The Origins and Developments of Dragon and Phoenix Worships in Ancient China (II)

[Soleilmavis]

The Earliest Phoenix and Dragon Worships Came from Zoolatry.

Shanhaijing records the phoenixes more than 16 times. Ancient people regarded some kinds of birds as phoenixes. These birds included Luan Bird, Feng Bird, Feng Huang, Jiu Feng, Yuan Chu, Chun Bird, Ming Bird, Kuang Bird, Cai Bird, Yi Bird and Huang Bird. These birds had the similarities - bearing five colors, singing and dancing freely and lightheartedly.

Ancient Chinese people believed that seeing a phoenix was a propitious sign of a peaceful and harmonious world. They also claimed that the phoenixes had more excellent moral characters, such as: De (good virtue), Shun (obedience), Li (manner and etiquette),Yi (righteousness and justice), Xin (credit and trustworthiness) and Ren (benevolence).

Shanhaijing records the dragons 13 times. Five of them record the people riding the dragons; Three of them record the people worshiping the god with a dragon body and human face; Two of them record the people worshiping the god with a dragon body and bird head; One of them records the people worshiping the god with a bird body and dragon head. All of these dragon worships were located in some southern or central to southern mountains.

 Meanwhile Shanhaijing records the snakes many times. Clearly, in Shanhaijing’s time, snakes and dragons were different species.

Clearly, the earliest phoenix and dragon worships came from zoolatry and they did not outweigh other zoolatry worships, such as, tiger, sheep, cow, horse, bird, tortoise, snake and fish, etc.

There were a lot of records of seeing phoenix during the Shang, Zhou and Han Dynasties.

1) The oracle bones character records the Shang Emperor captured five phoenixes in their nets.

2) The early Zhou’s bronze inscription “Zhong Ding” records, they presented a living phoenix to the King. Archaeologist Guo Mo-ruo (1892-1978, former President of University of  Science and Technology of China) confirmed that it was a living phoenix.

3) Hanshu, witten by Ban gu (32-92CE), records, during the time of Han Emperor Xuan (91-49BCE), several phoenixes gathered togather. The phoenix was about 5-6 Chi. (One Chi was about 23.2 centimeters in the Han Dynasty.)

4) Houhanshu, written by Fan Ye (398-445CE), records, the seventeenth year of Han Emperor Guangwu (6BCE-57CE), five phoenixes were seen in Shan County of Yingchuan. The phoenix was above 6 Chi.

Clearly, until the Shang (1600-1046BCE), Zhou (1046-256BCE) and Han (202-220BCE) Dynasties, people still regarded some kinds of colourful birds as phoenixes and believed that seeing them was a good sign.

There were a lot of records of seeing or killing dragons during the Xia, Zhou and Han Dynasties.

1)  Zuozhuan.Zhaogong Twenty-ninth Year records a story of Huan Long’s and Yu Long’s (Liu Lei) families in the Xia Dynasty(2070-1600BCE), who fed and even ate dragons.

(Archaeologists have discovered the oracle bones character Long (dragon) for more than 41 times. Long in the oracle bones does not refer to a kind of animal. Instead, Long (dragon) was the name of a country Long Fang, who fought with the Shang. Also Long (dragon) was used to name some farmlands.)

2)  Zuozhuan.Zhaogong records the State of Zheng was in flood and people believed that the dragons made the flood. Zi Chan(?-522BCE) did not allow to offer sacrifics to the dragons.

3)  Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals records Ci Fei of the State of Chu killed a Jiao Long (a kind of dragon) in the Changjiang River.

4)  Shiyilu, written by Wang Jia (Zi-nian, ?-385CE), records, “Han Emperor Zhao (94-74BCE) fished in the Weishui River and captured a white Jiao (long), which looked like a snake with teeth out of lip. He ordered the chef to cook it. It was very delicius. The Jiao’s bone was blue and meat was purple. Therefore, Jiao Long (dragon) was edible.”

5)  Hanshu records Emperor Wu (156-87BCE) killed a Jiao Long (dragon) in the Xunyang River.

6)  One of the most famous expert in traditional Chinese Medicine, Li Shi-zhen (1518-1593), who was called the Saint of Medicine, recorded in his book, Bencao Gangmu, “According to Guangzhouji, written by Pei Yuan in the Jin Dynasty (265-420CE), Jiao (long) was about one Zhang (about 3.33 meters) in length, looked like a snake but had four legs.”

Clearly, until the Xia (2070-1600BCE), Shang (1600-1046BCE), Zhou (1046-256BCE) and Han (202BCE-220CE) Dynasties, people still regarded some kinds of animals as dragons. They killed and ate dragons. Some people believed that the dragons were harmful, could control the rain or make disasters.

