Do dragons exist?

1. The miraculous animal in ancient legends of China has a long body, scales, horns and feet, and can walk, fly, swim, cloud and rain. Chinese character "dragon"

2. As a symbol of emperors in feudal times, dragons are also used to refer to emperors and their things: dragon face, dragon body, dragon court and dragon robe.

3. Shaped like a dragon or equipped with a dragon totem: dragon boat, dragon lantern and dragon cart.

4.Lóng Long surname.

5. Dragon ranks fifth among the traditional Chinese zodiac in China. Dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise are also called "four great beasts". (There are also many ancient books and history books that refer to the "four auspicious beasts" as: caring for each other, nurturing, caring for each other and caring for each other. ) Qinglong and Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu are the four astronomical phenomena in China.

6. Winged animals in western mythology. Look at the western dragon

7. Naga, one of the Eight Dragons of Buddhism.

[Edit this paragraph] China Shenlong

Dragon is a miraculous animal in China mythology, fickle, sexually stimulating and beneficial to all things. It is said that it can be hidden and displayed, reaching the sky in the spring breeze and diving in the autumn wind. It can also cause clouds and rain. It was the leader of many scales, the head of the four spirits (dragon, phoenix, unicorn and turtle), and later became a symbol of imperial power. Emperors all claimed to be dragons, and their vessels were decorated with dragons. According to Shan Hai Jing, Xia Houqi, Ru Shou and Ju Mang all "rode the rain dragon". There are other secretaries, "zhuān xū is everywhere in Lapras" and "Di Ku Lapras in spring and summer". The predecessors divided dragons into four types: the scaly ones are called dragons; The winged one is called Ying Long; Those with horns are called thorns, and those without horns are called thorns. For thousands of years, dragons have penetrated into the culture of China society. In addition to spreading the inheritance in China, it has also been brought to all parts of the world by overseas Chinese. In residential areas of China or China, dragons are still the most eye-catching decorations. Therefore, "Descendants of the Dragon" and "Dragon Country" have also been recognized by the world. Dragon is the representative of the Chinese nation! This is the symbol of China!

[Edit this paragraph] A new theory of the origin of dragons.

People in China have a profound understanding of "looking forward to Yun Ni in the face of drought", and "meeting rain after a long drought" is listed as one of the four happy events in China. When the storm comes, you often write an autobiography with weak thunder first. Almost everything in life depends on rain. Chinese ancestors stood in the farmland where hope was sown all the year round, guarding the withered seedlings, and could do nothing. When they suddenly heard the rumbling thunder from the northern sky and saw the golden snakes dancing in the thick clouds, they knew that rain was coming, and they must be unforgettable and have infinite respect for the rumbling sound.

There is no doubt that Chinese ancestors will abstract a concept of tangible (lightning) sound (rumbling) and name it "dragon" with onomatopoeic words, hoping for "dragon" year after year and expecting "rumbling" to bring rain. After the writing appeared, the ancestors created a word "dragon" to express this concept, which was pronounced "dragon".

In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the word "dragon" is in the shape of a snake-headed beast with the symbol "Xin" on its head (see the picture above, quoted from Shuo Wen Jie Zi Jian).

Oracle Bone Inscriptions's word "dragon" is tangible and vivid, both vivid and highly summarized. First, wild animals are famous for their ferocity, especially those with huge fangs; When layers of lightning illuminate the clouds, it looks like an animal's face, and the animal's head in it pays special attention to depicting teeth, giving people a shocking force of widespread indignation and resentment. Second, the snake's body is strip-shaped; Banded lightning is also banded. Third, snakes walk in twists and turns; Banded lightning is also full of twists and turns. Fourth, the snake hides in the dark and suddenly appears; Strip lightning is hidden in dark and dense clouds, and its appearance is more sudden. Fifth, snakes are highly toxic, and one blow is fatal, which is very scary. Many people are even naturally afraid of snakes. Strip lightning is also very deterrent, and the thunder after lightning is even more frightening. When people see wild animals or snakes, they are always afraid. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, animals and snakes are used to describe dragons, indicating that they are a mysterious force that is frightening and awe-inspiring.

