The Yellow

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

( is the zoomorphic incarnation of the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

of the center of the universe in Chinese religion and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. The Yellow Emperor or Yellow Deity was conceived by

Fubao Fubao (), a woman from the Youjiao clan, was, according to Chinese mythology sources, the mother-in-law of the inventor of silk, Leizu; mother of Huang Di the Yellow Emperor; and, wife of Shaodian. However, the mythological genealogy varies. Fubao i ...

, who became pregnant after seeing a yellow ray of light turning around the Northern Dipper (in

Chinese theology Chinese theology, which comes in different interpretations according to the classic texts and the common religion, and specifically Confucian, Taoist and other philosophical formulations, is fundamentally monistic, that is to say it sees the w ...

the principal symbol of

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

). Twenty-four months later, the Yellow Emperor was born and was associated with the color yellow because it is the color of the earth ('' Dì'' ), the material substance in which he incarnated. The Yellow Dragon is a part of ''Wuxing'' and the

Four Symbols The Four Symbols (, literally meaning "four images"), are four mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. These four creatures are also refe ...

as the embodiment of the element of earth.

Myths of Fuxi and Huangdi

According to legends, the Yellow Dragon already manifested hornless to

Fuxi 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 ...

, emerging from the River Luo, and instructed him with the elements of

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

. When he appeared before Fuxi, he filled a hole in the sky made by the monster

Gonggong Gonggong () is a Chinese water god who is depicted in Chinese mythology and folktales as having a copper human head with an iron forehead, red hair, and the body of a serpent, or sometimes the head and torso are human, with the tail of a serpe ...

. The

was said to have turned into the form of the Yellow Dragon at the end of his life to ascend to

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

. Since the Chinese consider him to be their ancestor, they sometimes refer to themselves as "children of the dragon" (also see:

Nine sons of the dragon The nine sons of the dragon are Chinese dragons who are the mythological sons of the Dragon King. There are many variations in the different descriptions of the nine sons, including in basic facts like their names, but all versions state that the ...

). This legend also contributed towards the use of the

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 ...

as a symbol of imperial power. The

Chinese national flag The National Flag of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Five-star Red Flag, is a Chinese red field with five golden stars charged at the canton. The design features one large star, with four smaller stars in an arc set off to ...

from 1889–1912 is also called the ''Yellow Dragon Flag'' ().

Other uses

In East Asian culture, the Yellow Dragon is the fifth symbol completing the Sixiang (Four Symbols). This deity is the center of the cosmos and it represents the element

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, the Chinese quintessence, as well as the changing of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

s. The Yellow Dragon does not appear in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of year ...

: the fifth element in the Japanese elemental system is the void, so there cannot be an animal representing it. However, some consider the ''Ōryū'' as the Japanese counterpart of the Yellow Dragon since they share some similarities.

References

Citations

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* {{Chinese constellation Chinese dragons Four Symbols

Myths of Fuxi and Huangdi

Other uses

See also

References

Citations

Sources