 

The Nü He People Worshipped Phoenix and Made Phoenix the Top Worship in Ancient China.  

The Nü He People Enhanced the Phoenix’s Power and Made it the Top Worship in Ancient China.

The most famouse records of phoenixes were two in the Four Classic of the Great Wilderness:East.

(1)  There were birds bearing five colors, rotating and dancing; they were Ancestor-god Di Jun’s friends in the human world. Di Jun had two sacrificial altars in the human world and the colourful birds supervised them. Clearly, some of the Di Jun’s offspring worshipped phoenix. They believed that phoenix could reach gods.

(2)   There were the Nü He People, called Mother of Yue (moon). Someone was named Yuan, living in the East End of the Earth and controlling the sun and the moon to make them rise in order. Guo Pu (276-324CE, the most famous Philology and astronomer in the Jin Dynasty) said, Yuan was a kind of phoenix. This suggests that the Nü He People worshipped the Yuan (phoenix) and they claimed the phoenix Yuan had more power – controlling the sun and moon.

The Xi He, Ri (sun), Chang Xi and Yue (moon) People regarded themselves as invariable tributary groups to the Nü He and often went back to the Jiaodong Peninsula to visit the Nü He. We can say in another way, that the Nü He controlled the Ri (sun) and Yue (moon) Peoples. Later’s ancient people compiled the stories of the Nü He, Xi He, Chang Xi, Ri (sun) and Yue (moon) People, into a myth story of  Nü He being the mother of the Sun and Moon in the sky, and Nü He and Phoenix Yuan Chu controlling the Sun and Moon in the sky.

Dawenkou (4100-2600BCE) and Longshan (3200-1900BCE) Dong Yi cultures spread out from the Shandong Peninsula to other places of China, greatly influenced ancient China and had the leading role in making the Yellow River Valley Cultural System the root of ancient Chinese civilization. Also Dong Yi Culture was the root of the Xia (2070-1600BCE), Shang (1600-1046BCE), Zhou (1046-256BCE), Qin (221-207BCE) and Han (202BCE-220CE) dynasties.

Therefore, the phoenix worship, which came from the Nü He People, the main founders of Dong Yi Culture, became the first worship in ancient China, including the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties, who also regarded Nü Wa as the highest Goddess.

 

The Types of Phoenixes Kept Changing in Ancient China.

The types of phoenixes from more than ten in Shanhaijing to a few in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, such as: Luan (blue), Feng Huang, Yuan Chu (golden like the sunlight), Zhuque (red phoenix).

Xiaoxue Ganzhu, the books written for children in the private school by Wang Ying-lin (1223-1296) in the Song Dynasty, Book Ten, says, “There were five kinds of phoenixes. Feng (red), Yuan Chu (golden or yellow), Luan (blue),Yue Zhuo (purple, looks like wild goose) and Hong Hu (white, looks like wild goose).”

 

Archaeological Discoveries about Phoenix

 

1. Wood Bird (Phoenix) hairpin	7200 years ago	Shenyang Xinle	Xinle Culture (5300-4800BCE)	沈阳新乐
2. Pottery phoenix cup	6800 years ago	Neimenggu Chifeng, Zhaojiagou	Zhaojiagou (5200-4400BCE)	内蒙古赤峰赵家沟
3&4. Phoenix pattern on the White Pottery	7400 years ago	Hubei Hongjiang City Gaomiao	Chang-jiang River Valley Culture	湖南省洪江市  高庙文化遗址
5. Two phoenixes around the sun on the Ivory butterfly utensil	7000 years ago	Zhejiang  Ningbo Hemudu	Chang-jiang River Valley Culture	浙江宁波余姚河姆渡遗址
6. Bird-shaped GUI	6500 years ago	Shandong Yantai, Changdao	Dawenkou  Dong Yi Culture- Beizhuang (4000-3500BCE)	山东烟台长岛  北庄鸟形鬶guī
7. Phoenix pattern on the Jade Cong (a long hollow piece of jade with rectangular sides)	4200 years ago	Ningxia Guyuan Xiji County	Qijia Di Qiang Culture 2000-1900BCE	宁夏固原市西吉县齐家文化
8. Jade Phoenix	5500 years ago	Liaoning, Lingyuan, Niulianghe	Hongshan Culture	辽宁凌源市  牛河梁遗址墓葬。
9. Jade phoenix	4700 years ago	Hubei Tianmen City	Chang-jiang River Valley Culture	湖北省天门市  石家河镇罗家柏岭
10. Jade phoenix of Fuhao wife of Wuding （?-1192BCE)	Shang Dynasty (1600-1049BCE)	Henan Anyang	Shang	河南安阳妇好墓
11. Phoenix bronze wine vessel	Western  Zhou (1046-771BCE)		Zhou	西周凤鸟青铜尊

 

 

 

The Appearance and Birth of Phoenix Became More Mythification since the Zhou Dynasty.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, more people believed that phoenix was not like any birds that they had ever seen. The appearance of phoenix became more mythification in some written records.

