A 500-word essay on the appearance of a dragon
Dragon is not unique to China. Many ethnic groups have myths and legends about dragons. But China is the only country where dragons are proud and respected, and all kinds of things are somewhat related to dragons. In China, there are thousands of places with dragon names, some of which are named after numbers, such as Erlong in Jilin Province, Sanlong in Jiangxi Province, and Silong in Liaoning Province; some are named after the dragon's body. For example, there are dragon heads in Jiangxi Province, dragon horns in Sichuan Province, dragon foreheads in Guizhou Province, and dragon claws in Heilongjiang Province. Some of them are named after groups of dragons. There are more than 40 rivers in China that contain the word "dragon". The yellow, green, red, white and black dragons we are familiar with are found in Sichuan Province (Huanglong River), Hebei Province (Qinglong River and Chilong River), Tianjin (Qinglongwan River and Heilonggang River), Gansu Province (Bailongjiang River), Shanghai (Bailonggang River) and Heilongjiang Province (Heilongjiang) have rivers named after them. There are countless Dragon King temples in almost every provincial capital and Longtan.
Dragons are also found in daily life. The clothes include dragon robes and dragon crowns; the food includes lobster, longan, and dragon beard noodles; the buildings include dragon palaces and dragon pavilions; and there are dragon boats and dragon chariots in the streets. The furniture has dragon chairs and dragon beds. The dragon lantern dance is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and the Dragon Boat Festival in May includes nightshade, agave, asparagus, asparagus, cypress, and sophora japonica. The geomantic treasure is called Dragon Cave, the waterwheel that pumps water is called keel waterwheel, and the big crane is called gantry crane. There are hundreds of nouns related to dragons in the sky. There are eighty-one dragon mythological novels collected in "Taiping Guangji" edited a thousand years ago. In China, dragons are almost everywhere. Dragon culture has a long history.
The dragon is also the totem of primitive people. It is an illusory creature that only exists in totems and does not exist in the biological world. The image of the dragon we know today combines the characteristics of various creatures: snake body, animal legs, eagle claws, horse head, snake tail, antlers, fish scales. It has developed and changed. Through wars and alliances in the long historical process, people who believe in dragons The totem nation gradually became the leader, and the dragon totem gradually became the totem image of the entire Chinese people. The image was gradually absorbed and enriched into the image of the dragon, so the characteristics of the dragon became more and more.
People also regarded various All kinds of virtues and excellent qualities are concentrated in the dragon. We have seen from many stories and legends: the dragon is brave and good at fighting, it is not afraid of any violence; the dragon is smart and wise, it can even foresee the future; the dragon has great abilities, it can be big or small, changeable, interesting Clouds make rain, thunder and lightning, open rivers and move mountains, and their power is boundless; the dragon is rich, and the dragon palace has become a concentration of treasures; the dragon is upright and can think about the people. In order to relieve the suffering of drought in the world, it even does not hesitate to do so. Offend the rules of heaven. People's good wishes are concentrated on dragons, and outstanding figures in the world are often called dragons among people. Zhuge Liang's so-called Mr. Wolong is a familiar example.
The Dragon Emperor and the Heavenly Emperor
The Dragon Emperor, also known as the Heavenly Emperor, is also called the Jade Emperor. Legend has it that he is the incarnation of the Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of the Chinese nation. In "Historical Records. It is recorded in the Book of Fengchan that the Yellow Emperor and the people mined copper in Shoushan Mountain, cast the mined copper into a large copper tripod, and placed it at the foot of Jingshan Mountain. When the bronze tripod was built, a dragon hung down from its beard to welcome the Yellow Emperor as he ascended to heaven. Huangdi rode on the dragon's back, and his ministers, wives and children all climbed up one after another, and more than seventy people climbed up at once. At this time, the dragon ascended to the sky, and the remaining ministers couldn't squeeze in, and all of them were holding on to the dragon's beard. The dragon's beard couldn't bear the weight and broke. The bow Huang Di was carrying was also pulled down. The officials could only hold the dragon's beard and bow and cry. After the Yellow Emperor ascended to heaven, he became the Emperor of Heaven.
