The powerful role of dragons in Chinese mythology

The first images of dragons appeared in the earliest stages of Chinese culture, during the Neolithic period, thousands of years ago.

Archaeologists found designs that match later iconography on various mediums, including pottery, jade items, and bronze containers. 

For example, the oldest known dragon figure comes from a coiled, snake-like form on a jade piece form the Hongshan culture (c. 4700 to 2900 BCE).  

However, the various early imagery combined features of different animals: sometimes they had fish scales, a snake’s tail, a clam’s belly, a camel’s head, eagle claws, tiger paws, or even cow ears and eyes. 

Clearly, the visual representation had not developed a single form at that stage, but the mixture of animal features may show that people saw dragons as a kind of embodiment of any range of nature’s power. 

However, over time the pictures slowly took on a more fixed form. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220), artists often showed dragons in a coiled position and appear to be associated with the spring season of the year.

But, it was certainly not limited to this. 

In Chinese culture, the dragon could be a metaphor for many important valued by society. 

One recurring idea connected them to power. This did not only mean physical force, and could include any include control over nature and or other people. 

For example, people believed that dragons controlled elements like water, rain and storms.

As such, they could be called upon to help those involved in farming, particularly those wanting good harvests. 

Also, dragons were associated with divine wisdom. This is why artists often depicted them with a pearl because pearls were considered to embody a kind of spiritual insight. 

The two concepts were combined in the belief that dragon flew down from heaven, which is where they had obtained their knowledge from the gods.

It was thought that they could do this because dragons had the ability to change their form at any moment, either to fly between heaven and earth, or to grow and shrink to hide from mortals.

Being able to effectively hide, while also knowing the wisdom of the gods, made them a tantalizing creature to believe in. 

It is no surprise then that man of the Chinese legendary heroes often travelled to find dragons to get their advice. 

Due to all of these characteristics, it is understandable why common people had pictures of dragons located in their house.

This was a way of tapping into a general sense of ‘good luck’ that they might bring.

As a result, dragons are common elements in festivals such as the Chinese New Year. 

Finally, the dragon was an important sign of imperial authority. Not only did the Chinese Emperors emblazon the mythical lizard on their banners and palaces, but the rulers themselves sometimes referred to themselves dragons. 

One key idea in Chinese cosmology is the Five Elements or ‘Wu Xing’, which includes Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Each element was thought to have a special creature associated with it, and the dragon is usually the one linked with Water. 

Each element has its own creature, and the dragon is linked with Water. Therefore, it could control anything that had water in it, such as rain, rivers, streams, and even the open seas. 

In a way, this matches with the view that the creatures’ association with change and nature’s power to transform, just as water can easily move between the smallest spaces. 

However, dragons were also thought to come from the east, where they watched over the sky. 

This is why they are often depicted with the rising sun. 

In addition, the dragon is one of the twelve zodiac animals in the lunisolar calendar. 

People born in the Year of the Dragon are said to inherit all of the key traits, such as courage, strength, and intelligence. 

In Chinese philosophy, the dragon also appears in the concept of yin and yang, where he dragon is often paired with the phoenix to show the balance between yin (female, passive, receiving) and yang (male, active, giving). 

Specifically, the dragon symbolises yang. 

One well-known legend tells how the Yellow Emperor turned into a dragon and rose to heaven after his death.

Since, he was considered to be the ancestor of all Chinese people, this tale was told to explicitly make the connection with imperial power over the people. 

Similarly, another legend tells of the Dragon King, the ruler of the four seas. People asked the Dragon King for rain during a drought, in which he uses his control over water to kindly help them. 

The dragon also appears in the story of the Monkey King, where he gets a magical staff from the Dragon King and uses it to channel the powerful magic of the dragons. 

Interestingly, dragons still appear in many popular Chinese sayings, such as the phrase “hoping one’s son will become a dragon” (望子成龍) as a way of expressing a parent’s high hopes for their child’s future success. 

When Emperor Qin Shi Huang (r. 221–210 BCE) became the first ruler to unify China and founded the Qin Dynasty, he chose the dragon as his personal emblem.

It was a way of visually claiming the Mandate of Heaven, but also a useful form of propaganda to clearly connect himself to the legendary origins of Chinese rulers. 

The use of the dragon as an imperial symbol then continued in the Han and later dynasties.

The emperor’s throne was also known as the Dragon Throne, while the emperor’s robes were called dragon robes, while its image appeared prominently on the emperor’s personal seal. 

By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial dragon usually had five claws. This set it apart from the four-clawed dragons usually used by nobles, or the three-clawed dragons used by common people. 

Interestingly the Forbidden City in Beijing, the palace for the Ming and Qing dynasties, has over 10,000 dragon designs scattered around its various buildings, from gates, walls, pillars and perched on roofs, all in a bid for protection for the imperial family. 

Inside is also the Nine-Dragon Wall, which is a large tile screen that literally does have nine different dragons on it. 

Finally, the empress herself was considered to be a phoenix. So, together, the emperor as the dragon, they physically represented the harmony of the yin and yang.