Qiulong (; lit. "curling dragon") or qiu was a

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (my ...

that is contradictorily defined as "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".

Name

This Chinese dragon name can be pronounced ''qiu'' or ''jiu'' and written or .

Characters

The

variant Chinese character Variant Chinese characters (; Kanji: ; Hepburn: ''itaiji''; ; Revised Romanization: ''icheja'') are Chinese characters that are homophones and synonyms. Most variants are allographs in most circumstances, such as casual handwriting. Some context ...

s for the ''qiu'' or ''jiu'' dragon are and , which combine the "insect

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics * Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe an ...

" with

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

s of ''jiu'' "connect" and ''yin'' "hidden". This radical is typically used in

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

for insects, worms, reptiles, and dragons (e.g., '' shen'' , '' jiao'' , and '' hong'' ). Compare the word ''jiu'' or "twist; entangle; unite" that is written with the "silk radical" and the same alternate phonetics as ''qiu'' or . ''Qiu'' or is also an uncommon

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlik ...

. For example, Qiuranke Zhuan "The Legend of the Curly-whiskered Guest" is a story by the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

writer Du Guangting (850–933 CE), and Qiu Zhong was the

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

of the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

painter Li Fangying. In Japanese, the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

"Chinese characters" or are sometimes used for the ''

mizuchi The is a type of Japanese dragon or legendary serpent-like creature, either found in an aquatic habitat or otherwise connected to water. Some commentators perceived it to have been a water deity. It is described in the ancient pseudo-chronicle '' ...

'' "river dragon".

Etymologies

Sinological linguists have proposed several

etymologies Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words a ...

for the ''qiu'' or ''jiu'' dragon.

Bernhard Karlgren Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren (; 15 October 1889 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods. In the early 20th century, Karlgren conducte ...

(1957:274) reconstructed

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 12 ...

pronunciations of ''qiu'' < *''g'yŏg'' or ''jiu'' < *''kyŏg'' for "horned dragon" and "horn-shaped; long and curved". This latter word combines the "horn radical" and 's ''jiu'' phonetic. Carr (1990:151-2) follows Karlgren's reconstructions and suggests ''qiu'' < *''g'yŏg'' or ''jiu'' < *''kyŏg'' is "part of a 'twist; coil; wrap' word family" that includes: *''qiu'' < *''g'yôg'' "long and curved; curled up horn" *''jiu'' < *''klyŏg'' "curving branch; twist" *''miu'' < *''mlyŏg'' or ''jiu'' < *''klyŏg'' "bind; wind around; wrap; twist" *''liu'' < *''glyôg'' or ''lu'' < *''glyôk'' "join forces; unite" *''jiao'' < *''klôg'' "glue; unite" *''liao'' < *''glyôg'' "tie around; strangle" This "twisting; coiling" etymology can explain both the meanings "horned dragon; twisted horns" and "curling; wriggling" below. Schuessler (2007:435) reconstructs Old Chinese ''qiu'' < *''giu'' or ''jiu'' < *''kiu'' for or "horn-shaped; long and curved" and "horned dragon", and cites Coblin's (1986:130) comparison of "horned dragon" with Written

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...

''klu'' "

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

, serpent spirit". Schuessler compares ''jiu'' < *''kiuʔ'' "to twist, plait" and concludes the "most likely etymology is 'twisting, wriggling'".

Meanings

Chinese dictionaries Chinese dictionaries date back over two millennia to the Han dynasty, which is a significantly longer lexicographical history than any other language. There are hundreds of dictionaries for the Chinese language, and this article discusses some o ...

give three ''qiu'' or meanings: "dragon without horns ", "dragon with horns", and "curling; coiling".

Hornless dragon

Several Chinese classic texts and commentaries from the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

identified ''qiu'' as a "hornless dragon; dragon without horns", which is interpreted as "young dragon; immature dragon". The (2nd century BCE) ''

Chuci The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period ...

