Yinglong () is a winged

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 ...

and rain deity in ancient

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

Name

This

legendary creature A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accounts ...

's name combines ''yìng'' "respond; correspond; answer; reply; agree; comply; consent; promise; adapt; apply" and ''lóng'' "

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 animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most ...

". Although the former character is also pronounced (with a different tone) ''yīng'' "should; ought to; need to; proper; suitable", ''yinglong'' definitively means "responsive dragon; responding dragon" and not "proper dragon".

Classical usages

The

Chinese classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...

frequently mention ''yinglong'' "a winged rain-dragon" in myths about the

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were two groups of mythological rulers in ancient north China. The Three Sovereigns supposedly lived long before The Five Emperors, who have been assigned dates in a period from 3162 BC to 2070 BC. Today t ...

, especially the Yellow Emperor and his alleged descendant King Yu. The examples below, limited to books with English translations, are roughly arranged in chronological order, although some heterogeneous texts have uncertain dates of composition.

''Chuci''

The (3rd–2nd centuries BCE) ''

Chu Ci 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 ...

'' "Songs of Chu" mentions Yinglong helping King Yu , the legendary founder of the

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In trad ...

, to control the mythic Great Deluge. According to Chinese mythology,

Emperor Yao Emperor Yao (; traditionally c. 2356 – 2255 BCE) was a legendary Chinese ruler, according to various sources, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Ancestry and early life Yao's ancestral name is Yi Qi () or Qi (), clan name i ...

assigned Yu's father Gun , who was supposedly a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, to control massive flooding, but he failed. Yao's successor,

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition al ...

, had Gun executed and his body exposed, but when Gun's corpse did not decompose, it was cut open and Yu was born by

parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and developmen ...

. Shun appointed Yu to control the floods, and after succeeding through diligently constructing canals, Yu divided ancient China into the

Nine Provinces The term Nine Provinces or Nine Regions (), is used in ancient Chinese histories to refer to territorial divisions or islands during the Xia and Shang dynasties and has now come to symbolically represent China. "Province" is the word used to ...

. The ''

Heavenly Questions The ''Heavenly Questions'' or ''Questions to Heaven'' () is a piece contained in the Classical Chinese poetry collection of ''Chu Ci'', which is noted both in terms of poetry and as a source for information on the ancient culture of China, espec ...

'' section (3, ) asks about Yinglong, in context with Zhulong "Torch Dragon". ''Tianwen'', which Hawkes 1985:38, 126) characterizes as "a shamanistic catechism consisting of questions about cosmological, astronomical, mythological and historical matters", and "is written in an archaic language to be found nowhere else in the Chu anthology" excepting "one or two short passages" in the ''

Li Sao "''Li Sao''" (; translation: "Encountering Sorrow") is an ancient Chinese poem from the anthology ''Chuci'' traditionally attributed to Qu Yuan. ''Li Sao'' dates from the late 3rd century BCE, during the Chinese Warring States period. Backgrou ...

'' section. The (early second century CE) ''Chuci'' commentary of Wang Yi answers that Yinglong drew lines on the ground to show Yu where to dig drainage and irrigation canals.

''Classic of Mountains and Seas''

The (c. 4th century BCE – 1st century CE) ''

Classic of Mountains and Seas The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sinc ...

'' records variant Yinglong myths in two chapters of "The Classic of the Great Wilderness" section. The "Responding Dragon" is connected with two deities who rebelled against the Yellow Emperor: the war-god and rain-god

Chiyou Chiyou (蚩尤, ) is a mythological being that appears in East Asian mythology. Individual According to the Song dynasty history book '' Lushi'', Chiyou's surname was Jiang (), and he was a descendant of flame. According to legend, Chiyou had ...

"Jest Much" and the giant

Kua Fu Kuafu () is a giant in Chinese mythology who wished to capture the Sun. He was a grandson of Houtu. Story One day, Kuafu decided to chase and catch the Sun. He followed the Sun from the East to the West, draining the Yellow River and the Wei R ...

