Name: Anonymous 2007-12-10 1:33
Dragon is a deified animal worshipped by the Chinese people from the time immemorial. But what is it? No one knows.
Some people think that the Yanzi crocodile is the archetype of the dragon. However, most people hold that dragon is a combination of many animals. And the abilities of those animals have been collected to it. Wang Chong, a scholar of Han dynasty, once pointed that the horn of dragon liked deer's one, the head liked camel's one, the eyes liked rabbit's one, the neck liked snake's one, the belly liked clam's one, the squama liked carp's one, the talon liked eagle's one, the palm liked tiger's one and the ear liked cattle's one.
Among the unearthed cultural relics which have the history of more than five thousands years are there Jade pig dragon and Jade dragon. They are much simpler than the dragon today. We can imagine people had added more characteristics to it after the Jade dragon having been created. Then it turned to the dragon that we know now gradually.
Why ancient Chinese people wanted to create a dragon? Many scholars think that it originated from the worship to animals. In remote antiquity the main human activity was hunt. So animals were what people most interested in. Ancient people had to survive from hunting animals which were the main food for them and also had to dodge the attacks which were the threats to their lives from fierce animals. In the course of those activities worships and fancies to the special abilities of those animals including flying in the sky, swimming in the river, walking without feet and hibernating etc. were originated. They put the special abilities together and created the dragon whose power were beyond all other animals. They made dragon a deity and worshiped it thereafter.
From-http://www.foreignercn.com/
Some people think that the Yanzi crocodile is the archetype of the dragon. However, most people hold that dragon is a combination of many animals. And the abilities of those animals have been collected to it. Wang Chong, a scholar of Han dynasty, once pointed that the horn of dragon liked deer's one, the head liked camel's one, the eyes liked rabbit's one, the neck liked snake's one, the belly liked clam's one, the squama liked carp's one, the talon liked eagle's one, the palm liked tiger's one and the ear liked cattle's one.
Among the unearthed cultural relics which have the history of more than five thousands years are there Jade pig dragon and Jade dragon. They are much simpler than the dragon today. We can imagine people had added more characteristics to it after the Jade dragon having been created. Then it turned to the dragon that we know now gradually.
Why ancient Chinese people wanted to create a dragon? Many scholars think that it originated from the worship to animals. In remote antiquity the main human activity was hunt. So animals were what people most interested in. Ancient people had to survive from hunting animals which were the main food for them and also had to dodge the attacks which were the threats to their lives from fierce animals. In the course of those activities worships and fancies to the special abilities of those animals including flying in the sky, swimming in the river, walking without feet and hibernating etc. were originated. They put the special abilities together and created the dragon whose power were beyond all other animals. They made dragon a deity and worshiped it thereafter.
From-http://www.foreignercn.com/