Was there really a "dragon" in ancient China?

The legendary dragon is a magical animal with the characteristics of snake body, lizard legs, chicken feet and antlers. Its body has scales, fish tails, tiger whiskers and beads under its forehead. This composite structure means that the dragon is the head of all animals and an omnipotent god. The history of dragon worship in China can be traced back to 8,000 years ago. With the change of dynasties and the evolution of history, the mystery and image of the dragon emerge one after another. Until the Tang and Song Dynasties, people also had a special and strange feeling for dragons. There are many legends and myths about dragons recorded in the notes of scholars in Tang and Song Dynasties, which seem to represent people's simple and profound feelings for dragons at that time. There are many wonderful and mysterious stories, which are eye-opening and confusing. Are myths and legends nonsense or absurd? Did the ancients invent so many stories about dragons only out of beautiful imagination? Is it possible that there was once an animal that looked like a dragon? Or is there an inexplicable paradise hidden among many wonderful astronomical phenomena? Or people just imposed an expectation and desire on the dragon. What kind of value judgment is involved? Otherwise, why are the legends about dragons endless, word of mouth, eloquent? Sun Guangxian, a poet in the Song Dynasty, recorded such a story in North Dream. After Wang built Shu, there was a drought in Liangzhou, and people prayed everywhere but found nothing. A monk traveled to Liangzhou, claiming that it could rain. The way monks pray for rain is very strange. He had a very large urn prepared to hold water, and then sat in it and drowned its top. He sat alone for three days, but it rained heavily. At that time, the state officials were surprised and hospitable, and the people gathered at the gate of the government to see their faces. The monk didn't know what to do. One day, another monk met him and asked him what magic he used to make rain. The man said, "This is the way to hold your breath. You can learn it in a month's practice. This method is a temple in a deep pool with a dragon connected to it. The dragon is made of a certain concentration, which will definitely disturb it and cause rain. But if I don't hide in the urn, I will be hurt by this dragon. " Mysterious? Has this monk really practiced the technique of breaking the valley or the tortoise breath solution in modern martial arts novels? People and gods are connected, and there is the art of binding dragons? Or does this person have supernatural magic, be good at observing the weather and wind direction, and predict in advance that it will rain in Liangzhou, so he talks over my head? Anyway, I believed that dragons could rain. The ancients once recorded that dragons were invisible in many places at that time, and many people had seen dragons. What is the original intention of the dragon, does it exist in people's hearts, or is it an animal like the dragon, or do people consciously mystify vulgar things? According to records, in the post-Shu period, there were often dragons in the salt well water of Dachang, Kuizhou, which were white or yellow, sparkling and only foamed. It was not surprising at that time. However, there is a one-stop flat pattern on the brine trough of Yongji well in Zigui, which is no different from what the people in the big factory have seen. Some knowledgeable people say that the dragon has a spirit, and now it has ascended to heaven, and its shape is still in salt water, so it is hard to call it wind and rain. At that time, there was a Hancheng Palace in Yun 'an County, and there was a Tianchi Lake at the top of the mountain, which was seven or eight feet deep. One of them is a lizard-like animal, which is eight inches long and colorful, and often jumps on the water like a little dragon. There is a wolf mountain pool in the Qingjiang River in Yiling, where there is a dragon. At that time, a local tyrant begged for rain and saw it. At this time, he saw a brocade quilt on the water, revealing a very large wood, which lay across the water like a dragon's nest. On the other hand, dragons are seen every year at Gaodongxitan in Suizhou. What does a dragon look like? Although people have different views, they have no doubt about the existence of dragons. At that time, it was thought that some restless dragons fled and hid because of the rain, doing nothing or making a mess, and were often caught by Thor. Most of these dragons are hidden in ancient trees and wooden pillars. If there is nowhere to hide in the wilderness, they will choose to hide in the corners or shepherd boys, and often innocent cows and shepherd boys will be killed by Raytheon for this. For example, there was a young general named Guo Yanlang who rowed on the river when he was full of food and drink. He just wants to have a rest. Suddenly, his mind was in a trance like a dream. He dreamed that a man dressed in yellow said to him, "Don't do anything wrong", but he found something in his mouth and left. When he woke up, he found his throat swollen and painful. At that time, the miners saw the thunder and lightning on the ship, the sky was dark and the thunder was deafening. This may be because the escaped dragon is hidden in its mouth. Another person who announced Nanshan's surname said that he had a dragon hidden in his middle knuckles. This doesn't look like a sensational rumor. To borrow Confucius' words, the author said that "resolute and vigorous, there will be changes." This legend seems to prove that people at that time were puzzled by the natural phenomenon of lightning strike. In the wilderness, cows and cowboys are most vulnerable to lightning strikes, and Guo Hexuan's throat and finger diseases are definitely not temporarily borrowed here because the dragon has nowhere to hide. The ancients' imagination was so rich that they were just looking for spiritual sustenance for their own life and death. Dragon is a folk god. Disrespect for dragon will lead to some unexpected troubles and even die in vain, which shows people's spiritual worship and inner awe of dragon at that time. During the same light years in the later Tang Dynasty, a mother and son in Cangzhou suffered heavy taxes and went