In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, "Xin" means "driven". Oracle Bone Inscriptions's word "dragon" shows that it is a driven force, driven by heaven, and the highest god in the eyes of the ancients. Interestingly, in distant myths and legends, dragons are really driven by people, such as Ying Long, who helped Dayu control water. What is the sky driving dragons for? Nature is what the ancients longed for.

Therefore, the word "dragon" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions represents such a concept: First, it is driven by heaven; Second, its sound is rumbling; Third, its image is lightning, with an animal's head and a snake's body hidden in the clouds; Fourth, its tool is the cloud; Fifth, its function is to accept God's will and sow rain. The ancients described the dragon in this way, saying that people were afraid of it, but they could not do without it and were in awe of it.

[Edit this paragraph] Dragon Information-Fantasy Setting-Species Myth

"Although humans are smart enough to destroy many species, so far, there is no way to save any race that has been extinct by them." -Gerald Toure, "Catch me a colobus monkey"

[2] People who call themselves "descendants of the dragon" except China. In the impression of most people, "descendants of the dragon" is almost synonymous with China people, but is it true that only China people in the world are called "descendants of the dragon"? Let's go to Europe to meet other "descendants of the dragon".

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Celtic

The red dragon is a symbol of the Celtic nation. The picture shows the Welsh flag.

The Celts of Red Dragon Banner in Wales are one of the oldest inhabitants in Europe, with a history of nearly 4,000 years, which once spread all over Central and Western Europe. Today, their descendants are mainly distributed in Wales in the southwest of England and parts of Ireland in the north.

We are familiar with many fantasy stories set in the Middle Ages of Europe, such as Long Xiang, mage practice, knight galloping and so on. Most of the typical scenes in D come from Celtic myths and legends. Dragons play an important role in Celtic culture. In fact, the Celts worship the dragon totem as much as China. Their patron saint is called Y Ddraig Goch, pronounced as [Raigox], which means red dragon and has always been a symbol of this nation. The film Long Zhixin is an image of Zhuo Ke based on Celtic mythology. Now, the common image of the European dragon comes from the Celtic red dragon. Although it is quite different from the dragon in China, in the eyes of the Celts and their descendants, its significance is no different from that of the dragon to the people of China.

The red dragon is not only printed on the national flag of Wales today, but also often printed on local handicrafts, costumes, buildings, cars and even cups, toothpaste, lighters and other daily necessities in Wales. Welsh people are proud to be called "descendants of the red dragon", and the red dragon pattern that can be seen everywhere has become a landscape there.

Porto people

Porto, located in the northern Iberian Peninsula, is the second largest city in Portugal. In the depths of modern industrialized civilization, the ancient Douluo River has a long history and splendid culture.

Porto has a famous large stadium called Dragon Stadium. The origin of the name of this stadium is also related to the Duluo River. Because it is surrounded by very rich minerals, the Duluo River is called the "River of Gold". There is an old legend in Portugal that a dragon wants to occupy the mineral deposits on both sides of the Douro River. Because it often emits flames, everyone can't do anything about it. However, the clever and industrious Porto people finally doused the dragon's flame with the Douro River, and the dragon became a servant and protector of the Porto people, and helped the Porto people repel many enemy invasions. Since then, many Porto people have said that they are children of dragons and named their stadiums after them.

Related links

City of dragons and beasts /bbs

Lendiel. Tw/ dragon

[Edit this paragraph] The origin of dragons

The earliest dragon pattern found in China came from the Chahai site in Xinglongwa Culture 8,000 years ago (Xinglongwa Culture was named after the excavation of Xinglongwa site in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, adjacent to Liaoning Province, and the Chahai site was in Fuxin County, Liaoning Province). Found a dragon about 19.7 meters long, piled with reddish-brown stones. The discovery of this dragon in Xinglongwa Culture pushed the history of dragon worship in China to 8,000 years ago.