Zhuangzi:Qiushui (written by Zhuang Zi, 369-286BCE) says, “There are birds, named Yuan Chu in the south, they only rest on the Chinese parasol, eat seeds of bamboo and drink water of the Li spring water.”

Shuowen Jiezi (written by Xu Shen 58-147CE in the Eastern Han Dynasty) firstly records the common endorsement of the phoenix’s appearance. 

“Phoenix bears five colors. Looking a phoenix from different angles and parts of its body, it looks like: kylin (front), deer (rear), snake (head), fish (tail), dragon (patterns), tortoise (back), swallow (jaw) and chicken (beak). It comes from the noble people’s country, soaring beyond the seas, flying over the Kunlun Mountains, drinking the Dizhu’s water, washing in the Ruoshui River, resting in the caves of the winds. Seeing a phoenix is a propitious sign of a peaceful and harmonious world.”

The phoenix’s birth also became more mythification since the Zhou Dynasty. Huainanzi, written by Liu An (179-122BCE), records, “Yu Jia (all flying animals’ ancestor) gave birth to the flying dragon, who gave birth to phoenix. Phoenix gave birth to Luan Bird, who gave birth to Shu Bird, The Shu Bird gave birth to all kinds of birds.” The Buddhist Scriptures or Great Scriptures say, “Jia Yu (Yu Jia) gave birth to Ying Long, who gave birth to phoenix.”

 

Phoenix Became a Powerful Spirit Animal since the Shang, Zhou and Han Dynasties.

The oracle bones character records the Shang Emperor offered sacrifics to the red phoenix with three sheeps, three pigs and three dogs, suggesting the Shang had regarded phoenix as a powerful spirit animal.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, phoenix was regarded as one of the four spirit animals: Kylin, Phoenix, Tortoise and Dragon, recorded in Liji.Liyun. Other records of the Zhou, including the brones, show the four spirit animals: Tiger, Zhuque (red phoenix), Dragon and deer or fish or tortoise.

Since the late Western Han Dynasty, the four spirit animals became: Blue dragon (who took control of the east), White tiger (who took control of the west), Red Zhuque (phoenix) (who took control of the south) and black tortoise and snake (who took control of the north). They could protect the peace of the four seasons and four directions. Below are the eave tiles of the four spirit animals during Wang Mang’s time (8-23CE).

 

 

 

Shuoyuan, written by Liu Xiang (77-6BCE), records, “Phoenix ranks the first of the four spirit animals. Phoenix masters the universe, links up to god’s blessings and reaches the truth. It masters both the pen and the sword. It sets the country to the right and leads people to the right way. Its sights cover all the world and every coners. Seeing a phoenix is a blessing. There would be disasters without the phoenix.

Kylin presents the Ren (benevolence) and Yi (righteousness and justice).

Tortoise predicts the surviving or perishing.

Dragon ranks the fourth of the four spirit animals. Its size is changeable. It can be both visible and invisible, but it does not have the abilities which phoenix has.”

 

Phoenix Became the Sign of the Imperial Power Since the Shang, Zhou and Han Dynasties.

Since the Shang emperor offered sacrifics to the red phoenix, phoenix became the sign of the imperial power.

Phoenix sang in Mount Qishan, where Emporer Wen (Jichang 1152-1056BCE) became the first emporer of the Zhou Dynasty, recorded in Shijing:Daya and Guoyu:Zhouyu. The phoenix was the metaphor of Emporer Wen.

Hanfeizi:Yulao and Shiji record the story of King Zhuang of Chu, saying he was like a phoenix, which did not sing for three year, then suddenly amazed the world when it sang.

The Old Tangshu, written by Liu Xu (887-947CE), records, Emperor Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, changed his reign title from Gaozong Shangyuan Third Year to Yi Feng (or Feng Yi, literally means Phoenix Manner) First Year, after the official of Chenzhou having reported that a phoenix appeared in Wanqiu (today’s Zhoukou of Henan).

Shangshu and Shiji:Xiabenji record, (in the Xia Dynasty) when phoenix danced with its impressive and dignified manner, all animals danced together, celebrating the peace.

Shuoyuan, written by Liu Xiang (77-6BCE), says that “Phoenix, the leader of all animals, likes the emperor leads all officials.”

