Dragons: Ancient China Dragons Essay

Submitted By Kerpow
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Dragons are interesting creatures that play a big role in Chinese history. Dragons were serpent like creatures except for the four legs it had with varying amount of toes. It is thought to be one of the most beautiful mythical creatures. The purpose dragons served to the people of China was to be the symbol of the emperor of China, to symbolize human characteristics, and to symbolize the power of the weather. In ancient China dragons were used to be the symbol for the emperor of China. It was a symbol for boldness, intensity, and productivity. The emperor’s most special title was “The True Dragon” (Eason). This title was only given to emperors who had done a great job running the huge country of China. In the Yuan dynasty only the emperor and his son were allowed to wear robes that had 5-clawed dragons on them. Few robes are found today because emperors were buried in their robes as a sign of respect for dragons (Charles). In the Yuan dynasty the common people weren’t even allowed to associate themselves with the symbol of the dragon. Until the Qing dynasty used it on the national flag. Chinese dragons are usually males which in Chinese is yang. Many westerners believed that the Chinese dragon was the official symbol for China, but this is untrue. In ancient China the 5-clawed dragon was for the emperor of China, and the 4 and 3- clawed dragons were for the regular people. Chinese dragons were also used to symbolize human characteristics, whether they’re good or bad. Such as the Lung dragon, the Lung dragons represented power, excellence, valiancy, bravery, heroism, perseverance, nobility and divinity (Eason). But there are western dragons that show human not-so-nice personality. They show negative energy such as greed, pride, envy, and gluttony. If you were born in the year of the dragon, which is the 5th in the zodiac, you would have these traits: you would be healthy overall, you would have a good career to support your family, and you would enjoy being in a relationship and sharing love with other people. There are also different kinds of dragons that show other traits such as the wood, fire, metal, earth, and water dragons (Eason). The water dragon show less selfishness that the other dragons, and is less dominating than others. The metal dragon shows ruthlessness, he doesn’t care about anyone else but himself. The wood dragon shows creativeness, he thinks outside the box at new ideas. The earth dragon shows he is the wisest of the dragons, he thinks things through and listens to and appreciates other words even if he doesn’t agree with them. And finally the fire dragon shows competiveness and is the complete opposite of the earth dragon. Also people born in the year of the dragon are brisk, imperial, honorable, settled, and aureate. Dragons were thought to control the weather. As told in the story of “The Four Dragons” the dragons shot sea water into the air so they can help the human on earth grow their crops. Chinese dragons are the rulers of the sky, and the Chinese people pray to them when they have a drought or flood. If the dragons are angered they will cause the
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