In the early days, the ancients could not make a reasonable explanation for most natural phenomena, so they hoped that their national totem would have the power of wind, rain and lightning. The mountains are so majestic that they can swim in the water like fish and fly in the air like birds. Therefore, the characteristics of many animals are concentrated on dragons, and dragons have gradually become: camel's head, snake's neck, antlers, turtle's eyes, fish scales, Tiger Claw, eagle's claws and cow's ears. This composite structure means that the dragon is the head of all animals and an omnipotent god.

There are many different images in ancient books. Speaking of slender, it has four feet, anticlimactic. Speaking of piercing scales, there are whiskers on the head and five claws. Compendium of Materia Medica says that "dragons have nine similarities", which is a heterogeneous animal with the advantages of all kinds of animals. It has many names. Those with scales are called dragons, those with wings are called Ying Long, those with horns are called dragons, and those without horns are called dragons. The little one is called Jiao, and the big one is called Dragon. Legend has it that it can be hidden, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, and the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, omnipotent.

There are "Dragon King Products" in Taishang Cave's Divine Mantra Classic, which lists "Five Emperors Dragon King" by orientation, "Four Seas Dragon King" by ocean, and lists the names of 54 dragon kings and 62 dragon kings by everything in the world. In Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, an altar official was set up to offer sacrifices to the Dragon King. Song Taizu followed the Five Dragon Sacrifice System in Tang Dynasty. In the second year of Song Huizong Daguan (1 108), all the five dragons in the world were crowned kings. Seal Qinglong God as King of Ren Guang, Red Dragon God as King Jiaze, Huanglong God as King Fu Ying, White Dragon God as King Yiji, and Black Dragon God as King Lingze. In the second year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1863), the dragon god of the canal was named "the dragon god who should divide the water", which made the river chief sacrifice in time. The dragon kings in The Journey to the West are Ao Guang in the East China Sea, Aoqin in the South China Sea, Aorun in the West Sea and Aoshun in the North Sea, which are collectively called the Four Seas Dragon Kings.

With regard to the origin of the dragon, after long-term research and textual research, people finally reached a relatively consistent understanding: the dragon is a synthesis of various animals and a symbol of totem worship formed in primitive society.

The "dragon carving" unearthed from the site of the original village of Chahai in Fuxin, Liaoning Province provides evidence for our "time positioning". Chahai site belongs to the "pre-Hongshan Culture" remains, dating back about 8,000 years. The "Dragon Sculpture" is located in the central square of this primitive village site and is made of red-brown stones of equal size. This dragon is nearly 20 meters long and 2 meters wide. Its first mouth is tilted, its back is bent and its tail is looming. This stone dragon is the oldest and largest dragon found in China so far. It is said that there is a 10,000-year-old fish-tailed deer Longyan painting on the stone cliff of Persimmon Beach in Jixian County, Shanxi Province, which is considered as the earliest prototype of the dragon. This rock painting has not been published, and its appearance is still unknown. Then there are pottery dragon patterns unearthed in Xinglong Valley, Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, painted pottery dragon patterns unearthed in Beishouling Site, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, and dragon patterns unearthed in Xishuipo, Puyang City, Henan Province, dating back more than 6,400 years.