Clearly, phoenix was the sign of the imperial power until the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE).  

 

Since Wu Ze-tian, Phoenix Became the Metaphor of the Imperial Power of Empress and Female Ruler, While Dragon Became the Metaphor of the Imperial Power of Emperor.

In 690CE, Wu Ze-tian (624-705CE) had Emperor Ruizong (her youngest son, Li Dan, ruling from 684-690CE) yield the throne to her and established the Wu Zhou Dynasty (690-705) with herself as the ruler.

She built ancestral temples for the Wu families, (who were offspring of the Zhou Dynasty 1046-256BCE,) in the capital Shendu (today’s Luoyang), enthroned people from the Wu families to be princes and princesses, and gave the honorific title of Primogenitor Emperor to Zhou Emperor Wen (Ji Chang, 1152-1056BCE).

Wu Ze-tian renamed Zhongshu Sheng to Feng Ge (literally means Phoenix Minister) and Menxia Sheng to Luan Tai (literally means Phoenix Minister). Zhongshu Sheng, Menxia Sheng and Shangshu Sheng were three highest administrative offices of the country.

Wu Ze-tian said that phoenix was the metaphor of the imperial power of empress and female ruler of the country and dragon was the metaphor of the imperial power of male emperor. Dragon began to be used to decrate emperor’s robe. Meanwhile in order to get more supports for her being a ruler of the country which emphasized Confucianism, Wu Ze-tian praised highly Buddhism and claimed herself to be the metempsychosis of Buddha Maitreya.

The empress’ coronets were decrated with only flowers before Wu Ze-tian’s time. After Wu Ze-tian, the Tang began to decrate the emperor’s robes and crowns with dragon and the empress’ coronets with phoenix. The Song Dynasty (960-1279) did not decrate the emperor’s robes and crowns with dragon but decrated the empress’ coronets with both phoenix and dragon. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) decrated the emperor’s robes and crowns with dragon and the empress’ coronets with both phoenix and dragon. While the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) decrated the emperor’s robes and crowns with dragon and the empress’ coronets with only phoenix.

Clearly, after Wu Ze-tian, phoenix being the metaphor of the imperial power was weakened, but dragon being the metaphor of the imperial power was increased.

Meanwhile, since the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256BCE) until today, people often used phoenix to be the metaphor of both male and female elite and be the auspicious sign for common people, such as, Pang Tong (179-214CE) was called Young Phoenix and Zhuge Liang (181-234CE) was called Hidden Dragon. People called twins “Luan Zi” or “Luan Feng” (two phoenixes) of “Long Feng twins (only since the Qing Dynasty).

The Earliest Dragon Worship Came from The Huang Di People.

The most famouse records of dragons were Fire Dragon, also called Light Nine Darkness, or Light Darkness, recorded in The Classic of the Great Wilderness: North, “In the west of the Qinghai Lake and north of the Chishui River, there was Mount Zhangwei. There was a god with a human face and snake body and was red. It was Fire Dragon. It’s body length was one thousand li(s). It had vertical eyes. Its eyes opened, it was the day time; its eyes closed, it was the night. It did not eat, sleep and rest. It could swallow the wind and rain.”

Mount Zhangwei was located in the north of the Chishui River, the inhabitation areas of the Huang Di People. Therefore, the earliest dragon worship came from the Huang Di People.

The Four Classic of the Great Wilderness:North records a war between the Ying Long People (Huang Di’s offspring) and the Chi You People (Zhuan Xu’s offspring). The Ancestor-god Huang Di sent his daughter, Fairy Ba, a heavenly fairy, who ordered the Ba People, to help the Ying Long. After the Ying Long had killed the Chi You and later killed the Kua Fu People (Zhuan Xu’s offspring), they went south, this was why the south was rainy. Later the Ancestor-god Huang Di put the Ba People to the north of the Chishui River.

  Offspring of the Ying Long People worshipped their ancestor-god Ying Long as a kind of dragon, which could control the rain.

Due to the Ying Long People going south after the wars, and being the reason of the south rainy, the dragon worships appeared in few southern and central near the southern mountains, such as, the god with a dragon body and a human face, or a dragon body and a bird head or a bird body and a dragon head, recorded in The Classic of the Five Hidden Mountains.

 

Archaeological Discoveries about Dragon

There were no records of dragon’s types and appearances before the Zhou Dynasty. However, from archaeological discoveries, we could find out what the early dragons looked like.

