Who knows about dragons?

Dragon is a miraculous animal in the legend of China. It is fickle, promotes sex and benefits all things. It is the first of many scales and the first of four spirits (dragon, phoenix, unicorn and turtle). There are many different images in ancient books. Speaking of slender, it has four feet, anticlimactic. Speaking of piercing scales, there are whiskers on the head and five claws. Compendium of Materia Medica says that "dragons have nine similarities", and it is a heterogeneous animal with the advantages of various animals. It has many names. Those with scales are called dragons, those with wings are called Ying Long, those with horns are called dragons, and those without horns are called dragons. The little one is called Jiao, and the big one is called Dragon. Legend has it that it can be hidden, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, and the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, omnipotent. In mythology, it is the master of the underwater world (the Dragon King), a symbol of good fortune among the people, and the embodiment of ancient imperial power.

Dragon is one of the four gods in ancient China mythology. There are "Dragon King Products" in Taishang Cave's Divine Mantra Classic, which lists "Five Emperors Dragon King" by orientation, "Four Seas Dragon King" by ocean, and lists the names of 54 dragon kings and 62 dragon kings by everything in the world. In Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, an altar official was set up to offer sacrifices to the Dragon King. Song Taizu followed the Five Dragon Sacrifice System in Tang Dynasty. In the second year of Song Huizong Daguan (1 108), all the five dragons in the world were crowned kings. Seal Qinglong God as King of Ren Guang, Red Dragon God as King Jiaze, Huanglong God as King Fu Ying, White Dragon God as King Yiji, and Black Dragon God as King Lingze. In the second year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1863), the dragon god of the canal was named "the dragon god who should divide the water", which made the river chief sacrifice in time. The dragon kings in The Journey to the West are Ao Guang in the East China Sea, Aoqin in the South China Sea, Aorun in the West Sea and Aoshun in the North Sea, which are collectively called the Four Seas Dragon Kings.

Therefore, the duty of the dragon king is to spread clouds and rain to relieve people's summer heat and troubles, and the dragon king's water control has become a common belief among the people. The "Dragon King's Product" in Taoism's "The Mantra Sutra of Taishang East Shen Yuan" says that "the land is dry, the grain is not harvested, and the time is unknown in twos and threes." At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Buddha came to the land by five-color clouds, and together with the Dragon King and other heavenly kings, he preached dharma to save all beings and get timely nourishment.

Regarding the birthday of the Dragon King, there are differences between various literature records and local folklore. In the past, temples dedicated to the dragon king were almost as common as temples in the city god. Whenever the wind and rain are unbalanced, it doesn't rain for a long time, or it rains for a long time, the people will go to the Longwang Temple to burn incense and pray for the Dragon King to control the water and the good weather.

Archaeologists believe that the early dragons were snakes with horns on their heads and were pure reptiles; Some people think that the dragon was originally formed, and the faucet is very similar to a pig, a dragon body and a snake body; Others pointed out that dragons were transformed from crocodiles; Mr Wen Yiduo, a famous scholar, has a unique view on dragons. Mr Wen thinks that dragons are formed by snakes and many other animals. They are based on snakes, incorporating horsehair, oxtail, antlers, dog claws, fish scales and beards. ...

Since entering the modern society, many experts and scholars have deeply explored the origin of dragons. From the analysis of many unearthed cultural relics about dragons, the formation of dragons has experienced a long history. Among them, the mussel dragon unearthed in Puyang, Henan Province has a history of 6,000 years. On the one hand, it embodies the context of Yangshao culture, on the other hand, it proves the initial formation of dragons.

With regard to the origin of the dragon, after long-term research and textual research, people finally reached a relatively consistent understanding: the dragon is a synthesis of various animals and a symbol of totem worship formed in primitive society.

The dragon is great because it is respected by all people in China. The dragon is nothing, because it is only a spirit, not a substance.

In China's myths and legends, it is a magical animal, with the image of snake body, lizard legs, talons, snake tail, antlers, fish scales, whiskers in the mouth and beads under the forehead. According to Shan Hai Jing, Xia Houqi, Ru Shou and Ju Mang all "rode the rain dragon". There are other secretaries, Zhuan Xu, Lapras and the Four Seas, Di Ku, Spring and Summer, Lapras. The predecessors divided dragons into four types: those with scales, those with wings, Ying Long, those with horns and those without horns. Some people think that this is the image formed by the totem of each clan after the ancient Yanhuang unified the tribes in the Central Plains. Legend has it that you can hide and show, climb the sky in the spring breeze and dive into the deep sea in the autumn wind. It also brought clouds and rain, and later became a symbol of imperial power. Emperors of past dynasties used dragons as costumes, and their utensils were also decorated with dragons. Dragon was worshipped by Chinese ancestors as the ancestor god, and was generally called "dragon". People in China often call themselves "descendants of dragons".

