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History and origin of Chinese Dragon
The Chinese Dragon has a history spanning back thousands of years, and
while in European mythology the dragon has a distinct negative
connotation, the Chinese Dragon is seen as a benevolent creature that
posses wisdom, power and the ability of bringing about good fortune.
The dragon was the representation of the emperor in the imperial age,
who were considered to be divine hence being likened to dragons in art
and culture. As opposed to the European dragon, Chinese dragons were
oftentimes associated with water and art dragons were usually
beautifully depicted in very vivid colors as opposed to the more bleak
European views.
One of the oldest forms of Chinese dragon art is that of sculpturing
dragon figures into jade; some of these marvelous sculptures date back
five thousand years, including a statute that is twenty-six centimeters
long. But depictions of dragons and dragon-like creatures have been
extensively found in Neolithic-period archaeological sites throughout
the entire span of China. The earliest depiction of dragons seems to
belong to the Xinglongwa, but the Yangshao culture has also produced
clay pots with various dragon motifs. The Liangzhu culture has
dragon-like patterns, while the Hongshan culture which inhabits the area
of present-day Inner Mongolia produced jade dragon amulets in the form
of pig dragons, so the dragon has been part of Chinese society for as
long as there have been inhabitants on the Asian continent.
 In fact,
it is though that the origin of the Chinese dragon comes from totemic
representations made out of jade, but there is a much stronger
connection to crocodiles which the Chinese considered were a variety of
dragon. This idea would be backed by the fact that considering how they
look and the fact that crocodiles can sense changes in air pressure as
well as being able to sense rain, they do seem to be dragons. This is
also the reason why dragons are associated with water a lot. The
dragon is still a common motif in Chinese art, and it continues to be
revered as a creature of prosperity and abundance, and the supreme
symbol of good luck.
As it was mentioned above, the Chinese dragon is usually depicted in
vivid colors, but there are certain differences between certain types of
dragon art. The “chiao” dragon for instance has a green stripe on its
back, yellow sides, and a red belly while the “lung” dragon is usually
either green or gold, with short and long spines on its back and tail.
The normal depiction of a lung dragon would imply including nine main
characteristics: a head similar to a camel’s head, the horns of a deer,
the eyes of a hare, the ears of a bull, the neck of an iguana, the belly
of a grog, the scales of a carp, the paws of a tiger, and claws of an
eagle. The lung dragon also has large teeth on the upper part of its
jaw, as well as long whiskers. Most Westerners consider the dragon as
a symbol of present day China, but the People’s Republic of China
doesn’t use it as a symbol because of its association with past
emperors, and imperial China. Despite this the dragon is beloved by the
Chinese people, and continually illustrated in art in vivid colors on a
variety of objects. However true belief in the dragon as a literal
creature is rather limited nowadays, but at the same time the worship of
the Dragon Kings as rulers of weather and water is still part of the
religious belief system in many areas and it is deeply ingrained in the
culture as a whole.
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