 

 

 

 

 

1. stone dragon	8000 years ago	Liaoning, Fuxin, Chahai	Xinglongwa Culture (6200-5400BCE)	辽宁阜新查海
2. Mussel shell dragon	6400 years ago	Henan, Puyang,	Yangshao Culture (5000-3000BCE)	河南濮阳
3. Cobblestone dragon	6000 years ago	Hubei, Huangmei, Jiaodun	Chang-jiang River Valley Culture	湖北黄梅焦墩
4. Pottery dragon	5500 years ago	Gansu, Gangu, Xiping	Yangshao Culture (5000-3000BCE)	甘肃甘谷西坪
5. Pottery dragon	4300 years ago	Shanxi, Xiangfen, Taosi	Taosi (Longshan Culture  (4300-3900 years ago)	山西襄汾陶寺
6. Jade dragon	5000 years ago	Neimenggu, Wengniute	Hongshan Culture (4000-3000BCE)	内蒙古翁牛特旗
7. Pottery fish dragon	5500 years ago	Shaanxi, Baoji, Beishouling	Yangshao Culture (5000-3000BCE)	陕西宝鸡北首岭
8. Pottery bird dragon	5400 years ago	Henan, Sanmenxiao, Miaodigou	Yangshao Culture (5000-3000BCE)	河南三门峡庙底沟
9. Turquoise dragon	3700 years ago	Henan, Yanshi, Erlitou	Erlitou Culture (1700-1400BCE)	河南偃师二里头
10. Jade dragon	5300 years ago	Anhui ,Hanshan, Lingjiatan	Lingjiatan Culture (3400-3200BCE)	安徽含山凌家滩
11. Jade  dragon	4200 years ago	Hubei, Tianmen, Shijiahe	Shijiahe Culture (2100-1900BCE)	湖北天门石家河
12. Jade drago of Fuhao , wife of Wuding （?-1192BCE)	Shang Dynasty	Henan Anyang	Shang	河南安阳妇好墓

 

The Appearance and Birth of Dragon Became More Mythification since the Zhou Dynasty.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, more people believed that dragon was not like any animals that they had ever seen. The appearance of dragon became more mythification in some written records.

Shuowen Jiezi (written by Xu Shen 58-147CE in the Eastern Han Dynasty) firstly records the common endorsement of the dragon’s appearance: “Dragon is the leader of scaled animals. Its size is changeable. It can be both visible and invisible. It flys to the heaven in the Spring Equinox and lurks under the abyss in the Autumnal Equinox.” (This hints us that ancient people believed that dragon needed hibernation.)

The dragon’s birth also became more mythification since the Zhou Dynasty. Huainanzi, written by Liu An (179-122BCE), records, “Yu Jia (all flying animals’ ancestor) gave birth to the flying dragon, who gave birth to phoenix.” The Buddhist Scriptures or Great Scriptures say, “Jia Yu (Yu Jia) gave birth to Ying Long, who gave birth to phoenix.”

Since the Zhou dynasties, the types of dragons became more. Hetu says, “There are Yellow, Blue, White and Black dragons.” Guangya, (written by Zhang Yi duing the three kingdoms period 220-265CE) says, “Jiao Long has scales, Ying Long has wings, Qiu Long has horns, Chi Long has no horns.”

Dragon Became a Powerful Spirit Animal since the Zhou and Han Dynasties.

The oracle bones character has no records of the Shang Emperors offering sacrifics to dragon, suggesting the Shang people did not regarded dragon as a powerful spirit animal.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, dragon was regarded by some people as one of the four spirit animals: Kylin, Phoenix, Tortoise and Dragon, recorded in Liji.Liyun. Other records of the Zhou, including the brones, show the four spirit animals: Dragon, Tiger, Zhuque (red phoenix) and deer or fish or tortoise.

Historians commonly agree that the rulers of the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256BCE) united China with help from the Huang Di People (especially, Bei Di and Xi Rong People) and Yan Di People (especially, Di Qiang People).

To encourage the assimilation of all Chinese people, the Zhou fabricated several new stories, which could not be found in the previous three books of Shanhaijing, and added these stories into one more part to Shanhaijing - Five Classic of Regions Within the Seas, declaring King Yan Di and Huang Di to be the common ancestors of all Chinese people and falsely claiming that Di Jun, Zhuan Xu and Shao Hao were descendants of Huang Di and Yan Di, despite in the earliest records of Shanhaijing, Yan Di, Huang Di, Zhuan Xu, Di Jun and Shao Hao were different groups of Neolithic Chinese people.

Due to helping the Zhou to destroy the Shang, the Huang Di’s and Yan Di’s offspring, who formerly lived in the far north of the Yellow River, entered the Yellow River Valley, became aristocrats of the Zhou and brought the dragon worship, which originated in the Huang Di People, to the Yellow River and Changjiang River valleys. The dragon outweighed other zoolatry worships and became one of the four spirit animals.