Dragon ranks fifth among the traditional Chinese zodiac animals in China. Dragon, phoenix, unicorn and tortoise are also called "four great beasts". (There are also many ancient books and history books that refer to the "four auspicious beasts" as: caring for each other, nurturing, caring for each other and caring for each other. ) Qinglong and Baihu, Suzaku and Xuanwu are the four astronomical phenomena in China.

The dragon in Buddhism is one of the eight parts of heaven and man, that is, the dragon part of eight parts. In Buddhism, Tianlong Babu is the protector of Buddhism, especially all living beings in Longbu take the oath to defend King Kong, the French king, to ensure that Buddhism will not be harmed in the three realms. When some people really practice Buddhism, some dragon people are sent down to protect the practitioners, in order to protect the law.

Although "dragon" is generally translated as "dragon" in English, the image of "dragon" in western culture is similar to the traditional dragon image in China, but the background and symbolic meaning are quite different. The "dragon" in the west is generally evil, which is completely different from the Swiss beast in the east.

Nine sons give birth to dragons, that is, nine sons give birth to dragons, and none of them are Jackie Chan, so they are different. The so-called "dragon gave birth to nine children" does not mean that the dragon just gave birth to nine children. In the traditional culture of China, nine represents a lot and has a supreme position. Nine is an imaginary number and an expensive number, so it is used to describe the dragon son. There is a long-standing saying that dragons have nine sons, but there has been no saying about which nine animals are, and it was not until the Ming Dynasty that there were various opinions.

2. Legends about dragons

① The Dragon Lady worships Guanyin.

Beside Guanyin Bodhisattva, there is a pair of men and women. The man is called Shancai and the woman is called Dragon Lady.

The dragon lady was originally the little daughter of the East China Sea Dragon King. She was born with fine features and smart, and won the favor of the Dragon King. One day, she heard that there were fish lanterns in the world, and it was very lively, so she clamored to see them. The dragon king stroked his beard and shook his head. "It's deserted and crowded, but it's not where you dragon princesses go!" " The dragon girl pretends to cry, but the dragon king always refuses. Dragon girl pouted: I thought to myself, if you don't let me go, I'll leave! Very easy to enter the dead of night, and then quietly slipped out of the Crystal Palace, turned into a very beautiful fisherman girl, stepping on the moonlight in the magnum, came to the noisy place of fish lights.

This is a small fishing town, and there are many fish lanterns on the street! There are yellow croaker lights, horn lights, octopus lights, cuttlefish lights, shark lights, lobster lights, sea crab lights, scallop lights, conch lights, coral lights ... Dragon girls look around, the more they look, the happier they are, and sometimes they push themselves into the crowd. Soon came to the crossroads, here is more interesting! Fish lanterns and fish lanterns are stacked, and Dengshan is connected with Dengshan, which is colorful and dazzling. Dragon lady stood in front of Dengshan like a fool and could see God. Behold, at this moment, half a cup of Leng Cha was poured from the attic and poured on the dragon lady's head impartially.

The dragon lady was startled and complained bitterly. The dragon girl who becomes a girl can't touch half a drop of water. As soon as she gets wet, she can't keep the girl's appearance anymore. The dragon lady was in a hurry, fearing that there would be a dragon shape in the street, which would lead to the ruin of the Lantern Festival. She desperately squeezed the crowd and ran to the seaside. Just ran to the beach, suddenly "suddenly", the dragon girl turned into a very big fish, lying on the beach, unable to move. As it happens, two fishing boys, one thin and one fat, came to the seaside. They suddenly froze when they saw the shiny big fish.

"What is this fish! How can you put it on the beach? " The fat man was timid and stood far away and said, "I haven't seen it."

I'm afraid this kind of fish is unlucky. Let's go! "The thin boy was so bold that he refused to leave. While fiddling with the fish, he said, "No matter what kind of fish it is, you can definitely earn some extra money by selling it on the street?" The two men muttered for a while, and then took the fish to the streets to sell. That night, Guanyin Bodhisattva sat in the purple bamboo forest. She clearly saw what happened just now, and she was moved.

Sad, he said to the boy standing behind him, "Go to the fishing town, buy a big fish and release it in the sea."