out to wander. On the road, he met a white snake. His son tied the snake's neck with a rope and took it with him. After a while, a white cloud appeared in the sky, and then there was a loud thunder. It seemed that something lifted the child into the air, was killed by the thunder fire and fell to the ground. Besides, it's written in big letters, and people don't know it. Suddenly someone said, "If you cover it with something green, you can read their handwriting." Then put a blue skirt on him, and a literate man read: "This man killed An Tianlong and was condemned by heaven." During the period of Tang Tianfu, there was a villager named Deng in Yeyuan Village, Lizhou, who used fire to farm fields and accumulated firewood in the patio. The fire soared, and the dragon in the well suddenly vacated and had to be burned to death by the fire. The wind was strong and the fire was out of control. The dragon flying in the air fluttered for a long time, but the flame didn't go out. Later, he fell to the ground and died, a hundred steps long. The villagers were so unlucky that they moved to other places. At the end of Houliang, a villager in Chenzhou also burned a dragon to give his surname. It's raining all around and can't be put out. After that, it turned to ashes, but the dragon horn was not melted and was as white as jade. I thought it was a treasure, so I treasured it. There was a Sima named Gao Yu in Hunan who was robbed at a high price. At that time, the warlock said to him, "Gao Sima, you are going to be in great trouble." How can you use this ominous thing to accelerate its disaster! " Soon the man was killed. And the following story, is it a dragon or a fish? Or people at that time couldn't tell the sky clearly and assumed it, so different people had different opinions. After Shu, there was a man named Zhang Wen in Zizhou who liked fishing. One day, when he and his guests went to a big Longtan, it was very hot. He immediately jumped into the pool to relieve the heat, and then caught a fish with a fishing net. This fish is more than a foot long and has golden scales, which surprised people on the shore. After a while, the sky suddenly darkened and it was stormy. Zhang Wen got a fright and ran away in fear. After running for a few miles, he found that the sun was shining everywhere else. I know that the goldfish I caught is a dragon in the pond. The dragon took the fish as a fake costume, which caused great disaster because of its carelessness. If it wasn't a storm, it might have been born to die. The author warned people at that time that fishing in Longtan should be taken as a warning Another story is similar to this. There is a Li Xuanzhe who works as a county magistrate in Yangxian County. There is a big pool on the left of Yangxian County. It is said that there are dragons there. Everyone who has seen it says it's beautiful. Li Xuan likes fishing. One day, he came to the pool and just put down the pole, the dragon in the pool appeared. At that time, the pool shook like a brocade quilt. Li Xuan was too scared to take care of the fishing rod and started to run. The explanation is very interesting. They think fishermen use fried swallows as bait, and dragons like this kind of food very much. Nowadays, these two stories are somewhat related. This mysterious natural phenomenon is difficult to be reasonably explained by people's cognitive level at that time, so we have to use dragons to justify ourselves. All the above stories tell us a very clear message. Is there a dragon in this world? Do dragons exist in nature? Reason tells us that there can be no dragons. However, in ancient times, there was an animal that had a special sense of wind, rain and lightning, as people now describe it. When it appears, it is thunderous, and then it is thunder and little rain. I'm afraid no one can give a definite answer. Because there are too many mysteries in nature, human beings can't exhaust all the unknowns. Otherwise, how could there be so many legends and signs about dragons left in history? What is even more incredible is that the "dragon" really appeared. According to historical records, in the thirty-second year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 162), a dragon was found near Taibai Lake, with a huge scale, a white belly and a green back, fins on its back and high horns on its head, and it could smell foul from miles away. The local people covered its body with mats, and the government sent people to offer sacrifices in person. After a night of thunderstorm, the dragon disappeared, leaving a deep ditch where it lay. A jiaozi similar to the legendary dragon has been reported many times in the modern Songhua River basin. What does it have to do with dragons? Why did it appear? Modern science may not be able to explain these strange things clearly The most famous legend about dragons is Li's novel Liu Yichuan in the Tang Dynasty. The story goes like this: Liu Yi, a scholar, went to Beijing to catch the exam, passing by Jinghe River, and saw a shepherdess crying sadly, asking that she was the dragon girl of Dongting and was abused. She summoned up her courage and sent a letter to San Niang, and went to the sea to see the Dragon King of Dongting. Qiantangjun was shocked to hear that his niece was imprisoned, rushed to Jinghe, killed Jinghe Xiaolong and rescued Huilong girl. After Sanniang was saved, she deeply felt the significance of Liu Yichuan and asked Uncle Qiantang to cut and paste it. Liu Yi refused to get married for fear of being suspected of repaying a debt of gratitude. Sanniang made up her mind to be a fisherman's father and daughter with her father, Dongting Jun, get along well with Liu's neighbors, and gradually fell in love with her, so she told her the truth. Liu Yi met her in Qi Mei, got married and lived happily ever after. What a wonderful legend, it makes people excited. Can the gratitude of the dragon girl arouse the most lacking gratitude of modern people? Dragon is the most sacred totem worship of all people in China. Dragon is the symbol of China people's spirit and the hope of the Chinese nation's soaring. As a descendant of dragon. The ancients, like today, placed too many good wishes on the dragon. May it become auspicious and bring more hope to the people of China who are struggling for prosperity.