The early Han Dynasty, whose emperors were offspring of the Xi He People and originally worshipped phoenix, did not take dragon seriously, until the late time of the Western Han Dynasty (202BCE-8CE), when the imperial power was controlled by the Eunuch and Empress Wang Zheng-jun’s relatives. The country suffered economic recession and social turbulence; the Wang family and Wang Mang praised dragon; people sought spiritual sustenance and seeked superstitious beliefs, dragon became a powerful spirit animal.

Since the late Western Han Dynasty and Xin Dynasty (8-25CE), the four spirit animals became: blue dragon (who protected and controlled the east), white tiger (west), red Zhuque (phoenix) (south) and black tortoise and snake (north). They could protect the peace of the four seasons and four directions.

Shuoyuan, written by Liu Xiang (77-6BCE), records that “Phoenix ranks the first and it can reach God, set the country to the right and lead people to the right way; while Dragon ranks the fourth, its size is changeable, it is both visible and invisible, but it does not have the abilities which phoenix has.”

Phoenix was the metaphor of the imperial power since the Shang, Zhou and Han dynasties, while since the Zhou Dynasty, people began to use dragon to be the metaphor of male elite (but not used on the imperial power). Such as, Confucius said that Lao Zi was profound and mysterious, like a powerful dragon. Zhuge Liang (181-234CE) was called Hidden Dragon.

Song Chao of the Editorial Department of History Studies, Beijing, claims that only since the latter stage of the Western Han Dynasty (202BCE-9CE), when it entered social upheaval, and during the Xin (8-25CE) and Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220CE), was the image of Nüwa changed from that of an indeterminate Goddess to a creature with a snake tail and human face. [4]

Liu Bang (256-195BCE), the First Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and Dragon.

The Records of the Grand Historian: Gaozu Benji record, “Auntie Liu was taking a nap at the slope of the bank of a big lake. As she lay there sleeping, she met the “Shen (GOD)” in a dream. Suddenly, the skies darkened and thunder and lightning erupted. Concerned, the woman’s husband came to find her. However, he saw a Jiao Long (dragon) above her head. Shortly after that, she became pregnant and gave birth to Gaozu (Liu Bang).”

The Records of the Grand Historian state only two times at which a dragon appeared near Liu Bang. The second record was, “Wufu and Auntie Wang claimed that they saw a dragon above Liu’s head when he slept after becoming drunk in their bistro.”

The Records of the Grand Historian include a famous story that Liu Bang killed a big white snake after drinking. Other people came to the place where Liu Bang had killed the snake and saw an old woman, who claimed that Liu Bang was the son of the “Hong Di (Red King, or red dragon)” and had killed her son, the white snake, son of the “Bai Di (White King or white dragon).”

Although Sima Qian wrote about a dragon appearing near Liu Bang and his mother and some scholars considered this a link between the Dragon and the emperor, Liu Bang was the son of God, not the dragon. We can verify this from the following aspects.

(1)  The literal meaning of the Chinese Character “Shen” is God and “Long” is dragon. Sima Qian said Liu Bang’s mother dreamed of the Shen (God) and used a Chinese word “ze,” literally means “however or but,” before saying her husband saw the Long (dragon). Sima Qian was very precise in wording. He used two distinct words, Shen (God) and Long (dragon), when telling the story of Liu Bang’s birth. Shen, in this story, was absolutely not the Long. If Shen was a Long, Sima Qian would not have used two different words to refer to that individual in the same story.

(2)  Liu Bang’s non-biological father was an offspring of Liu Lei, who was a Dragon Tamer in the Xia Dynasty and regarded dragons as likeable animals that could be tamed and even eaten, recorded in Zuozhuan.Zhaogong Twenty-ninth Year. They did not worship dragons and never regarded dragons as gods, instead, they could defeat dragons.

(3)  A large number of people believed that dragon was harmful and made disasters during the Zhou and Han Dynasties, particularly offspring of the Shao Hao (Nü He and Xi He) and Di Jun, who originally worshipped phoenix.

(4)  Shanhaijing and archaeological discoveries reveal that the Xi He People lived in the southwestern Taishan and Yimengshan Mountains, where Beixin Culture (5300-4100BCE) in Tengzhou was discovered. The Xi He People spread out from there to the surrounding areas. Some Xi He women moved to the lower reach of the Ganshui River, found the Di Jun men to be their husbands and set up ten groups of the Ri (sun) People near the Four Lakes of Nanyang, Dushan, Zhaoyang and Weishan.

