Chinese Animal Myths:
SNAKES:
From about 2000 to 1500 B . C ., a people known as the Xia dominated the northern regions of China. The Xia worshiped the snake, a creature that appears in some of the oldest Chinese myths. Eventually, the snake changed into the dragon, which became one of the most enduring symbols of Chinese culture and mythology
DRAGONS AND PHOENIX:
The Chinese dragon came first int he mythical hierarchy of 360 scaly creatures and was one of four creatures who symbolised the cardinal points. The dragon stood for sunrise, spring and fertility. Daoist dragons were friendly spirits associated with happiness and prosperity and kind to humans. When Buddhism became popular their character was modified by the Indian concept of naga, a more menacing creature. The magic power of dragons included the ability to make themselves invisible at will and change their shape and size. They could shrink to the size of a silkworm or swell to fill all the space between heaven and earth.
Dragons represented the male, yang element and were a beneficent force of nature even though they had fiery tempers. The mythical phoenix represented the female, yin element. The dragon was the emblem of the Chinese emperor and the phoenix of the empress, and together the two creatures were used to symbolise marital harmony.
Gong-Gong is a black dragon attended by a nine-headed snake. He brings about a disastrous flood by impaling Mount Buzhou with his horn, thereby disturbing the balance of the earth and causing the rivers to overflow. He also tore a hole in the sky disturbing the course of the sun. He is responsible for all irregularities of weather and light.
Long Wang are dragon kings, servants of either Yuanshi Tian-Zong or Yu Huang. There are different varieties of Long Wang: celestial dragon kings, the dragon kings of the five cardinal points and the dragon kings of the oceans. In general Long Wang bring rain and so are considered controllers of life and death. They were gods of rivers, lakes and oceans and represented wisdom, strength and goodness. Offerings were often made to dragons during droughts, but angry Long Wang sent storms, fog and earthquakes. They protected ferrymen and water carriers and punished anyone who wasted water.
TURTLE/TORTOISE:
The Bagua were discovered by Fu Xi, the legendary emperor, inscribed on the back of a tortoise he found not he banks of the Yellow River in about 3000 BC. The shells represent an infinite variety of patterns of life, symbolised in the three-line symbols of the eight trigrams.
GOAT/QILIN/UNICORN:
Gao Yao or Ting-Jian was a Chinese god of judgment who had a one horned goat to detect injustice and butt the guilty and spare the innocent.
SNAKES:
From about 2000 to 1500 B . C ., a people known as the Xia dominated the northern regions of China. The Xia worshiped the snake, a creature that appears in some of the oldest Chinese myths. Eventually, the snake changed into the dragon, which became one of the most enduring symbols of Chinese culture and mythology
DRAGONS AND PHOENIX:
The Chinese dragon came first int he mythical hierarchy of 360 scaly creatures and was one of four creatures who symbolised the cardinal points. The dragon stood for sunrise, spring and fertility. Daoist dragons were friendly spirits associated with happiness and prosperity and kind to humans. When Buddhism became popular their character was modified by the Indian concept of naga, a more menacing creature. The magic power of dragons included the ability to make themselves invisible at will and change their shape and size. They could shrink to the size of a silkworm or swell to fill all the space between heaven and earth.
Dragons represented the male, yang element and were a beneficent force of nature even though they had fiery tempers. The mythical phoenix represented the female, yin element. The dragon was the emblem of the Chinese emperor and the phoenix of the empress, and together the two creatures were used to symbolise marital harmony.
Gong-Gong is a black dragon attended by a nine-headed snake. He brings about a disastrous flood by impaling Mount Buzhou with his horn, thereby disturbing the balance of the earth and causing the rivers to overflow. He also tore a hole in the sky disturbing the course of the sun. He is responsible for all irregularities of weather and light.
Long Wang are dragon kings, servants of either Yuanshi Tian-Zong or Yu Huang. There are different varieties of Long Wang: celestial dragon kings, the dragon kings of the five cardinal points and the dragon kings of the oceans. In general Long Wang bring rain and so are considered controllers of life and death. They were gods of rivers, lakes and oceans and represented wisdom, strength and goodness. Offerings were often made to dragons during droughts, but angry Long Wang sent storms, fog and earthquakes. They protected ferrymen and water carriers and punished anyone who wasted water.
TURTLE/TORTOISE:
The Bagua were discovered by Fu Xi, the legendary emperor, inscribed on the back of a tortoise he found not he banks of the Yellow River in about 3000 BC. The shells represent an infinite variety of patterns of life, symbolised in the three-line symbols of the eight trigrams.
GOAT/QILIN/UNICORN:
Gao Yao or Ting-Jian was a Chinese god of judgment who had a one horned goat to detect injustice and butt the guilty and spare the innocent.