imperial house.Ĭhinese dragons are frequently connected with number 9, as it is a number that of emperor, when combined with number 5, signified the supreme statue of the emperor. He is friendly and wise and honored in the temple being built. For ancient Chinese people, Lung is an ideal animal that was worshiped as the ruler of river, lake and sea, bringing rain and water to the earth. Lung or Chinese Dragon is unlike the evil dragon in the west it was a gracious creature that able to do almost everything, flying into the sky and live in the deep ocean or lake. The Connotative Meaning of Dragon in China
Even the bed he sleep on was called "dragon bed", while throne be the "dragon seat", other Chinese vocabularies like "phoenix carriage" and so on were common to show their heaven-sent status. They were used as decorative signs on the buildings, clothing and other daily uses articles of imperial palace to highly show off that the emperor as real dragon and son of heaven.
The Chinese dragon is traditionally the embodiment of the concept of yang (male), while phoenix was paired (yin, female) with dragon. Deeply rooted in Chinese culture, dragon and phoenix were regarded as the most sacred animals and used to be emblems of emperor and empress.
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