'' uses ''qiu'' seven times, which is more frequently than any other classical text. The standard Sibu Beiyao edition gives the character as instead of . ''Qiu'' is a dragon name in four contexts. The first uses ''yuqiu'' "jade hornless-dragon"; (, tr. Hawkes 1985:73) "I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix-figured car, And waited for the wind to come, to soar up on my journey." The second uses ''qiulong'' "hornless dragon"; (, tr. Hawkes 1985:128) "Where are the hornless dragons which carry bears on their backs for sport?" In both contexts, commentary of Wang Yi (d. 158 CE) says ''qiu'' means "hornless dragon" and ''long'' means "horned dragon". The third uses ''qingqiu'' "green dragon" referring to the legendary

Shun Shun may refer to one of the following: *To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group * Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬) Emperor Shun * Emperor Shun (舜 ...

as Chong Hua ; (, tr. Hawkes 1985:160) "With a team of azure dragons, white serpents in the traces, I rode with Chong Hua in the Garden of Jasper." Wang notes ''qiu'' and ''chi'' are types of ''long'' "dragons". The fourth uses ''qiu'' alone; (, tr. Hawkes 1985:271) "With team of dragons I mount the heavens, In ivory chariot borne aloft." The (121 CE) ''

Shuowen Jiezi ''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the ''Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give t ...

'' dictionary gives inconsistent definitions of ''qiu'' . Some early editions define "a dragon without horns", while later editions define "a young dragon with horns". Carr (1990:93-4) notes the discrepancy of three ''Shuowen'' definitions for "hornless dragon": ''qiu'' , ''jiao'' , and ''chi'' . The ''Shuowen Jiezi'' scholar Zhu Junsheng (1788–1834 CE) explains that male ''long'' "dragons" have horns and female ones do not, and among young dragons, ''jiao'' has one horn, ''qiu'' has two, and ''chi'' is hornless. A few later sources, such as the (c. 1011 CE) ''

Guangyun The ''Guangyun'' (''Kuang-yun''; ) is a Chinese rime dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the patronage of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Its full name was ''Dà Sòng chóngxiū guǎngyùn'' (, literally "Great Song revised and ex ...

rime dictionary A rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book () is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary that collates characters by tone and rhyme, instead of by radical. The most important rime dictionary tradition began with the '' Qieyun'' (601), wh ...

, concur with early ''Shuowen Jiezi'' editions and define ''qiu'' as "hornless dragon", but most dictionaries define a contrast set between ''qiu'' "horned dragon" and ''chi'' "hornless dragon".

Horned dragon

The (c. 139 BCE) ''

Huainanzi The ''Huainanzi'' is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of essays that resulted from a series of scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, sometime before 139. The ''Huainanzi'' blends Daoist, Confuci ...

'' "Peering into the Obscure" chapter (6) mentions ''qingqiu'' "green horned-dragon" twice. First, "The Fable of the Dragons and the Mud-Eels" uses it with ''chichi'' "red hornless-dragon" (tr. Le Blanc 1987:144); "When the red hornless dragon and the green horned dragon roamed the land of Chi , the sky was limpid and the earth undisturbed." The commentary of Gao Yu (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

205 CE) notes ''qingqiu'' and ''chichi'' are types of ''long'' "dragons", but without mentioning horns. Second, a description of

Fu Xi Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well a ...

and

Nüwa Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven. As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay. In the Huaina ...

, who are represented as having dragon tails, uses ''qingqiu'' with '' yinglong'' "winged dragon" (tr. Le Blanc 1987:161-2); "They rode the thunder chariot, using winged dragons as the inner pair and green dragons as the outer pair." The (c. 100 BCE) ''Shiji'' "

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...

" biography of

Sima Xiangru Sima Xiangru ( , ; c. 179117BC) was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician who lived during the Western Han dynasty. Sima is a significant figure in the history of Classical Chinese poetry, and is generally regarded as the greatest of all com ...

quotes his '' fu'' poem entitled ''Zixu'' "Sir Fantasy". Like the ''Huaiananzi'', it contrasts ''qingqiu'' "green horned-dragon" with ''chichi'' "red hornless-dragon", which Watson (1993:2:309, 312) translates "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".

