Legends and allusions about dragons, thank you!
Four Dragons: Ao Guang, Aoqin, Aoshun, ao run
Ao Guang in the East China Sea, Aoqin in the South China Sea, ao run in the West Sea, and Aoshun in the North China Sea
Blushing must be east, white hair must be west, orange hair must be south, and black hair must be north.
Dragons in China people's lives are not unique to China. However, a country like China, which is proud of and reveres the dragon and has something to do with it, is unique. In China, there are thousands of places with dragon names, among which there are numbers, such as Erlong in Jilin Province, Sanlong in Jiangxi Province and Silong in Liaoning Province. Some take the dragon's body as the topic, such as the dragon head in Jiangxi province, the dragon horn in Sichuan province, the dragon forehead in Guizhou province and the dragon claw in Heilongjiang province; Some dragon groups can be composed of dragon king, dragon mother, dragon, little dragon, golden dragon, wooden dragon, water dragon, earth dragon and so on. There are more than 4 rivers with the word "dragon" in China, and the familiar yellow, blue, red, white and black dragons are located in Sichuan (Huanglong River), Hebei (qinglong river and Chilong River), Tianjin (Qinglongwan River and Heilonggang River), Gansu (Bailong River), Shanghai (Bailonggang River) and Heilongjiang (Heilongjiang). Almost every province has Longjiang, Longhu, Longshan, Longdong, Longquan, Longtan, and countless Longwang temples.
There are also traces of dragons in daily life. Clothes are robes and dragon crowns; Eat lobster, longan and Longxu Noodles; Buildings include Dragon Palace and Long Ting; There are dragon boats and carts. The furniture includes dragon chairs and beds. On the fifteenth day of the first month, dragon lanterns will be danced, and dragon boat races will be held on the Dragon Boat Festival in May. Animals include dragons and fleas; Plants include Solanum nigrum, agave, Gracilaria lemaneiformis, Gracilaria lemaneiformis, Sabina vulgaris and Sophora japonica. The treasure house of geomantic omen is called Dragon Cave, the waterwheel for pumping water is called keel waterwheel, and the big crane is called gantry crane. There is Long Xing in the sky and Long Mai in the ground. There are hundreds of nouns related to dragons in ancient books. There are 81 fairy tales of dragons collected in Taiping Guangji edited a thousand years ago. In China, dragons are almost everywhere. Dragon culture has a long history.
the image and totem of the dragon
The dragon is the totem of primitive people, and it is an illusory creature that only exists in the totem but not in the biological world. The image of the dragon known today combines the characteristics of various creatures: snake body, animal leg, eagle claw, horse head, snake tail, antlers and fish scales. Some studies have pointed out that the image of the dragon has undergone constant development and change. In the long historical process, through war and alliance, the nation that believes in the dragon totem has gradually become the leader, and the dragon totem has gradually become the banner that the whole Chinese nation believes in. The image of totem originally believed by other nationalities has been gradually absorbed and enriched into the image of dragon, so the characteristics of dragon are more and more, and the image is increasingly complex and powerful.
people also concentrate all kinds of virtues and excellent qualities on dragons. We see from many stories and legends that the dragon is brave and good at fighting, and it is not afraid of any violence; The dragon is intelligent. It can even foresee the future. The dragon's ability is high, it can be big and small, changeable, and it can spread clouds and rain, thunder and lightning, talk and move mountains, and its magic is boundless; Dragons are rich, and the Dragon Palace has become a concentrated place for treasures. The dragon is upright and considerate of the people. In order to save the suffering of human drought, it even offends the dogma. In the dragon, people's good wishes are concentrated, and the 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, that is, the heavenly emperor, is also called the jade emperor. Legend has it that the ancestor of the Chinese nation-the incarnation of the Yellow Emperor. It is recorded in Records of the Historian. The Book of Closing the Zen, that the Yellow Emperor and the common people excavated copper in Shoushan, cast the mined copper into a big bronze tripod and placed it at the foot of Jingshan Mountain. When the bronze tripod was cast, a dragon hung down its beard to welcome the Yellow Emperor to heaven. The Yellow Emperor rode on the dragon's back, and his ministers, wives and children also climbed up one after another, with more than 7 people on one. At this time, the dragon rose to the sky, and the rest of the ministers could not squeeze in, holding the dragon's beard one by one. The dragon beard broke because of the weight, and the bow that the Yellow Emperor was carrying was also pulled down, so the courtiers had to hold the dragon beard and bow and wail. The yellow emperor became the emperor of heaven after he rose to heaven.