According to the Zhou’s strict hierarchical system, people who lived in cities were called Guo Ren, or state people. The slaves in the lowest class were often regarded as livestock; the main source of slaves was from prisoners of wars. The Ye Ren in the second-lowest class had no political rights, no rights to build a school or study in a school, and no rights to write a book; the main source of Ye Ren was from conquered lands. Most of the descendants of the Shao Hao (including the Xi He) and Di Jun peoples, who lived in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and Changjiang River valleys, became the Zhou’s Ye Ren.

Feng Town, which was near the Four Lakes, was in the territory of the State of Song (1114-286BCE). The Song’s first king, who was a brother of the Shang’s last emperor, led some of the previous Shang’s people and peerages to surrender to the Zhou, thus he became the first king of the Song and those people became the Zhou’s and Song’s Guo Ren(s) and peerages and lived in the cities. Most of the Xi He and Ri People lived in the countryside and became the Zhou’s and Song’s Ye Ren(s).

Liu’s mother, his non-biological father and their families were illiterate people and farmers for generations, lived in Feng Town’s countryside and were socially inferior, suggesting they were the Zhou’s Ye Ren, Zhou’s conquered people. Therefore, they were offspring of the Xi He or Ri (sun) People, who originally worshipped phoenix. They believed that dragon was harmful and made disasters.

 (5) Liu Bang’s non-biological father saw a Jiao Long near his mother. What was Jiao Long?

Jiao Long was a kind of dragon with scales, recorded in Guangya, (written by Zhang Yi duing the three kingdoms period 220-265CE), “Jiao Long has scales, Ying Long has wings, Qiu Long has horns, Chi Long has no horns.”

Shiyilu, written by Wang Jia (Zi-nian, ?-385CE), records, “Han Emperor Zhao (94-74BCE) fished in the Weishui River and captured a white Jiao (long), which looked like a snake with teeth out of lip. He ordered the chef to cook it. It was very delicius. The Jiao’s bone was blue and meat was purple. Therefore, Jiao Long (dragon) was edible.”

Hanshu records Emperor Wu (156-87BCE, the great-grandson of Liu Bang) killed a Jiao Long (dragon) in the Xunyang River.

One of the most famous expert in traditional Chinese Medicine, Li Shi-zhen (1518-1593), who was called the Saint of Medicine, recorded in his book, Bencao Gangmu, “According to Guangzhouji, written by Pei Yuan in the Jin Dynasty (265-420CE), Jiao (long) was about one Zhang (about 3.33 meters) in length, looked like a snake but had four legs.”

Clearly, during the Zhou (1046-256BCE) and Han (202BCE-220CE) Dynasties, many people regarded a kind of aquatic or amphibian animal, which looked like a scaled snake with teech out of lip, about three meters in length, and had four legs, as Jiao Long. (Is it sounded like a crocodile?)

Liu Bang’s family and the Han’s emperors believed that Jiao Long (dragon) was harmful and they killed Jiao Long. If Emperors Zhao and Wu believed that Liu Bang was the son of a Jiao Long, they would worship Jiao Long as ancestors instead of killing and eating them.

(6) Phoenix was the sign of the imperial power since the Shang, Zhou and Han Dynasties. Although the Zhou Dynasty had risen dragon to be one of the four spirit animals, the early Han Dynasty did not take it seriously, until the late time of the Western Han Dynasty (202BCE-8CE) and the Xin Dynasty (8-25CE, ruling by Wang Mang).

Shuoyuan, written by Liu Xiang (77-6BCE, a descendant of Liu Bang’s family), says that “Phoenix ranks the first of the four spirit animals, while dragon ranks the fourth.” Clearly, the Han Dynasty respected phoenix more than dragon. Therefore, if Liu Bang, whose ambition was to be the emperor of China, wanted to claim himself to be the son of one of the four spirit animals, he would chose phoenix, not dragon.

 (7) Liu Bang, his families and the Han’s emperors never claimed Liu Bang being the son of a dragon publicly and privately. The Han emperors did not worship dragon. There were no historical records of Liu Bang’s non-biological father and his family members, including Liu Bang’s mother, worshipping dragon. It was the old woman, who made up a story, which claimed that Liu Bang was the son of the “Red Dragon (Red King).”

 Phoenix was regarded as the metaphor of the imperial power during the Shang, Zhou and Han Dynasties. Meanwhile, at the time of Liu Bang’s birth, most of people still had the thoughts of hierarchical system. Falsely fabricating Liu Bang being the son of a dragon, the old woman was to downgrade Liu Bang. She was implying that Liu Bang was a man, who was a Ye Ren (the second lowest class in the hierarchical system), did not have the hierarchical qualification of being an emperor of the country. She wanted people to believe that Liu Bang was not a phoenix and a man, who could lead the country, liked a phoenix, but only a dragon and a man with some abilities, liked a dragon.

