Zheng Ninglong's Legendary Prose

The dragon is a symbol of the Chinese nation. Chinese people regard it as the national emblem and the root of the nation. It represents strength, majesty, happiness and wisdom, and is a permanent auspicious symbol of the Chinese nation. Dragons are not a single animal, but a combination of many animals. Erya, compiled by scholars in the Han Dynasty, said that dragons have nine characteristics, including antlers, camel heads, rabbit eyes, snake necks, salamander bellies, scales, talons, Tiger Claw and ox ears. As the earliest developed area of the Chinese nation, Zhengning County in Gansu Province, like blood flowing in blood vessels, keeps the dragon's imprint unchanged and retains many legends about dragons.

Zhengning County is located in Qingyang City, east of Gansu Province, bordering Shaanxi Province. There is the tomb of the Yellow Emperor, the surname of the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, which is the giant salamander and pterosaur. It is the earliest Cretaceous aquarium animal in China, with long neck, short tail, no spine, low skull, soft and slender teeth, no feathers, but two big folds. Pterosaur used to be the clan, name, emblem and totem of Xuanyuan Huangdi, so it is said in folklore that Huangdi traveled to Xianyou by dragon. According to historical records, "Huangdi rode a dragon to heaven", and the tomb of Huangdi in Zhengning is the "Crown Tomb".

There are many legends about dragons in the place names of Zhengning County, such as Longzuizi, Longtou, Longqiao, East Longtou, South Longtou, North Longtou, Dongshan Yangtou and Xishan Yangtou. The legend of Longkou and Longtou shows that the activity footprint of the Yellow Emperor in Zhengning is not obvious.

There is a village called Longzuizi in Wu Qingyuan Hui Autonomous County, Zhengning County. It is said that the Dragon King of the East China Sea has five sons, four sons are enfeoffed to control water, and the five dragons are not enfeoffed. He often represents the Old Dragon King to inspect the rain. One day, when Wulongzi came to Longdong, he saw that the weather in Longdong was dry and disasters were frequent, and the people went south to avoid famine. He immediately ordered the old dragon in Jinghe to "rain for three days and rain for four days" to help the people. The King of Jinghe is a little deaf because of his age. At that time, he didn't catch what Wu Longzi said. He mistakenly thought that "it rains in He Shan (the town name of Zhengning County, where the county seat is now) and it rains in Miaocun (the village name of Zhengning County)". As a result, it rained heavily in He Shan and Miaocun, but other places were thousands of miles away. The drought remained and people were still fleeing. This incident angered the Dragon King of the East China Sea and immediately arrested the old Dragon King of Jinghe and made him confess. The King of Jinghe insisted that he was the son of the Five Dragons, so it was passed down. The Dragon King of the East China Sea believed it, punished the Five Dragons for serving in the Dragon Cave, and ordered them never to return to the sea. Later, the body of Wulongzi became a mountain winding from north to south, that is, the Ziwuling at the junction of Shaanxi and Gansu. There is a mountain ridge on the west side of Ziwuling, which looks like Longkou from a distance, that is, Longzuizi Village in Wuqing Township, Zhengning County today.

Ancient legends provide valuable resources for tourism in Zhengning today, and also become an accelerator for local economic development.