Ge Hong Ge Hong (; b. 283 – d. 343 or 364), courtesy name Zhichuan (稚川), was a Chinese linguist, Taoist practitioner, philosopher, physician, politician, and writer during the Eastern Jin dynasty. He was the author of '' Essays on Chinese Charact ...

's (4th century CE) ''Baopuzi'' (, tr. Visser 1913:73-4) has four references. It mentions: ''jiu'' "As to the flying to the sky of the ''k'iu'' of the pools, this is his union with the clouds", ''shenjiu'' "divine horned-dragon" "If a pond inhabited by fishes and gavials is drained off, the divine ''k'iu'' go away", and ''qingjiu'' "green horned-dragon" "The ts'ui k'iu (kingfisher-''k'iu'') has no wings and yet flies upwards to the sky", "Place the shape (i.e. an image of this dragon) in a tray, and the kingfisher-''k'iu'' (shall) descend in a dark vapoury haze". The (c. 230 CE) ''

Guangya The (c. 230) ''Guangya'' (; "Expanded '' ra''") was an early 3rd-century CE Chinese dictionary, edited by Zhang Yi (張揖) during the Three Kingdoms period. It was later called the ''Boya'' (博雅; ''Bóyǎ''; ''Po-ya''; "Broadened ra") owing ...

'' dictionary defines ''qiu'' (written with a rare "frog"-radical graphic variant) as "horned dragon" and ''chi'' as "hornless dragon". This semantic contrast is repeated in later dictionaries such as the (997 CE) ''

Longkan Shoujian ''Longkan Shoujian'' () is a Chinese dictionary compiled during the Liao Dynasty by the Khitan monk Xingjun (). Completed in 997, the work had originally been entitled Longkan Shoujing (; and are synonyms), but had its title changed owing to n ...

'' and the (c. 1080 CE) ''

Piya The ''Piya'' (; "Increased ra") was a Chinese dictionary compiled by Song Dynasty scholar Lu Dian ( 陸佃/陆佃, 1042-1102). He wrote this ''Erya'' supplement along with his ''Erya Xinyi'' (爾雅新義 "New Exegesis of the ''Erya''") comment ...

'', which says (tr. Visser 1913:73) differentiates: "If a dragon has scales, he is called ''kiao-lung'' (); if wings, ''ying-lung'' (); if a horn, ''k'iu-lung'' (); and if he has no horn, he is called ''ch'i-lung'' ()." In traditional

Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based in or draws on Chinese ...

, dragons are commonly represented with two horns. According to the (2nd century CE) '' Qian fu lun'' (tr. Visser 1913:70), the dragon's "horns resemble those of a stag". The (1578 CE) ''

Bencao Gangmu The ''Bencao gangmu'', known in English as the ''Compendium of Materia Medica'' or ''Great Pharmacopoeia'', is an encyclopedic gathering of medicine, natural history, and Chinese herbology compiled and edited by Li Shizhen and published in the ...

'' materia medica prescribes ''longjue'' "dragon horn" (tr. Read 1934:9, "fossilized horns of the ''

Chalicotherium ''Chalicotherium'' ( Ancient Greek /, -: pebble/gravel + /, diminutive of / : beast) is a genus of extinct odd-toed ungulates of the order Perissodactyla and family Chalicotheriidae. The genus is known from Europe and Asia, from the ...

sinense''"), "For convulsions, fevers, diarrhea with fever and hardened belly. Taken continuously it lightens the body, enlightens the soul and prolongs life."