The prototype of the dragon has sprouted in the late Neolithic period, and it is a virtual imagination with the totem of Xia nationality as the main body. The ancients had various explanations for this. It is said that [tng] snakes can fly without feet (see Xunzi? Persuade "); Those with scales are called dragons, those with horns are called dragons, and those without horns are called dragons. (See Li Sao and Guang Ya quoted by Hong Bu. ) The one with wings is called (Wang Note). Some people say that dragons are like dogs and cows, while Lun Heng said, "The image of dragons is anticlimactic. "Others say that the shape of the dragon is the horn of a deer, the ear of a cow, the head of a camel, the eyes of a rabbit, the neck of a snake, the belly of a slug, the scales of a fish, the soles of a deer and the claws of an eagle. This is obviously the late development of the dragon image, which is more and more complicated than the original dragon, and more and more totems are integrated, indicating that it is constantly enriching and developing. Scholars have done a lot of useful research on the main prototype of the dragon. There are crocodiles, lizards, horses and so on. But it is generally believed that the keynote of the dragon is snake. Wen Yiduo's masterpiece Fuxi Kao was the first to put forward this view systematically. The dragon is a big snake and the snake is a little dragon. Wen Yiduo believes that after the snake clan merged with other clans, it "absorbed many other totem clans (clans), and the serpent accepted the four feet of animals, the head of horses, the tail of raccoons, the horns of deer, the claws of dogs, the scales and whiskers of fish" and became the later dragon. On the basis of Wen Yiduo's research, later generations have done a lot of enrichment and supplement.

The dragon is great because it is respected by all people in China. The dragon is nothing, because it is only a spirit, not a substance.

In China's myths and legends, it is a magical animal, with the image of snake body, lizard legs, talons, snake tail, antlers, fish scales, whiskers in the mouth and beads under the forehead. According to Shan Hai Jing, Xia Houqi, Ru Shou and Ju Mang all "rode the rain dragon". There are other secretaries, Zhuan Xu, Lapras and the Four Seas, Di Ku, Spring and Summer, Lapras. The predecessors divided dragons into four types: those with scales, those with wings, Ying Long, those with horns and those without horns. Some people think that this is the image formed by the totem of each clan after the ancient Yanhuang unified the tribes in the Central Plains. Legend has it that you can hide and show, climb the sky in the spring breeze and dive into the deep sea in the autumn wind. It also brought clouds and rain, and later became a symbol of imperial power. Emperors of past dynasties used dragons as costumes, and their utensils were also decorated with dragons. Dragon was worshipped by Chinese ancestors as the ancestor god, and was generally called "dragon". People in China often call themselves "descendants of dragons".

Dragon ranks fifth among the traditional Chinese zodiac animals in China. Dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise are also called "four great beasts". (There are also many ancient books and history books that refer to the "four auspicious beasts" as: caring for each other, nurturing, caring for each other and caring for each other. ) Qinglong and Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu are the four astronomical phenomena in China.

[Edit this paragraph] Classification of dragons

And [tng] snakes that can fly without feet (see Xunzi? Persuade "); Those with scales are called dragons, those with horns are called dragons, and those without horns are called autumn (Hongbu quoted Sao and Guangya). The one with wings is called (Wang Note). Dragon, Qiu, are not the orthodoxy of dragons. Dragon orthodoxy is called black dragon! We can see these different kinds of dragons on the bronzes of Shang, Zhou and Warring States in China.

Lun Heng said: "The image of a dragon is the tail of a horse." It is also said that the shape of the dragon is the horn of a deer, the ears of a cow, the head of a camel, the eyes of a rabbit, the neck of a snake, the belly of a slug, the scales of a fish, the soles of a deer's feet and the claws of an eagle. Compendium of Materia Medica says that "dragons have nine similarities", which is a heterogeneous animal with the advantages of all kinds of animals. Legend has it that it can be hidden, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, and the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, omnipotent. After the later development, the images of these dragons are more and more complex than the original dragons, and more and more totems are incorporated, which shows that they are constantly enriching and developing.

Probably five-claw dragon, four-claw dragon, three-claw dragon;

Before the Yuan Dynasty, the dragon spine had three claws, sometimes the first two feet had three claws, and the last two feet had four claws. Examples can be found in porcelain ornamentation in Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties. Four-claw dragon was popular in Ming dynasty, and five-claw dragon was the most popular in Qing dynasty.