In "Historical Records. Tianguan said in a single point, that is to say, the Yellow Emperor is the incarnation of the Yellow Dragon. Huanglong is the Dragon Emperor. The five elements belong to earth and are located in the center. He is the head of the dragon clan and the master of heaven in Taoist religious views. It is also mentioned in the classics of the Han Dynasty: "The yellow dragon is the length of the four directions, the correct color of the four directions, and the essence of the gods. It can be huge, thin, quiet, bright, short, long, survive at first, and then die. "The king fishes without filtering the pond, and when he reaches the abyss, he swims in the pond with harmony." This illustrates the image of the Yellow Dragon.
The legendary dragon
The ancients regarded dragons as gods and spiritual beings, and they were very changeable. They could be thin or huge, short or long, and they could go deep into the water. Soaring to the sky. Legends about dragons can be found in almost every book in ancient Chinese classics, and there are countless legends and myths about dragons. Classics such as the "Book of Changes" give a complete and systematic discussion of dragons and give them philosophical meanings. In the Bagua, the overall dragon is used to illustrate the Qian hexagram, which is also the first hexagram in the "Book of Changes".
In addition to this, dragon legends and myths have appeared throughout the ages. Many places named after the word "dragon" also have dragon legends. As far back as the time of the Yellow Emperor, there are legends about the Yellow Emperor ascending to heaven on a dragon, and Yinglong helped the Yellow Emperor defeat Chiyou; when Xia Yu controlled floods, legend has it that a divine dragon drew the ground with its tail to form a river to divert the flood; the Han Emperor Liu Bang, the legend is that it was his mother's dream Seen mating with a red dragon and getting pregnant and born. From many stories and legends, we can see that people often focus all kinds of virtues and excellent qualities on dragons. Legend has it that the tradition of frying corn on the second day of February every year is to commemorate Yilong's efforts to relieve the suffering of drought in the world, even at the expense of offending the laws of heaven. Legend has it that the Jade Dragon was imprisoned by the Jade Emperor because he could not bear the suffering of the people from drought and helped the people with rain. He made a rule that he would be released only when the golden beans bloomed. The people gathered together to fry corn because they were grateful for Jade Dragon's righteous deeds. Because it looked like golden beans blooming, Taibai Jinxing, who was in charge of it, misunderstood it and released Jade Dragon. The tradition of frying corn on the second day of February every year has also been preserved.
Of course, in legends, there are righteous dragons who do good, but naturally there are also evil dragons who do disaster. With the enlightenment of people's wisdom, the introduction of Buddhist beliefs and other factors, the image of the Dragon King has changed among the people. As one of the Taoist traditions, the Dragon King has also begun to appear as a villain. Many places in China named after the word "dragon" also have dragon legends, including stories of evil dragons wreaking havoc. Just like Heilongjiang, it is said that white dragons have caused trouble in the past. Later, in a village by the river, a family went into labor and gave birth to a black dragon. It turns out that the Black Dragon came to help get rid of the White Dragon, and the villagers followed his instructions and supported him. Finally, the White Dragon was eliminated, and people named the river Heilongjiang in memory of the Black Dragon. There is Wolong Lake in Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan Province. There is a creamy yellow stone beam at the bottom of the lake, which is said to be the incarnation of the white dragon. There are two big rivers near Jiuzhaigou, one is called Heishui River, where legend has it that a big black dragon once lived there; the other is Bailong River, where a small white dragon lives. Legend has it that the black dragon was jealous of the scenery of Jiuzhaigou and sucked up the water there. When the little white dragon found out, he sprayed water from the Bailong River into Jiuzhaigou to restore its beauty. When Black Dragon found out, he started a fierce fight with White Dragon. When Black Dragon was defeated, he used a trick to poison the little White Dragon, and Little White Dragon was forced to flee to one of the lakes in Jiuzhaigou Valley. In order to find out the whereabouts of Bailong, Black Dragon alerted the Tibetan God of Ten Thousand Mountains, and was finally imprisoned by the mountain god and could no longer do evil. In recognition of the white dragon, the God of Ten Thousand Mountains gave it a set of golden armor. This is the origin of the legend of Wolong Lake.
Dong Yu, a painter in the Song Dynasty, believed that the dragon combines the characteristics of nine animals: "Antlers like a deer, head like an ox, mouth like a donkey, eyes like shrimps, ears like an elephant, scaled fish, and whiskers like a human , belly like a snake, feet like a phoenix." This is the appearance of the legendary dragon.