It is also said in Records of the Historian. The Official Book: "Xuanyuan (Yellow Emperor's name is Xuanyuan), Huanglong style". Simply put, the Yellow Emperor is the embodiment of Huanglong. Huanglong is the dragon emperor, and the five elements belong to the earth, ranking in the center. It is the head of the dragon and the master of heaven in Taoist religious view. It is also mentioned in the classics of the Han Dynasty: "The Huanglong is the length of the quartet, the positive color of the quartet, and the essence of the gods. Can be huge, can be detailed, can be quiet, can be bright, can be short, can be long, suddenly exist, suddenly die. The king fishes without a filter, and if he reaches the abyss, he should swim in the pond with harmony. ",illustrates the image of Huanglong.
The legendary dragon
The ancients regarded the dragon as a sacred and spiritual thing, and it was changeable. It could be fine and huge, short and long, and it could go deep into the water and soar to the sky. Legends about dragons are found in almost every book in China's ancient classic works, and there are countless legends and myths about dragons. Classics, such as the Book of Changes, make a complete and systematic exposition of dragons and endow them with philosophical meanings. In the eight diagrams, the dragon is used to illustrate the dry divination, which is also the first divination in the Book of Changes.
In addition, legends and myths about dragons have been appearing throughout the dynasties, and many places named after the word "dragon" also have legends about dragons. Up to the era of the Yellow Emperor, there was a legend that Lapras ascended to heaven and Ying Long helped the Yellow Emperor defeat Chiyou. Xia Yu controls the water, and it is said that there is a dragon painting a river with its tail to divert the flood; Liu Bang, the emperor gaozu of Han Dynasty, is said to be pregnant and born after his mother dreamed of mating with the red dragon. From many stories and legends, we can see that people often concentrate 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 solve the suffering of human drought, even at the expense of offending dogma. Legend has it that Yulong was imprisoned by the Jade Emperor because he couldn't bear the people's suffering from drought and helped them to rain, and made a rule that only golden beans would be released when they bloomed. The people gathered together to fry corn because they were grateful for Yulong's righteous act. Because it looked like golden beans blooming, Taibai Venus, who was in charge, was mistaken and released Yulong. The tradition of frying corn on the second day of February every year has also been preserved.
of course, if there is a righteous dragon as a good thing in the legend, there will naturally be an evil dragon as a disaster. With the opening of people's wisdom and the introduction of Buddhist beliefs, the image of the Dragon King among the people has changed, and the Dragon King, as one of the Taoist traditions, has also begun to play the role of villain. In many places named after the word "dragon" in China, there are also legends of dragons, among which there are many stories of dragons raging. Just like Heilongjiang, it is said that there was a white dragon as a disaster before. Later, in a village by the river, a family gave birth to a black dragon. It turned out that the black dragon came to help get rid of the white dragon, and the villagers supported it according to its instructions. Finally, the white dragon was removed, and people named the river Heilongjiang to commemorate the black dragon. There is a Wolong Lake in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan Province, and there is a milky yellow Liang Shi at the bottom of the lake, which is said to be the embodiment of the White Dragon. There are two big rivers near Jiuzhaigou. One is called Heishui River. It is said that there used to be a big black dragon. A white dragon lives in a Bailong River. Legend has it that the black dragon sucked up the water in Jiuzhaigou because he was jealous of the scenery there. When the little white dragon knew about it, he sprayed the water from Bailong River to Jiuzhaigou to restore its beauty. When the black dragon knew about it, he started a fierce fight with the white dragon. When he was defeated, the black dragon poisoned the plan, and the small white dragon was forced to flee to one of the lakes in Jiuzhaigou. The black dragon alarmed the Tibetan God of Wanshan to check the whereabouts of Bailong, and was finally imprisoned by the God of Wanshan, unable to do evil again. The God of Wanshan gave the White Dragon a set of golden armor in recognition of it, which is the origin of the legend of Wolong Lake.
the dragon king in literary works
dragons are personified in folk literature and art, and the sea dragon king is beneficial to the people and harmful to them. In the mythical novel "The List of Gods", The Journey to the West, the drama "Liu Yi Chuan Shu" and "Zhang Yu Zhu Hai", there are dragon kings with different good and evil and human-like personalities.