"Five-claw Emperor, Four-claw Emperor and Three-claw Doctor" in Zhou Dynasty

The folk saying that "five claws are dragons and four claws are pythons" was formed in the Qing Dynasty, mainly because of the difference in clothing between emperors and ministers. The emperor wears the "dragon robe", while other royal families and ministers wear the "embroidered robe", but this is only the difference in name. Judging from the shape of dragons, dragons and pythons are quadrupeds, and there is no difference in appearance.

The dragon didn't have five claws at first, but developed from three claws and four claws to five claws. The evolution of dragon modeling in the history of China can be roughly divided into four periods:

First, the real dragon period

From Yangshao culture, Daxi culture, Qujialing culture, Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture, Shang and Zhou dynasties to Qin and Han dynasties, Solanum nigrum represented by Shang and Zhou dynasties. The prototype of Solanum nigrum is a Gulf crocodile or monitor lizard, which has a bird (phoenix) foot and four claws. It has one foot, two or four claws. In the middle and late Shang Dynasty, dragons and winds met, resulting in six symbols of dragons and winds, indicating that they are the same ancestor. The Western Zhou Dynasty continued to be used, and the dragon was integrated into a new form. At this time, one foot is full, and most of them are crescent-shaped claws.

Second, the Ying Long period.

The concept of Ying Long can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, but Ying Long, as an artistic stage, probably began in Qin Dynasty, flourished in Han Dynasty and continued to Sui and Tang Dynasties.

Third, the Huanglong period

Beginning in the Tang and Song Dynasties, Liao, Jin and Yuan laid an image foundation and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In Song Dynasty, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, it was mostly three-toed, and in Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was mostly four-toed and five-toed. Since the Yuan Dynasty, only the royal family can use the dragon with five claws, and the folk can only use the dragon with three claws or four claws.

Fourth, the payback period

Modern and contemporary after Qing dynasty. Because dragons are divorced from feudal rulers, they can be painted or shaped into three toes, four toes and five toes according to people's preferences. Of course, the five-claw dragon has a special position in history, so people generally prefer the five-claw shape.

During the Tang Dynasty, Japan and China frequently exchanged visits, learned a lot about China culture and promoted Japan's social progress. For example, Japanese traditional architecture and traditional costumes are exactly what China looked like in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, dragons in China were all three-clawed dragons, so the Japanese could only introduce three-clawed dragons from China. After the four-claw dragon appeared in China, it had already closed its doors and cut off its ties with Japan. Korea was called Koryo in ancient times, and it was a dependency of China until the end of Qing Dynasty. When the rulers of China began to use the dragon pattern with five claws, the subordinate country could not be equal to itself, so the Korean dragon could only have four claws. In the final analysis, dragons in Japan and South Korea reflect the development and evolution of dragons.

[Guo Longqiu Jiao]

Octopus: It's an early kind of dragon, which is modeled on a reptile-snake and often moves in the water. "It takes five hundred years to become a jiaozi, and it takes a thousand years to become a dragon." It is the embryonic form of the dragon, which once appeared on the bronze decoration in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, but not much.

Qiu: Generally speaking, a little dragon without horns is called Qiu Long, which is a growing dragon. Therefore, the ancient literature records: "The horn is called autumn, and the horn is called dragon." The other is that the young dragon is called autumn after it has horns. Although there are differences between the two statements. But everyone is called the growing Longqiu. Others call the dragon of Panqu the dragon, and Du Mu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, has a sentence of "A thousand plays play a sheep's intestines" in his poem "Talking about Qingyun".

Pan Guo is a snake-shaped monster of the genus Dragon, which is an early dragon without horns. There is a description of "killing dragons without horns" in Guangya. There are also two views on dragons, one refers to the yellow horned dragon and the other refers to the female dragon. There is a note in Han Zhuan that "the red dragon is also a female dragon", so the unearthed Warring States period is decorated with dragons and dragons, which means that men and women mate. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, bronzes, jade carvings, bronze mirrors or buildings were often decorated in the shape of flat flies, including single flies, double flies, three flies, five flies and even swarms of flies. Or as a title card, or as a ring, or as a book. In addition, there are Bo Gu beetles, ring beetles and other changes.

