by Nel Chong

Created on: November 02, 2008

Chinese believe that dragon is a supreme celestial being, a creature so mystic and powerful that the Chinese have revered for centuries until now. Myths and tales of the dragons have been pased down from generations to generations through poems, folklores and tales.

In the ancient times of China, the emperors were known to don on silk robes embroidered with nine dragons and only the son of the heaven, or the emperor was the only one who could wear such a robe. Upon his death, the emperor would be accompanied by the dragons and return to the heavens. Any one, be it the prince or a commoner who harbour such a suit or wore it could be accused of treachery and harbouring the intention to becoming the emperor himself. needless to say, the consequences were dire and deadly. In short, the dragon had become the symbol of power.

It was also known in the ancient that other than the heavens, the dragons also lived deep beneath the seas. They were revered by the land people and especially the sea farers, if the later prayed for safety and bountiful catch from the seas. When I mentioned they, it means that there were fours dragons residing in the north, south, east and west of the sea regions.

Like the emperor on land who controlled the fate of his country and people, the sea creatures followed the orders of these four dragons, as they, are the Emperors of the Seas who control the lives of the sea creatures. In chinese mythology like Journey to the West or Nezha, sea turtles, crabs, prawns and others were soldiers and generals of the seas, who would follow the orders of their Dragon Emperor to fight.

In Chinese legends. dragons being celesitial beings, were able to fly and transformed themselves into human forms. Other than that, they also possessed the ability to summon rain, winds and storms. Therefore, whenever there was drought, the land people would pray towards the heavens and seas, seeking rain to end the drought. They would pray to the heavens to ask for benevolence towards them and seek the help from the Dragon King of the seas.

In one of the more known tales, there was a time in one of the dynasty, the drought in China was very severe, resulting in deaths by hunger as no crops could bear any yields. People were not only dying of hunger but by illness as well. The then Emperor was worried for his people and seek the help from the Dragon King of the Eastern Seas. Help was rendered only much later as previously the Emperor had lost a wager with the Dragon King of the Eastern Seas and refused to honour it. Subsequently, through a turn of events, the Dragon King lost his son in death and put upon this blame on the Chinese Emperor.

These dragons like humans, contain emotions of love and hatred as well. As such, throughout the dragon myths, not only were they revered because of their strength and power, people were also mermerised by their passions. It was said that the sons from the seas were wildly passionate and selfish. Taking the form of the human man, they would roam the land and enticed ladies of their liking. After taking away the virtue of the innocent ladies, they left them after a while and returned back to the seas. It was said that any woman impregnated by the dragon would bear a son, and thus the dragon also represents fertility .

Dragon is an unique celestial creature by itself with tales boldly told and painted in exciting strokes and colours. Be it a true existent or not, up till now, it still holds a spell over us, who are fascinated by it and its exploits.

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