In The Journey to the West, there are many descriptions and stories about dragons. With the opening of people's wisdom and the introduction of Buddhist beliefs, the image of the Dragon King among the people has changed. Before that, the impression of the Dragon King was generally positive, but after Buddhism began to flourish, the status of the Dragon King began to decline, and it became a supporting role and even a clown in The Journey to the West. In The Journey to the West, what the Monkey King made a scene was that everyone was familiar with the Dragon Palace of Aoguang, the Dragon King of the East China Sea. When facing the Monkey King, the Dragon King of the Four Seas was powerless to resist, and he could only offer treasures such as King Kong Stick and Golden Armor in a trembling manner, and his playing time was few and far between. Because he set fire to the Dragon Palace, he was almost put to death by the Jade Emperor. Fortunately, he was saved by Guanyin Bodhisattva and became the dragon king of Tang Sanzang's white horse. It was another well-known three princes of ao run, Bai Longwang, West Sea.
The Dragon King in The Romance of the Gods
In addition to the Four Seas Dragon King mentioned in The Journey to the West, the Dragon King also appeared in The Romance of the Gods, another Zhanghui novel. The Romance of the Gods, also known as the List of Gods, was compiled by Xu Zhonglin from the middle to the late Ming Dynasty, and there is also a saying that it was adapted by Lu Xixing, a Taoist thinker in Yangzhou.
The Romance of Sacrificing Gods is based on the story of Zhou Wuwang's crusade against Shang Zhouwang and describes the story of Jiang Ziya's deity. In The Legend of the Dragon Creation, Yoshiki Tanaka mentioned many times that the Dragon King of the Four Seas was ordered by the Emperor of Heaven to help the Zhou Dynasty to crusade against Shang Zhou, and in The Romance of the Gods, the Dragon King also appeared. However, in the Romance of the Gods, the Dragon King of the Four Seas did not play any important role in the war of Zhou Wu. In fact, as Longtangshi said in The Legend of Dragon Creation, there is no mention that the Dragon King of the Four Seas participated in the Zhou Wu Revolutionary War in any literary works and classics. The role of the Dragon King in The Romance of Gods was almost the same as that in The Journey to the West, and it became a supporting role and a clown.
in the list of gods, Nezha played the role of the Monkey King in The Journey to the West. Stubborn Nezha didn't know that the Chinese-style chest covering and wrist bracelet he was carrying were the treasures of the immortals. He put the Chinese-style chest covering in the water when taking a bath in Jiuhewan, making it shake in the East China Sea, and even the Crystal Palace shook. Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East China Sea (there is also a saying that Aoguang) sent people to investigate, but the people sent were killed by the stubborn Nezha. Ao Guang sent his third prince to investigate, but the third prince was also killed by Nezha, and was even skinned and cramped by Nezha. Finally, Ao Guang pleaded guilty to Nezha's father, Li Jingxing, and vowed to tell the Emperor of Heaven. Nezha was unconvinced, and Ao Guang, who was on the road, was beaten. Finally, the Dragon King of the Four Seas told the Emperor of Heaven about this matter, and arrested Li Jing's family for trial in heaven. At this time, Nezha took the fault by himself, cut out the intestines by laparotomy, and returned the flesh and blood to his parents, which only calmed the matter down. Finally, Nezha was resurrected with the help of the real master Taiyi, and served as a pioneer in the King Wu's offensive war. After that, the Dragon King was not mentioned in the Romance of the Gods. It can be seen that the statement that the Dragon King of the Four Seas helped the Zhou Dynasty to crusade against Shang Zhou was purely Yoshiki Tanaka's creation, and there was no exact background support of myths and legends.