Shancai bowed his head and said, "Bodhisattva? How do disciples buy fish with silver? " Guanyin Bodhisattva said with a smile, "Just grab one from the incense burner." Sugiyama nodded and said yes. He hurried to Kannonji, grabbed a handful of incense ashes, stepped on a lotus flower and went straight to the fishing town. At this time, the two boys had carried the fish into the street and were suddenly surrounded by people watching the fish lanterns. People who are amazed and amazed charge exorbitant prices, and the village is buzzing, but no one dares to buy such a big fish rashly. An old man with a white beard said, "son, this fish is too big." Why don't you chop it up and sell it at retail outlets? " The fat man thought the old man was right, so he borrowed a meat axe and lifted it to cut fish. Suddenly, a child cried, "See? The big fish shed tears. " When the fat man stopped the axe and saw that the big fish really shed two strings of crystal tears, he was scared to throw away the meat axe and drill outside the crowd. The thin man was afraid that the extra money would go to waste, so he quickly picked up the meat axe to cut it, but was stopped by a panting little novice monk: "Don't cut it! Don't cut! I bought this fish. " Everyone was surprised when they saw it: "Why did little novice monk buy fish?" The old man paused, cocked his goatee and said, "I'm afraid the monk will end the meat when he buys fish." Little novice monk blushed when he saw that everyone was sneering, and quickly said, "I bought this fish to set it free!" " "He said, and took out a pinch of broken silver and handed it to the thin man, asking them to transport the fish to the seaside.

The thin boy was secretly happy: "I made extra money!" " Carry it to the seaside, and maybe the little novice monk will be able to carry the big fish back when he is gone! "He told the fat man to carry the big fish and followed the little novice monk to the seaside. Three people came to the seaside, and the little novice monk told them to put the big fish into the sea. As soon as the fish touched the sea, it immediately splashed and swam far away, then turned around, nodded to the little novice monk and suddenly disappeared. When the thin man saw the fish swim away, he broke the idea of making extra money and found out the broken money to give to the fat man. Unexpectedly, when I opened my palm, the broken silver turned into a handful of incense ashes and was blown away by a gust of wind. Looking for little novice monk in an instant, he was gone.

Besides, in the Dragon Palace in the East China Sea, since the little princess disappeared, there has been a stampede outside the palace. The dragon king was so angry that the dragon beard stood upright, the turtle prime minister was so anxious that his head and neck stretched out, the gatekeeper general crab was so scared that his mouth was foaming at the mouth, and the jade shrimp maid-in-waiting knelt on the ground and trembled ... It was not until dawn that the dragon lady returned to the Crystal Palace that everyone was relieved. The dragon king glared at him and roared, "Little evil beast, how dare you break the palace rules and go out without permission! Say! Where have you been? " Seeing that the dragon king was angry, the dragon lady knew it was useless to play coquetry, so she told the truth: "Dad, my daughter went to see the fish lanterns. If Guanyin Bodhisattva hadn't sent a good boy to save me, my daughter would have almost died! " Then I told my story again. The dragon king turned pale when he heard this. He was afraid that Guanyin would tell the story and let the jade emperor know, and he would be accused of "lax discipline of his daughter." The more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets. In a rage, he expelled her from the Crystal Palace.

Dragon girl is very sad. Where can she live in the vast East China Sea? The next day, she came to Lianhuayang in tears. When the cry reached Zizhulin, Guanyin Bodhisattva knew it was the Dragon Lady, so she ordered Shancai to fetch the Dragon Lady. Shancai skipped up to the dragon girl and asked with a smile, "Sister Dragon, do you still remember me as a little novice monk?" Dragon girl quickly wiped away her tears and blushed and said, "Are you a good brother? You are my savior! " If you say it, you have to bow your head. Shancai grabbed her: "Let's go, Guanyin Bodhisattva, let me pick you up!" " Cunninghamia lanceolata and Dragon Girl walked into the purple bamboo forest hand in hand. As soon as the dragon lady saw Guanyin Bodhisattva sitting on the lotus platform, she bent down and bowed down. Guanyin Bodhisattva liked this dragon girl very much, and let her and Shancai live in a cave near Yin Chao Cave like brothers and sisters, which was later called Shancai Dragon Girl Cave.

From then on, the dragon lady followed Guanyin Bodhisattva. However, the Dragon King broke his word and often told the Dragon Lady to go back. The dragon girl is attached to the scenery of Mount Putuo and never wants to go back to the crystal palace where copper is forbidden.