"Boast Father". "The Classic of the Great Wilderness: The East" (14, ) mentions Yinglong killing both Chiyou "Jest Much" and Kua Fu "Boast Father", and describes using Yinglong images in

sympathetic magic Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence. Similarity and contagion James George Frazer coined the term "sympathetic magic" in ''The Golden Bough'' (1889); Richard Andree, however, a ...

for rainmaking.

Guo Pu Guo Pu (; AD 276–324), courtesy name Jingchun () was a Chinese historian, poet, and writer during the Eastern Jin period, and is best known as one of China's foremost commentators on ancient texts. Guo was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collector ...

's (early 4th century CE) commentary (tr. Visser 1913:114) mentions ''tulong'' "earth/clay dragon", "The earthen dragons of the present day find their origin in this." "The Classic of the Great Wilderness: The North" (17, ) mentions ''Yinglong'' in two myths about killing Kua Fu "Boast Father". The first version says Yinglong killed him in punishment for drinking rivers and creating droughts while chasing the sun. The second mythic version says the Yellow Emperor's daughter Ba "Droughtghoul" killed Chiyou "Jest Much" after Yinglong failed. Ba is a drought-demon analogous with Kua Fu. Based on textual history of Yinglong, Chiyou, Kua Fu, and related legends,

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 conducted ...

(1946:284-5) concludes that "all these nature myths are purely Han-time lore, and there is no trace of them in pre-Han sources", with two exceptions. Ba, who is "a very old folk-lore figure", already occurs in the c.

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fro ...

Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, c ...

'' (258), and Yinglong, "who directed the flow of rivers and seas", occurs in the c.

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

''Tianwen'' (above).

''Huainanzi''

The (2nd century BCE) ''Huainanzi'' uses Yinglong in three chapters. ''Ying'' also occurs in '' ganying'' (lit. "sensation and response") "resonance; reaction; interaction; influence; induction", which Charles Le Blanc (1985:8-9) posits as the ''Huannanzi'' text's central and pivotal idea. "Forms of Earth" (4, ) explains how animal evolution originated through dragons, with Yinglong as the progenitor of quadrupeds. Carr (1990:107) notes this Responsive Dragon is usually pictured with four wings, perhaps paralleling four legs.

All creatures, winged, hairy, scaly and mailed, find their origin in the dragon. The ''yu-kia'' () produced the flying dragon, the flying dragon gave birth to the phoenixes, and after them the ''luan-niao'' () and all birds, in general the winged beings, were born successively. The ''mao-tuh'' (, "hairy calf") produced the ''ying-lung'' (), the ''ying-lung'' gave birth to the ''kien-ma'' (), and afterwards the ''k'i-lin'' () and all quadrupeds, in general the hairy beings, were born successively. … (tr. Visser 1913:65)

Wolfram Eberhard Wolfram Eberhard (March 17, 1909 – August 15, 1989) was a professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley focused on Western, Central and Eastern Asian societies. Biography Born in Potsdam, German Empire, he had a stron ...

(1968:351) suggests this "otherwise unknown" ''maodu'' "hairy calf" alludes to the "

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...

". "Peering into the Obscure" (6, ) describes

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 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 Huainanzi, ...

being transported by ''yinglong'' and ''qingqiu'' "green qiu-dragons", while accompanied by ''baichi'' "white

chi Chi or CHI may refer to: Greek *Chi (letter), the Greek letter (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ); Chinese * ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter * Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon *Chi (surname) (池, pinyin: ''chí' ...

-dragons" and ''benshe'' "speeding snakes".

They rode the thunder chariot, using winged dragons as the inner pair and green dragons as the outer pair. They clasped the magic jade tablets and displayed their charts. Yellow clouds hung inter-woven (to form a coverlet over the chariot) and they (the whole retinue) were preceded by white serpents and followed by speeding snakes. (tr. Le Blanc 1985:161-2)

Gao Yu's (2nd century CE) ''Huainanzi'' commentary glosses ''yinglong'' as a "winged dragon" and ''qiu'' as a "hornless dragon". "The Art of Rulership" (9, ) parallels the ''yinglong'' with the '' tengshe'' "soaring snake" dragon. "The ''t'eng'' snake springs up into the mist; the flying ''ying'' dragon ascends into the sky mounting the clouds; a monkey is nimble in the trees and a fish is agile in the water." Ames (1981:74) compares the ''

Hanfeizi The ''Han Feizi'' or ''Hanfeizi'' (" ritings ofMaster Han Fei") is an ancient Chinese text named for its attribution to the political philosopher Han Fei. It comprises a selection of essays in the Legalist tradition on theories of state power, ...

'' attribution of this ''yinglong'' and ''tengshe'' metaphor to the Legalist philosopher

Shen Dao Shen Dao (; c. 350c. 275BC) was a Chinese philosopher and writer. He was a " Chinese Legalist" theoretician most remembered for his influence on Han Fei with regards to the concept of shi 勢 (circumstantial advantage, power, or authority), tho ...

Shen Tzu said: "The flying dragon mounts the clouds and the ''t'eng'' snake wanders in the mists. But when the clouds dissipate and the mists clear, the dragon and the snake become the same as the earthworm and the large-winged black ant because they have lost that on which they ride. (tr. Ames 1981:176)

Other texts

''Yinglong'' occurs in various additional Chinese texts. For instance, the ''

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 hist ...

'', ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. I ...

'', and ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...

'' histories. The early third century 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 t ...

'' dictionary (tr. Visser 1913:73) defines ''yinglong'' "winged dragon" as one of the principal dragons. "If a dragon has scales, he is called ''jiaolong'' []; if wings, ''yinglong'' (); if a horn, ''qiulung'' (); and if he has no horn, he is called ''qilong'' ()". The early sixth century CE ''Shuyiji'' "Records of Strange Things" (tr. Visser 1913:72) lists ''yinglong'' as a 1000-year-old dragon. "A water snake ( ''shui hui'') after five hundred years changes into a ''jiao'' (), a ''jiao'' after a thousand years changes into a ''long'' (), a ''long'' after five hundred years changes into a ''jiulong'' (, "horned dragon") and after a thousand years into a ''yinglong'' ()".

Comparative mythology

The ''yinglong'' mythically relates with other Chinese flying dragons and rain deities such as the '' tianlong'' ("heavenly dragon"), '' feilong'' ("flying dragon"), ''

hong Hong may refer to: Places *Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong, a city and a special administrative region in China *Hong, Nigeria *Hong River in China and Vietnam *Lake Hong in China Surnames *Hong (Chinese name) *Hong (Korean name) Organiz ...

'' ("rainbow dragon"), and '' jiao'' ("flood dragon").

Flying dragons

Visser (1913:83) mentions that texts like the

Daoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao' ...

Liexian Zhuan The ''Liexian Zhuan'', sometimes translated as ''Biographies of Immortals'', is the oldest extant Chinese hagiography of Daoist '' xian'' "transcendents; immortals; saints; alchemists". The text, which compiles the life stories of about 70 mytho ...

'' often record "flying dragons or ''ying-lung'' drawing the cars of gods or holy men". Besides the ''Huainanzi'' (above) mentioning a pair of ''yinglong'' pulling the chariot of Fuxi and Nüwa, analogous examples (Visser 1913:122-4) include legends of Huangdi ascending to heaven on a dragon (''

Shiji ''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 ...

'') and Yu riding a carriage drawn by two flying dragons (''

Bowuzhi ''Bowuzhi'' (博物志; "Records of Diverse Matters") by Zhang Hua (c. 290 CE) was a compendium of Chinese stories about natural wonders and marvelous phenomena. It quotes from many early Chinese classics, and diversely includes subject matter f ...

''). Carr (1990:106) compares pairs of ''Yinglong'' with motifs on

Chinese bronzes Sets and individual examples of ritual bronzes survive from when they were made mainly during the Chinese Bronze Age. Ritual bronzes create quite an impression both due to their sophistication of design and manufacturing process, but also beca ...

showing two symmetrical dragons intertwined like Fuxi and Nüwa. Porter (1996:44-45) interprets the tail of the terrestrial ''Yinglong'', which "uses its tail to sketch on the land a map of channel-like formations whereby the floodwaters were allowed to drain", as the tail of the celestial dragon

Scorpius Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation that pre-dates the Gr ...

, which is "situated precisely where the Milky Way ''splits into two branches''". The (4th century CE) Shiyiji (tr. Porter) retells the Yu flood-control myth in terms of 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 ...

, namely, the

Yellow Dragon The Yellow Dragon ( is the zoomorphic incarnation of the Yellow Emperor of the center of the universe in Chinese religion and mythology. The Yellow Emperor or Yellow Deity was conceived by Fubao, who became pregnant after seeing a yellow ray ...

or Azure Dragon and the

Black Tortoise The Black Tortoise () is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. Despite its English name, it is usually depicted as a tortoise entwined together with a snake. The name used in East Asian languages does not mention either an ...

. "Yü exhausted his energy creating channels, diverting the waters and establishing mountains as the yellow dragon dragged its tail in front and the black turtle carried green-black mud (used to build the channels) in back."

Rain dragons

"All traditions about Ying-lung are vague", writes Eberhard (1968:350-351). Although the legendary Yinglong dragon helped Yu to control floods, "Yü was frequently bothered by dragons", most notably the flood-deity

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 serpen ...

's minister

Xiangliu Xiangliu (), known in the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'' as Xiangyao (), is a venomous nine-headed snake monster that brings floods and destruction in Chinese mythology. Xiangliu may be depicted with his body coiled on itself. The nine heads ...

. Eberhard, based on Sun Jiayi's identification of Xiangliu as an eel, concludes that Yinglong was an eel as well: Eberhard concludes that Yinglong and the mythic elements about Yu "testify to the connection between Yü and the cultures of the south, which differ from Yü myths of the Ba culture". Carr (1990:106) cites

Chen Mengjia Chen Mengjia (; 20 April 1911, in Nanjing – 3 September 1966, in Beijing) was a Chinese scholar, poet, paleographer and archaeologist. He was considered the foremost authority on oracle bones and was Professor of Chinese at Tsinghua University ...

's hypothesis, based on studies of

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

oracle bone Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. ''Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for th ...

s, that Yinglong was originally associated with the ''niqiu'' "

loach Loaches are fish of the superfamily Cobitoidea. They are freshwater, benthic (bottom-dwelling) fish found in rivers and creeks throughout Eurasia and northern Africa. Loaches are among the most diverse groups of fish; the 1249 known species of C ...

". Yinglong representations were anciently used in rain-magic ceremonies, where Eberhard (1968:247-248) says, "the most important animal is always a dragon made of clay". Besides controlling rain and drought, the Yinglong Responsive Dragon did something else: "With his tail he drew lines in the earth and thus created the rivers … In other words, the dragon made the waterways – the most important thing for all cultivators of rice.

References

*Birrell, Anne, tr. 2000. ''The Classic of Mountains and Seas''. Penguin. *Carr, Michael. 1990
"Chinese Dragon Names"
''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' 13.2:87-189. *Eberhard, Wolfram. 1968. ''The Local Cultures of South and East China''. E. J. Brill. *Groot, J.J.M. de. 1910
''The Religious System of China'' 6
E. J. Brill. *Hawkes, David, tr. 1985. ''The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets''. Penguin. *Karlgren, Bernhard. 1946. "Legends and Cults in Ancient China," ''Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities'' 18:199-365. *Major, John S. 1993. ''Heaven and Earth in Early Han Thought: Chapters Three, Four, and Five of the Huainanzi''. SUNY Press. *Porter, Deborah Lynn. 1996. ''From Deluge to Discourse: Myth, History, and the Generation of Chinese Fiction''. SUNY. *Schiffeler, John W. 1978. ''The Legendary Creatures of the Shan hai ching''. Hwa Kang. *Visser, Marinus Willern de. 1913
''The Dragon in China and Japan''
J. Müller.

External links

{{Chinese mythology Chinese dragons Four benevolent animals Rain deities