What does the dragon symbolize in China?

In China culture, dragons have an important position and influence. From the Neolithic Age more than 7,000 years ago, ancestors worshipped the primitive dragon totem, and today people still use idioms or allusions with the word "dragon" to describe the beautiful things in life. For thousands of years, dragons have penetrated into all aspects of China society and become a kind of cultural cohesion and accumulation. Dragon has become a symbol of China, the Chinese nation and China culture. For every Chinese descendant, the image of the dragon is a symbol, a mood, and a feeling of flesh and blood! The names "Descendants of the Dragon" and "Descendants of the Dragon" often make us excited, energetic and proud. Besides spreading and inheriting in China, Dragon Culture has also been brought to all parts of the world by overseas Chinese. In China residential areas or in China, dragons are still the most eye-catching decorations. Therefore, "Descendants of the Dragon" and "Dragon Country" have also been recognized by the world. Here, we will follow the trail of the dragon, enter the ancient history and the world of the dragon, understand and explore the mystery of the dragon ... According to ancient scriptures, the dragon is a creation with deer-like horns, camel's head, rabbit's eyes and the neck of a giant snake. Its abdomen looks like a "Shen" (a fictional crocodile-like water pipe). It has claws like eagles, fingers like tigers and ears like buffaloes. Dragons have the ability to change from one object to another in an instant; From fat to thin, from tall to short. It can also fly to the sky and go down to the bottom of the sea. It seems that dragons are creatures with super powers and can be transformed into various forms. In China, the dragon symbol was born in Shang and Yin Dynasties (the earliest hieroglyphic period in China in the 6th century BC +06- 1 1), and it was carved on animal bones and tortoise shells. These carved flowers describe a horned reptile with teeth, scales and some claws. The above symbols usually indicate that dragons are regarded as cruel, evil and unfortunate creatures. According to these symbols, scientists in China concluded that it was actually an alligator fish. For centuries, scientists have put forward many explanations and speculations about dragons. There is no doubt that the dragon in the original image must be a reptile, snake, crocodile or lizard. Fossils and remains dating back 5000-6000 years show that lizards, alligators and dragons evolved from totems symbolizing honor and religion. By studying these portraits, we can trace back to the earliest image of the dragon, its evolutionary history and its present appearance. Although the first dragon has only a single image, with the increasing contact of ancient people in China, people began to paint their totems more imaginatively. After a long time, this image has evolved into a dragon or totem with completely different nature. Therefore, the dragon is the crystallization of people's imagination and a mysterious creation worshipped by people for centuries. In modern Chinese painting, dragons also appear in various forms. Ethnic minorities describe dragons in various ways, from fish to crocodiles and people. Black nightshade: an imaginary one-legged monster, which is the embryonic stage of the dragon. The description of Kui in Shan Hai Jing Ye Dong Jing is: "It looks like an ox, pale and hornless. When you enter and leave the water, there will be wind and rain. Its light is like the sun and the moon, and its sound is like thunder, so it is called Wei Xiao ". But more ancient books say that Wei Xiao is a snake monster. "Hey, God is charming, like a dragon's foot." ("Shuo Wen Jie Zi") "Hey, one foot? Go away. " (Liu Tie) In the bronze decoration in the late Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, the dragon pattern was one of the main decorative patterns, and the image was mostly a long strip with a long mouth and a curly tail. Its shape is suitable for the structural lines of bronze decorative surfaces, with straight lines as the main part and arcs as the auxiliary part, which has the aesthetic feeling of Gu Zhuo. 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. 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. Sitting on the dragon in the form of a dragon: sitting in danger, with the head facing forward, a fireball standing under the chin, and four claws extending in four directions in different forms. The dragon body curls up, bends down into an arc, and the posture is correct. Sitting on a dragon generally stands in the middle, solemn and serious, and often there are galloping dragons arranged up and down or left and right. In feudal society, sitting on a dragon is a noble dragon pattern. Walking dragon: Walking slowly, the whole dragon is the front side of the horizontal position. Dragons are often decorated in pairs, forming a picture of double dragons playing with pearls. It is often decorated on both sides in front of the temple, and the long and narrow decorative surfaces of utensils are often used. If it is a single phase, the dragon's head often turns back, making the picture more vivid. Shenglong: Head above, galloping and dancing, showing an upward trend. If the faucet rises to the upper left, it is called "the dragon rises to the left" and the faucet rises to the upper right, it is called "the dragon rises to the right". The promotion of dragons has different emphases. If the promotion is slow, you will be "slowly promoted to the dragon". People who are in a hurry to rise are called "rapidly rising dragons". The