Curling

''Qiu'' can mean "curling; twisting; coiling; wriggling; writhing" in Chinese compounds. For instance: *''qiupan'' "curled up like a dragon; curling and twisting (esp. tree roots)" *''jiaoqiu'' "coil like a dragon" *''qiuxu'' "curly beard; curly mustache" *''qiuran'' "curly whiskers" Besides the four "hornless dragon" examples above, three ''Chuci'' contexts use ''qiu'' in words describing dragons "coiling; wriggling; writhing". Two use ''youqiu'' to describe the ''canglong'' Azure Dragon constellation; (/"Sorrow for Troth Betrayed", cf. ''qingqiu'' "green horned-dragon" above, tr. Hawkes 1985:240) "I rode in the ivory chariot of the Great Unity: The coiling Green Dragon ran in the left-hand traces; The White Tiger made the right hand of my team" (, tr. Hawkes 1985:290), "To hang at my girdle the coiling Green Dragon, To wear at my belt the sinuous rainbow serpent." One uses ''liuqiu'' with ''chi'' "hornless dragon" (, tr. Hawkes 1985:198); "They lined water monsters up to join them in the dance: How their bodies coiled and writhed in undulating motion!"

Mythic parallels

The ancient Chinese ''jiu'' "horned dragon" is analogous with the Mountain Horned Dragon lizard and several legendary creatures in

Comparative mythology Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used ...

. Assuming

trans-cultural diffusion In cultural anthropology and cultural geography, cultural diffusion, as conceptualized by Leo Frobenius in his 1897/98 publication ''Der westafrikanische Kulturkreis'', is the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, te ...

, MacKenzie (1923:54) suggests that the Chinese "horned-dragon, or horned-serpent" derives from the Egyptian

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

"water-serpent". The Chinese

Hui people The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the ...

have a myth (Li and Luckert 1994:104) about a silver-horned dragon that controls rainfall. In

Babylonian mythology Babylonian religion is the religious practice of Babylonia. Babylonian mythology was greatly influenced by their Sumerian counterparts and was written on clay tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from Sumerian cuneiform. The myth ...

, the deity

Marduk Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of ...

supposedly rode a horned dragon when he defeated

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial crea ...

, and it became his emblem. In

Persian mythology Persian mythology or Iranian mythology ( Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the ori ...

, the hero

Garshasp Garshāsp ( fa, گرشاسپ ) was, in Persian mythology, the last Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to ''Shahnameh''. He was a descendant of Zaav, ruling over the Persian Empire for about nine years. His name is shared with a ...

killed an ''Aži Sruvara'' "horned dragon". In

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

, the two-headed

Amphisbaena The amphisbaena (, , or , plural: amphisbaenae; grc, ἀμφίσβαινα) is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. The creature is alternatively called the amphisbaina, amphisbene, amphisboena, amphisbona, amphista, a ...

dragon was represented with horns.

References

*Carr, Michael. 1990
"Chinese Dragon Names"
''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' 13.2:87–189. *Coblin, W. South. 1986. ''A Sinologist's Handlist of Sino-Tibetan Lexical Comparisons''. Nettetal. *Hawkes, David, tr. 1985. ''The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets''. Penguin. *Karlgren, Bernhard. 1957. ''Grammata Serica Recensa''. Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. *Le Blanc, Charles. 1985. ''Huai-nan Tzu'': Philosophical Synthesis in Early Han Thought: The Idea of Resonance (''Kan-Ying'') With a Translation and Analysis of Chapter Six. Hong Kong University Press. *Li Shujiang and Karl W. Luckert. 1994.
Mythology and Folklore of the Hui, a Muslim Chinese People
'. SUNY Press. *Mackenzie, Donald A. 1923.
Myths of China and Japan
'. Gresham. *Read, Bernard E. 1934. "Chinese Materia Medica VII; Dragons and Snakes," ''Peking Natural History Bulletin'' 8.4:279–362. *Schuessler, Axel. 2007. ''ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese''. University of Hawaii Press. *Visser, Marinus Willern de. 1913
''The Dragon in China and Japan''
J. Müller. *Watson, Burton, tr. 1993. ''Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian''. Columbia University Press.

External links

entry
Chinese Etymology
and {{lang, zh-hant, 虬 entry page
1716 CE

Kangxi Dictionary The ''Kangxi Dictionary'' ( (Compendium of standard characters from the Kangxi period), published in 1716, was the most authoritative dictionary of Chinese characters from the 18th century through the early 20th. The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing ...

Chinese dragons