New Art Album Chronicles History and Future of Chinese Dragons

"Dragon" is a catchword in 2000, because the Chinese lunar calendar dedicates this year to the large mythical beast.

Given the fiery fanfare, numerous dragon-related events, publications and works of art have received public attention this year.

Mixing art with words is "Dragons of China," a labour of love by Cang Shi, former editor-in-chief of People's Pictorial Monthly and senior editor of our Daily.

To compile the album, Cang spent about 20 years, since he retired in the 1980s, travelling around China to photograph Chinese dragons.

The 78-year-old has used all his bank savings to travel, brush up on photography skills, buy a set of professional photography equipment and pay people to publish their dragon replicas.

Exhausted, he has been in a Beijing hospital since the Year of the Dragon began.

But Cang expressed no regret.

"Finally, I have managed to fulfil my long cherished dream of compiling a book of the adorable creatures," Cang said.

Divided into eight parts, the colour illustrations go with simple-language Chinese-English explanations.

The meaning behind the interpretations is not so simple. Cang has put them together to chronicle the whole history of Chinese dragons.

Though the album is not meant as an academic study of Chinese culture, the author said he consulted many culture and history experts about the wording of each entry in the album.

"This pictorial can be seen as an illustrated dragon culture encyclopedia, or a primer for anyone who is interested in Chinese culture," said China Film Press senior editor Xu Qian, who helped Cang compile the album.

Reader will learn that dragons do not always bite: Of all animals in the world, the dragon has been perhaps the most favoured, worshipped and feared by Chinese people for thousands of years.

And the dragon lore is the first and most persistent character in Chinese animal myths, Cang said.

Almost every Chinese person knows about dragons, though no one claims to have seen a real dragon.

But it is a real symbol of national pride. Chinese people often call their country "a giant dragon in the East" and passionately compare China's fast development to a huge dragon soaring.

In what may be the earliest Chinese dragon ballad, as described in the book "Zhuang Zi," the dragon moves freely from an underground water home to an irrigated field. Then, driven by a drought, it flies to heaven to conquer a new empire. The dragon is now believed immortal and omnipresent with abilities to change form or become invisible.

No matter where Chinese people live, they proudly call themselves "descendants of the dragons." In that spirit, many use the character long, (dragon) in their given names.

Dragon lore and worship stem from Chinese people's creativity, Cang believes.

In his pictorial, Cang explores through possible origins of Chinese dragons and describes their evolution. But so far, no solid evidence has been found, and opinions vary widely.

A number of cultural scholars say the concept of a dragon originated from a whirlwinds, called longjuanfeng in Chinese, and from lightning, which ancient Chinese people often saw but could not comprehend.

Some say the idea came from snakes, which were the totem of an ancient Chinese tribe: The snake tribe grew stronger and stronger through wars and eventually gained dominance over other tribes, which worshipped different animals.

It formed a new totem by adding different parts of these animals to the snake's body.

But other scholars oppose the totem idea. They note that tribes that worshipped totems in the Americas usually abandoned the losing side's former totem instead of merging it with its own.

"No unanimous conclusion has yet been drawn, and the debate among researchers continues," Cang said. "The truth of the dragon origin has been buried in the oblivion of the ages. People can only trace it in extant historical records, mythology and legends and from unearthed artifacts bearing dragon images."

But they agree the dragon is a commonly accepted traditional auspicious effigy or a figure in traditional Chinese culture. That is to say, the dragon plays prominently in personal names, architectural decor, jadeite, containers for wine and food, dragon boat races, new year's pictures, paper-cuttings and embroidery.

Despite disagreements, it is also generally recognized that the Chinese dragon took its shape during the Shang Dynasty (16th century-11th century BC).

The Chinese character long has been found among pictographic characters on the unearthed oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty ruins in (Central China's) Henan Province.

Most of Cang's album is devoted to dragons' role in dynastic family life, imperial palaces and gardens.

A widespread superstition holds that the dragon, as a benevolent force, dispenses blessings in the supernatural and natural worlds and can double as certain people.

Accordingly, feudal emperors and other important people were believed to be dragon incarnations or the hybrid offspring of a human mother and a dragon father.

The dragon first became a symbol of supreme power and absolute authority for emperors in the second century BC.

Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), wrote in "Records of the Historian," that Liu Bang, founder of the Han Dynasty, was believed to have been the "heavenly son" of a human mother and a dragon father.

Most feudal dynasties that followed adopted this idea, and most emperors intensified their authority.

Naturally, the dragon, worshipped by all, became an exclusive symbol of royalty and nobility, Cang said.

Emperors strictly stipulated that dragon designs only be used on the clothes and personal adornment of the emperor and on buildings in the imperial palace. Royal relatives were allowed to use dragon designs omitting the head. Violators would be killed, according to the edicts.

Confucius and his family villa, ancestral hall and mausoleum were three rare exceptions, the pictorial notes.

In 134 BC, Dong Zhongshu, a Western Han scholar, persuaded emperor Liu Che to adopt the rule of Confucianism and eliminate other schools of thought.

Since the Western Han Dynasty, all emperors recognized Confucius as a sage and human-turned god - a descendant of a dragon.

Cang also devoted pages to the nine mythical sons of the dragon, designs of which are visible in remaining imperial palaces and ancient structures, royal tombs and historical sites.

Dragons, personified as immortals, were worshipped for their ability to move through the heavens and gather clouds and moisture to drop rain. The second day of the second month of the lunar year is said to be the day a dragon comes out to do its duties.

Ancient Chinese held rites and offered the dragon sacrifices to bring rainfall to their harvests.

Many Dragon King Temples still stand in rural China, particularly where water is scarce.

Through the ages, the dragon has been so often honoured that it is a household word in China.

No other creature could have gained the same status, Cang said.

"But, since the end of feudalism at the turn of the 20th century, the idea of dragons as a symbol of monarchy and supreme power or absolute authority has been dimmed or belittled," reads the pictorial album.

Accordingly, the idea of the dragon is changing nowadays, and its status in people's minds has changed, too.

So, in the last chapter, he gives the readers a kaleidoscopic view of dragons: the dragon lantern dance (wulongdeng), ethnic groups' dragon ornaments, children's toys and new dragon art.

"The dragon, with its agile and majestic movement and soaring aspirations, will be endowed with new cultural and historical significance, adding lustre to the national spirit of the Chinese people in the 21st century," says the author.



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