Jiao: Generally speaking, it refers to a scaly dragon that can cause floods. According to legend, the water of the dragon can make clouds and fog and soar in space. In ancient Chinese, it is often used to mean that talented people get the opportunity to display their talents. There are different opinions about the origin and shape of jiaozi in classical literature, some say that "dragons have no horns and are called jiaozi", while others say that "scales are called Xiaolong". The third volume of Mo Ke Dao Rhinoceros is more specific: Jiao is shaped like a snake, with a head like a tiger and an elder of dozens of feet. Most of them live under the caves in Xitan, and their voices are like cattle. If Jiao sees pedestrians on the shore or in the ravine, he will entangle them with his mouth and make people fall into the water, that is, suck their blood under his arm until the blood runs out. People on shore and on board often suffer from it. There is a story in Liu Yiqing's Shi Shuo Xin Yu in the Southern Song Dynasty, saying that he went into the water for three days and three nights at the beginning of the week to chop jiaozi back. Jiao may be a crocodile.

Ceratosaurus: refers to a horned dragon. According to Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, "A Thousand-year-old Dragon, a Hundred-year-old dragon five Horned Dragon", Horned Dragon is an old man among dragons.

Ying Long: The winged dragon is called Ying Long. According to Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, "dragon five has been a Ceratosaurus for a hundred years, and Ying Long for a thousand years", Ying Long is the essence of the dragon, so he has wings. According to legend, Ying Long was the dragon of the ancient Yellow Emperor. It was ordered by the Yellow Emperor to crusade against Chiyou and kill Chiyou to become a hero. In Yu's flood control, the dragon swept the floor with its tail and diverted the flood. This dragon is also called Huanglong, and Huanglong is it, so it is the hero of Yu. Ying Long is characterized by wings, prickly scales, long head, small nose, eyes and ears, big eyes, high eyebrow arch, sharp teeth, protruding forehead, thin neck, long tail tip and strong limbs, just like a Chinese alligator with wings. The image of Ying Long often appears in jade carvings, stone carvings, silk paintings and lacquerware in the Han Dynasty during the Warring States Period.

Fire dragon: It is a dragon threatened by fire. The whole body is purple fire, and wherever the fire dragon passes, it is all burnt.

Panlong: refers to the dragon that crouches on the ground and does not ascend to heaven. The shape of a dragon is coiled. In ancient buildings in China, dragons coiled on pillars and dragons on decorative beams and ceilings are customarily called Panlong. There is another explanation for Panlong in "Taiping Magnolia": "Panlong is four feet long, blue-black, with a brocade-like red belt, and often goes down with the water and into the sea. Toxic, it hurts. " I mix dragons with jiaozi, snakes and things like that.

Qinglong is one of the "four spirits" or "four gods", also known as the black dragon. Ancient astronomers in China divided some stars in the sky into twenty-eight star zones, that is, twenty-eight nights, to observe the movement of the moon and divide the seasons, and divided the twenty-eight nights into four groups, with seven nights in each group, four colors of blue, red, white and black, and four animals, namely dragons, birds, tigers and basalts (where turtles and snakes intersect), called "four elephants". Dragon means the east, blue, the so-called "East Palace Qinglong". In the Qin and Han dynasties, these four images became "four spirits" or "four gods" (dragon, phoenix, turtle and forest), and their mystery became more and more intense. The existing stone relief of the East Palace Black Dragon constellation in Nanyang Han Painting Academy consists of a dragon, eighteen stars and the moon, and is engraved with jade toad. This dragon is the symbol of the whole black dragon constellation. In the bricks, stones and tiles of the Han Dynasty, there are many images of "four spirits".

Yu Hualong: It is a dragon with a dragon head and a fish body, and it is also a form of "mutual change of arowana and fish", which has existed for a long time in ancient China. In Shuo Yuan, there is a record that "the white dragon turned into a fish in the cold abyss in the past", and in Chang 'an ballad, "the big fish in the East China Sea turned into a dragon", and the carp circulated among the people jumped over the Longmen, all of which told the mutual changes of arowana. This kind of modeling appeared in jade carvings as early as the late Shang Dynasty, and it has developed in all previous dynasties.