The Legend of Longquan Township
It is mentioned in Chuanglong Biography that Longquan Township is somewhere in Qinghai Province. In fact, is there Longquan Township in Qinghai Province? As mentioned in the previous paragraph, almost every province has places named after dragons, and there are several places named after Longquan. Where is Longquan? It is generally believed that it is now Longquan County in Zhejiang Province. Before the Tang Dynasty, this place was called Longquan Township, and the county was established here in the Tang Dynasty. Longquan was named after a "Longquan sword". According to the Yuejueshu, a historical book of the State of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period, the King of Chu heard that there was a general in the State of Wu, and there was a Ou Yezi in the State of Yue, both of whom were famous sword-makers. So he sent someone to ask two famous artists to cast some iron swords for Chu with heavy money. After applying for the job, they dug through the mountain, drained the streams in the mountain, found the essence of iron ore, and cast three swords, one called Longyuan, the other called Taia and the other called Gongbu. Later, in order to avoid the taboo of Tang Gaozu Tang gaozu, Longyuan Sword was renamed Longquan Sword. Longquan County, Zhejiang Province, just mentioned, has a Jianchi Lake to the south of the county seat. According to legend, it is the place where Ou Yezi cast his sword, also known as Longyuan, so this place is called Longquan.
but there are also several places called Longquan. In addition to Longquan County just now, there is also a Longquan in Yongjia County in Zhejiang Province. According to "Notes on Water Classics", the water lines in the spring eyes have become the shape of dragons, and livestock are afraid to drink water here. There is also a Longquan in Xiping County, Henan Province. Ancient books say that this spring can sharpen the sword and make the blade strong. There is a Longquan field in Jiangxi, which was once established as Longquan County in the Southern Tang Dynasty and is now called Suizhou. There is a Longquan Ping in Guizhou, which was also called Longquan County in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and later changed to Fengquan County and Fenggang County. So, is there Longquan Township in Qinghai Province? In the data that can be tested, there is no. There may be a small village or township called this, but it is not clear whether it can really lead to Kunlun.
Dragon King
Dragon is one of the four spirits in ancient China mythology. There are "Dragon King Products" in the Sutra of the Divine Mantra in Taishang Cave, which lists the "Five Emperors Dragon King" in terms of orientation, the "Four Seas Dragon King" in terms of ocean, and the names of 54 dragon kings and 62 dragon kings in terms of everything in the world. When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, an altar official was set up to offer sacrifices to the Dragon King. Song Taizu followed the system of offering sacrifices to five dragons in the Tang Dynasty. In the second year of Daguan, Song Huizong (118), all the five dragons in the world were crowned king. Seal Qinglong God as King Guangren, Red Dragon God as King Jiaze, Huanglong God as King Fuying, 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 as "the God of the Dragon King who should divide the water", which made the governor of the river pay a sacrifice at the right time. In The Journey to the West, the dragon kings are Ao Guang in the East China Sea, Aoqin in the South China Sea, ao run in the West Sea and Aoshun in the North Sea, which are called the Four Seas Dragon Kings.
Thus, the duty of the Dragon King is to promote clouds and distribute rain, to eliminate heat and troubles for people, and the Dragon King's water control has become a common belief among the people. The "Dragon King's Product" in Taoism's "Tai Shang Dong Yuan Shen Mantra Classic" says that "the land is dry, and the five crops are not harvested, so you don't know when to time them in twos and threes". The Buddha came to the land in five-color clouds at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and preached the Dharma with the Dragon Kings and other heavenly kings to save all beings, and it was timely and moist.
On the birthday of the Dragon King, there are differences in various literature records and local folklore. In the old days, temples dedicated to the Dragon King were almost as common as temples in the city god and the land. Whenever the wind and rain are out of balance, there is no rain for a long time, or it rains for a long time, the people will go to the Longwang Temple to burn incense and pray for the Dragon King to control the water and the good weather.
The dragon is a miraculous animal in China's legend, which is changeable, able to promote sex and benefit all things. It is the leader of many scale insects and the first of the four spirits (dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise). There are many different images in ancient books. When it comes to slender, it has four feet, and it is anticlimactic. When it comes to wearing scales, the head has whiskers and five claws. Compendium of Materia Medica says that "dragons have nine similarities", which is a heterogeneous animal with the strengths of all kinds of animals. There are many names for it. Those with scales are called dragons, those with wings are called Ying Long, those with horns are called [multita] dragons, and those without horns are called Qiu. The little one is called Jiao, and the big one is called Dragon. Legend has it that it can show and hide, be detailed and huge, be short and be long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, and it is omnipotent. In mythology, it is the master of the underwater world (the Dragon King), a symbol of auspiciousness among the people, and the embodiment of imperial rule in ancient times.