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Popular Chinese Dragon Tattoos The
popularity of the Chinese dragon tattoo is aided by the fact that this
sort of art form and this sort of design especially is centuries old and
surrounded in the layer of mystery, myth and legend which surrounds the
Chinese dragon as a symbol.
The dragon is a mythical being comprised of parts from nine real world
creatures, as such any true Chinese dragon tattoo design must include
the following features: - The dragon illustration must
have the horns of a deer, the ears of an ox and the head of a camel
- It must have the eyes of a hare and the neck of a snake
- It also needs the stomach of a clam and the scales of a carp
- The claws of an eagle and the soles of a tiger will make up its limbs
The dragon is heavily associated with the number nine, because since
this is the largest single digit number the Chinese consider it to be
lucky, just like they consider the dragon to be a bringer of good
fortune, as such the two elements are oftentimes associated with each
other. So much so that everything in the make-up of the dragon is in
some relation to the number nine. A true Chinese dragon tattoo design
will be formed out of nine segments and the dragon will have exactly 117
scales with 81 of them being yang and the rest of 36 being yin, and as
you can easily notice all of those numbers are multiples of nine.
There are over a hundred named dragons to be found in Chinese folklore
each of them having its out personality and characteristics and each of
them requiring a certain amount of research to see what they look like
and what they stand for. Tianlong for instance means “heavenly dragon”
and refers to the guardian of the heavenly planes. Feilong stands for
“flying dragon” and refers to a dragon endowed with wings that is
illustrated on clouds and mist. Jiaolong is a hornless dragon,
associated with the crocodile who is considered to be the lord of all
creatures that live in water. Fucanglong refers to a dragon of hidden
treasure and is the guardian of treasures found deep in the ground such
as precious metals and jewels usually being associated with volcanoes as
well. And those are only four of the over one hundred names and
descriptions of dragons that are to be found in the whole of Chinese
literature.
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