[Edit this paragraph] Archaeological discovery

●/Kloc-In the 1970s, the "C" Jade Dragon was unearthed in Sanxingtala Village, Wengniute Banner, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. After archaeological investigation, it is confirmed that Yulong belongs to the site of Hongshan Culture about 5000 years ago.

1987 A clam-shaped dragon and tiger was found in Tomb 45 of Xishuipo Site in Puyang, Henan Province. Archaeology and carbon-14 dating indicate that the tomb is about 6500 years ago. According to the research of scholars Li Xueqin and Shi Feng, the clam-shaped dragon and tiger found in Tomb 45 is closely related to the four images in traditional astronomy in China.

● "Dragon-shaped plastic sculpture" made of reddish-brown stone unearthed from the site of the original village of Chahai, Fuxin, Liaoning. The site belongs to the remains of "pre-Hongshan Culture", dating back about 8,000 years. "Dragon-shaped plastic sculpture" is located in the central square of this primitive village site, with a total length of nearly 20 meters and a width of nearly 2 meters. It raises its first mouth, bends its back, and its tail is looming. This stone dragon is the oldest and largest dragon found in China so far.

It is said that there is a 10,000-year-old fish-tailed deer Longyan painting on the stone cliff of Persimmon Beach in Jixian County, Shanxi Province, which is considered as the earliest prototype of the dragon. This rock painting has not been published, and its appearance is still unknown. )

[Edit this paragraph] Historical records

Fu Shi, there are dragons, so there is a dragon chronicle, creating words.

Zuozhuan? In the seventeenth year of Zhao: "The Taigang family took dragons as its discipline, so it was named the Dragon Master. "

According to the Chronicle of Bamboo Slips, Fuxi Shi has clans such as Qianlong, Julong, Longjiang, Longtu, Shuilong, Qinglong, Chilong, Bailong, Black Dragon and Huanglong.

Zuozhuan? Twenty-nine years of Zhao: the record of "the public gave the public a lamb and a fur, so that the dragon was offered to assist Qi Hou"; "Notes" also said: Shun Dynasty "Nanxun country presented Mao Long, a woman and a man, and set up the Dragon Palace. In Zhixia's generation, dragons were controlled because they were ordered by their families. ". It shows that the custom of raising dragons and taking them as family names prevailed in Xia Dynasty. Some ancient books recorded that the ruler of Xia Dynasty raised dragons named Liu, which is impossible to test!

Zuozhuan? Zhao nineteen years: "Zheng Dashui, the dragon is fighting outside the door. "

"Ceremony? Liu Yun: "Scale phoenix ichthyosaur, named four spirits".

Zhuangzi? Lieyukou: "The pearl of a thousand dollars must be in the nine depths, under the dragon's chin."

Zhouyi

Dry: the ninth day-don't use the hidden dragon; 92- See the dragon in the field, and meet the adults; 94-still jumping deep, not strange; Ninth Five-Year Plan-flying dragons to heaven, benefiting adults; On the ninth day-Kang Long has feelings; With nine-dragons without heads, discipline.

Kun: the sixth day-the dragon fights in the wild, and the blood is yellow.

[Edit this paragraph] Religion and dragons

Taoism

Taoism, a native religion in China, was formed on the basis of primitive religion, which combined witchcraft, nature worship, animal worship and fairy witchcraft in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and became theoretical and systematic. Early Taoists had realized that dragons came from snakes. There is a cloud in "Yellow and White Articles": "The dragon of the snake is no different from the one he gave birth to. However, the root causes are all caused by natural feelings.

