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Chinese
Dragon
Chinese dragon is considered to be a benevolent creature, the custodian of rain, river and lakes, and a harbinger of good fortune.
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Chinese Dragon |
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Chinese dragon, unlike its
western cousin, is considered to be a benevolent creature,
the custodian of rain, river and lakes, and a harbinger
of good fortune. |
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| In Chinese mythology the
dragon is described as having the body of a snake,
the face of a horse, antlers of the deer and claws
of the eagle. The dragon has the beard of a goat and
the scales of a fish. But where did such a creature
come from? Is there any evidence to suggest such a
creature ever existed? |
| Well, sadly not. No such
creature's remains have ever been found, although records
of dragons in Chinese culture go back many thousands
of years. |
| One explanation of how the
dragon came to be is as follows. Early societies had
as their tribal mascot an animal - for example a horse
or a camel or a fish. This is in fact something which
we observe even today with the American eagle, the
British lion or the Russian bear. These symbols were
used both for religious as well as military purposes,
and rather as the Romans would march with the Eagle
as their standard, these emblems were used as military
insignia. |
| The theory goes that as a
tribe went to battle and conquered another, it would
incorporate some form of the conquered tribe's insignia.
In this way it is believed the Xia clan, who had a
snake as its emblem annexed states such as the Shang
- an eagle. Thus, to the snake's body was added the
claws of the eagle. Soon the scales of fish, antlers
of the deer, face of the horse and the beard of the
goat all came to be incorporated, and thereby the Chinese
dragon came into being. |
| So powerful did the emblem
of the dragon become that it was adopted by every Chinese
dynasty as the Imperial emblem, from Huang Di to the
Qing Dynasty without exception. As early as the Tang
and Song dynasties Dragon King Temple's were built
where the people could pray for blessings and a good
harvest - all in the hands of the dragons as they controlled
the rain. |
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