ascending dragon on the head moves down again, which is called "retreating the descending dragon". Dragon descending: The head is below, flying and flying, showing a downward trend. If the faucet goes down to the left, it is called "the dragon falls to the left" and the faucet goes down to the right, it is called "the dragon falls to the right". There are different emphases on dragon reduction. Those who slow down are called "slow down the dragon". The one that drops rapidly is called "descending the dragon quickly". The downward dragon moves upward, which is called "rebound dragon" or "upside down dragon". Double Dragon Playing with Beads: The expression of two dragons playing (or grabbing) a fire bead together. Its origin comes from the planetary map in astronomy, and the fireball evolved from the moon. Since the Han Dynasty, the double dragon play beads have become an auspicious and festive decorative pattern, which is mostly used for architectural color paintings and noble and rich utensils decoration. The form of Ssangyong depends on the area of decoration. If it is a dragon, the two dragons are symmetrically located on the left and right sides, showing the posture of walking dragons. If it is square or round, (including squares similar to these shapes) two dragons are arranged diagonally up and down, with the upper dragon descending and the lower dragon ascending. Whether it is a strip or a block, the fire bead is in the middle, showing a lively momentum. Yunlong: refers to the dragon rushing in the clouds. Dragon and cloud are one, and cloud is the foundation of dragon. The dragon's breath turned into clouds. Cloud dragon pattern is the same body of cloud and dragon, which "breaks up" the head, tail and feet of dragon, blends with abstract cloud, and presents mysterious patterns like cloud Feiyun and dragon. Grass dragon: it is a kind of grass-rolling pattern that appears in the image of a dragon, also called "grass-rolling branch dragon". The head has obvious leading characteristics, while the body, tail and limbs have become grass-rolling patterns. The whole often presents the main theme of "S" shape, and continues to extend the "S" shape, producing a continuous and eternal artistic effect. The rich changes in the head and the curly grass constitute a picture with uneven movement, mutual echo and rich layers. In composition, it adopts a balanced form, pays attention to the beauty of curves and is full of movement. In the form of expression, romanticism is used to integrate the contents of Ruyi Wen with auspicious meaning into a picture, giving people room for imagination. The patterns of rolling grass and tying branches are often used for decoration of buildings, furniture and utensils. Zhuanlong: Originated from grass dragon, born out of grass dragon, forming a unique form of expression. The dragon's line decoration is straight and tough, and the turning point is a square corner. The faucet is also square, coordinated as a whole, concise and lively, and has a certain decorative interest. It is often used in furniture, interior decoration and building frames. Tuanlong: A dragon with a round shape is called Tuanlong. It originated in the Tang Dynasty and was widely used in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. "Four Dragons", "Eight Dragons" and other group flowers were designated as the crown service system at that time, that is, four or eight dragons were the most distinguished on a dress. Later, it developed into ten regiments, twelve regiments, sixteen regiments, and twenty-four regiments, with more and more numbers and wider scope of use. Brocade, embroidery, ceramics, architecture, furniture and other decorations all have dragon balls, which have strong applicability, maintain the integrity of dragons, have a strong decorative atmosphere and are widely used. There are also many forms of dragon groups, such as "sitting on the dragon group", "ascending the dragon group" and "descending the dragon group" The round edge of the Tuanlong is also decorated with patterns such as water waves, ruyi, grass dragons, etc. The Tuanlong patterns are gorgeous and rich. In ancient China mythology, human beings were created by Nu Wa squeezing loess. Nu Wa created human beings, so who created Nu Wa herself? Generally speaking, Nuwa was first created by people who worshipped snakes as totems. What is a totem? Totem is the symbol of clan in primitive society. Totem belief is a very primitive belief. The color of the snake totem can be clearly seen in the images of Nvwa 、 Fuxi and others. Snake totem is widely distributed, and now it is mainly concentrated in the southeast and southwest of China. During thousands of years of continuous migration, the cultures of various ethnic groups have blended with each other, and snake totems have spread all over the country. Both Gaoshan nationality in Taiwan Province province and Li nationality in Hainan province have traces or customs of snake totem. In areas with snakes as totems, it is generally believed that snakes are the prototype of dragons and dragons are the divine embodiment of snakes. So in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, domestic snakes are called Black Dragon, Tianlong and Jialong. In Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and other places, some ethnic groups call themselves dragon species, dragon people and dragons and build snake temples to worship snake gods. It can be seen that our Chinese nation is a descendant of the dragon and has a profound historical origin. The dragon is a symbol of China people, and the Chinese nation proudly considers itself a "descendant of the dragon".