Obeying the emperor in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Daoling advocated the Five Mi Dou Doctrine, with Laozi as the leader and Laozi's Five Thousand Books as the main classic, and gradually formed an artificial religious form with doctrine, doctrine and canon as the main content. Taoism has had an indissoluble bond with dragon worship since its formation. In the pre-Qin period, Lapras's belief in Zhou Zhou's four seas, Lapras's belief in ascending to heaven, and the belief in connecting heaven and man with dragons were all completely inherited by Taoism.

The descendants of Zhang Daoling, the founder of Taoism, all inherited his career and were called "Shi Tian", and were told that they were predestined friends with dragons. According to legend, the third generation surnamed Lu had ten sons, nicknamed "Zhang's Ten Dragons". Another legend is that Zhang Lu's daughter was washing clothes at the foot of the mountain, and suddenly there was white fog around her, so she got pregnant before marriage and committed suicide in shame. Leave last words before dying. Be sure to dissect the body and see what's in it. As a result, there were two twin dragons in the belly, and the maid put them into the Hanshui River. Many later Taoist representatives are said to have a mysterious relationship with dragons, such as Tao Hongjing, a Taoist representative in the Southern Dynasties. It is said that his mother was born a dragon, and he is a kind of dragon.

The most important role of dragons in Taoism is to help Taoists bury themselves and communicate with ghosts and gods. The dragon is considered as one of the "three sedan chairs". The "three sedan chairs" referred to here are dragon sedan chairs, tiger sedan chairs and deer sedan chairs. The sedan chair of Taoism is mainly used as a riding tool for burial. Mr. Zhang Guangzhi thinks: "The owner of No.45 tomb in Puyang is the primitive Taoist or wizard in Yangshao cultural society, and the dragon, tiger and deer made of clam shells are the artistic images of the three sedan chairs he can summon." He linked the clam, dragon, tiger and deer with the three sedan chairs in ancient primitive Taoism, and thought they were related.

Legend has it that Shi Tian and Zhenjun, who have magical powers, can also summon and drive away dragons. Youyang mixed. Strange art said: in a landlord's house called Yun 'an, there is a fifteen-mile dangerous beach by the river, and no one pulls the fiber, so the boat can't cross it. Zhai Ganyou, a thin generation of Shi Tian, saw a business trip, tied an altar, called a dragon, *** 14, and all became old people. Zhai Shitian asked them to level the dangerous beach to make it easier to travel by boat. The dragon was led away, and overnight, the wind and thunder struck, and all the rapids in 14 turned into Pingtan, leaving only one mile. Zhai knew at a glance that the dragon didn't arrive yesterday, so he went to the altar and called him. Three days later, a woman came to Fang. It turned out to be a female dragon. Eloquence: wealthy businessmen cross the river by boat, and the poor in Yunan pull the fiber for them. They always make a living by pulling fibers. If the shoal is gone and the boat is unimpeded, how can we eat and wear it? I would rather take a dangerous beach to support a tracker than use a boat to help a rich businessman. Zhai Shitian nodded after hearing this, so he told Zhu Long to put everything back to its original state.

Buddhism

In Buddhist scriptures, the dragon king Nāgarāja has various names. For example, the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Method says that there are eight dragon kings, one is the dragon king who is difficult to reach, the other is the dragon king who is difficult to reach, the third is the dragon king in Gaha, the fourth is the dragon king in Heji, the fifth is the dragon king in Germany, the sixth is the dragon king in Anaboda, the seventh is the dragon king in Monas, and the eighth is the dragon king in Fu Bo.

The relationship between dragon and Buddhism is still controversial in academic circles. It is said that China's worship of the "Dragon King" was introduced from India with Buddhism. The reason is that there is no "Dragon King" worship in China. Before the Han Dynasty, there were only "dragon gods" but no "dragon kings". After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddhist beliefs were introduced into China, and the belief in the Dragon King spread throughout the Middle-earth.

Another way of saying this is that the dragon in Indian Buddhism was handed down from China and recreated by Indians to become the "Dragon King". With the spread of Buddhism to the east, the worship of the Dragon King returned to China. There are seven reasons for this: