Ao Run (敖闰) or Ao Ji (敖吉), is the
Dragon King
The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the '' lóng'' in C ...
of the West Sea (西海龙王, Xīhǎi Lóngwáng) and one of the
Dragon Kings of the Four Seas in
Chinese religion and
Korean mythology
Korean mythology ( ) is the group of myths told by historical and modern Koreans. There are two types: the written, literary mythology in traditional histories, mostly about the founding monarchs of various historical kingdoms, and the much l ...
. As an important belief in Chinese folk religion, Four Dragon King Temples are built around the place to worship the Dragon Kings.
Ao Run is the patron of
Qinghai Lake
Qinghai Lake or Ch'inghai Lake, also known by other names, is the largest lake in China. Located in an endorheic basin in Qinghai Province, to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an alkaline salt lake. The lake has fluctuate ...
and could be linked to the
White Tiger
The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...
as both are Chinese western gods. His brothers are
Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the
East Sea, Ao Qin, the Dragon King of the
South Sea, and Ao Shun, the Dragon King of the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
.
Legends
According to ''Legend of Qinghai'' (传说青海), a long time ago, the King of Dragons was very happy to see that his queen had given birth to four dragons. Many years later, the four dragons grew up, causing more and more mischievous pranks until the Dragon King was out of breath. One day, the King of Dragons came up with a way to summon all the dragon princes into the Crystal Palace. He said, "You have grown up, so you should all have your own side." Then he ordered the eldest prince
Ao Guang to become the King of the East China Sea, the second prince Ao Qin to become the King of the South China Sea, and the third prince Ao Shun to become the King of the North Sea. The King of Dragons wanted to keep the little prince Ao Run beside him, but Ao Run said, "I will be the King of the West Sea!" The King of Dragons laughed and praised him. Beyond the
Huaxia
''Huaxia'' (華夏, ) is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various confederations of pre-Qin ethnic ancestors of Han people.
Etymology
The earliest ...
's
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 t ...
, Ao Run did not see the West Sea. When he came to the southern foot of
Qilian Mountain, he was exhausted. He cried sadly, "How can I be the King of the West Sea without the West Sea?" Then he climbed to the top of Qilian Mountain and made a big storm, but it did not suffice. When the
Jade Emperor saw this happen, he felt pity. Therefore, he sent
Lord of Thunder,
Mother of Lightning,
Earl of Wind, and
Youth of Cloud to help Ao Run. Lightning, thunder, and storms created Haizi with an area of more than 5,000 square kilometers and a depth of more than 20 meters, which became the West Sea (
Qinghai Lake
Qinghai Lake or Ch'inghai Lake, also known by other names, is the largest lake in China. Located in an endorheic basin in Qinghai Province, to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an alkaline salt lake. The lake has fluctuate ...
). Since then, Ao Run has become the Dragon King of the West Sea.
Ao Run has three children. His sons are
Ao Lie, who was the steed of
Tang Sanzang
Tang Sanzang () is a central character in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West'' by Wu Cheng'en. Tang Sanzang is based on the historical Buddhist monk Xuanzang. He is also widely known by his courtesy name, Tang Seng, () or Sanzang ().
...
, and Ao Moang (敖摩昂). He has a daughter named Ao Cinxin (敖寸心), also known as the Xihai Longnü (西海龙女).
In Korean mythology
In the better-known
Jakjaegeon myth, a part of the
Goryeo Dynasty founding myth
An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...
, Jakjaegeon kills an old
Gwishin
Gwisin ( ko, 귀신) are a type of spirit or ghost in Korean folklore. They are considered similar to a ''Yogoe'' ( ko, 요괴);, and ''Mamul'' ( ko, 마물); they are people who have died, not monsters or creatures such as Dokkaebi.
Accordi ...
with a bow at the request of the Dragon King of the West Sea, who appears to him in a dream. The Dragon King of the West Sea gives him his daughter in gratitude, and the Dragon King of the West Sea tells Jakjaegeon that his grandson (
King Taejo of Goryeo) will be king. Jakjaegeon has four sons, of which the eldest is Yong Geon, the father of
King Taejo of Goryeo.
In
Korean history
The Lower Paleolithic era in the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago.
Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825.
The earliest ...
, the Dragon King of the West Sea sent a turtle to
King Changsu of Goguryeo in congratulation of his transfer of the capital to
Pyongyang
Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...
.
In popular culture
*The
generic name of the extinct genus of dinosaur
Aorun
''Aorun'' (pron.:"AW-roon") is an extinct genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur first discovered in 2006, with its scientific description published in 2013. It is one of the oldest known coelurosaurian dinosaurs and is estimated to have lived ~ ...
, is actually a
shortened masculine name of ''Ao Run''.
See also
*
Bai Longma
The White Dragon Horse, known as Bai Long Ma () in Chinese, is one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. He is Tang Sanzang's steed who later became Babu Tianlong Guangli Bodhisattva (八部天龙广力 ...
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragon King Of The West Sea
Chinese gods
Investiture of the Gods characters
Journey to the West characters
Water gods