Due to the above reasons, the truth of Liu Bang’s birth is that Liu Bang’s mother met God in her dream and became pregnant. However, a Jiao Long (dragon) came to harm her. But her husband came to find her and the dragon dared not to harm her.

Liu Bang was the son of God, not the dragon. The more reasonable interpretation of the red dragon appearing near Liu Bang and his mother was that the dragon wanted to harm them.

 

Dragon Worship Bloomed Twice in Ancient China.

Dragon worship first bloomed in the northern China during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589CE), a prolonged stand-off between the southern dynasties who controlled the southern territories of China and the northern dynasties who controlled the northern territories of China. During this period, Confucianism declined and people who suffered a lot from the wars and social turbulence sought spiritual sustenance. Buddhism, which promoted seeking deliverance through ascetic, flourished in China. Meanwhile, the dragon worship bloomed in the northern China due to most of the rulers of the northern dynasties coming from the northern nomadic people, who were the Huang Di’s offspring and worshipped dragon. 

The Qingzhou (Shandong) Buddhas, which discovered in 1996 in the Longxing (dragon rising) Temple, have dragon engraving on the buddhas’ statues, which were made during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, revealing the attempts to blending the dragon worship and Buddhism.

Dragon worship flourished again in China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-979), when China fell into another period of disarray, wars and insurrection. Confucianism, which had flourished during the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, declined again and Buddhism flourished again in many places of China.

In the Leifeng Tower of the Westlake in Hangzhou in 2001, archeologists discovered a bronze statue of Buddha with a dragon pedestal in the underground basement, which was built by Qian Hong-chu (929-988), King of Wuyue State, proving the blending of dragon worship and Buddhism had spread to the southern China.

 

Dragon Became One of the Metaphors of the Imperial Power of Emperor since Wu Ze-tian.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589CE), Buddhism flourished in China, meanwhile a large number of people believed in Taosim. The conflicts between the different beliefs were sharp. In order to mollify severe social contradictions, the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE), who emphosized Confucianism, implemened a policy of the reconciling and simultaneous development three beliefs: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taosim, which were called “Three Saints (or Three Religions) Temple,” and had three main gods: Jade Emperor (Taoism), Gautama Buddha (Buddhism) and Confucius (Confucianism).

In these beliefs and folklore, dragons had very low official rank and could control the rain and earth’s aquatic areas under the leadership of the Heaven. The Tang Dynasty (618-907) had a famous folklore story of the Jinghe Dragon tampering the god’s order of rain and Wei Zheng (580-643CE, a high official) killing the dragon in his dream.

After Wu Ze-tian took in charge of the imperal power, she said that phoenix was the metaphor of the imperial power of empress and female ruler of the country and dragon was the metaphor of the imperial power of male emperor.

After Wu Ze-tian, the Tang began to decrate the emperor’s robes and crowns with dragon and the empress’ coronets with phoenix. The Tang’s records also tell that Li Long-ji, Emperor Tang Xuanzong (685-762CE) of the Tang, gave bronze mirrors carved with dragons as awards to meritorious statesmen. However, emperors of the Tang still respected phoenix more than dragon, until its late stage near the imminent doom.

After Wu Ze-tian, phoenix being the metaphor of the imperial power was weakened, but dragon being the metaphor of the imperial power was increased. Phoenix and dragon appeared on emperor’s robes and crowns and empress’ coronets during the Song (960-1279), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) Dynasties.

 

Dragon Became the Top Metaphor of the Imperial Power only Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Dragon had evolved into the imperial symbol only since the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1636-1912) Dynasties, when Chinese emperors started wearing Dragon Robes and calling themselves “Son of God, The Real Dragon.” The Ming’s and Qing’s emperors rose dragon to be the top metaphor of the imperial power, the metaphor of emperor, while phoenix to be the second metaphor of the imperial power, the metaphor of empress. Since then, dragon became a symbol of power, strength and good luck and even a totem of China as a whole in modern times.

However, dragon did not become the main god in common people. In the Three Saints beliefs, common Chinese people believed that the dragons were in charge of rain, rivers, waters and oceans, under the leadership of the Jade Emperor in Heaven and lived in oceans on Earth. Such common people’s beliefs were recorded in the novels Investiture of the Gods (Feng Shen Bang, author unkonw) and A Journey to the West (written by Wu Cheng-en, 1500-1583), both written during the Ming Dynasty. The Three Saints (or Three Religions) Temple, which became very popular since the Tang Dynasty, were built widespreadly since the Ming Dynasty and lasted until 1940s. Most of the Three Saints Temples were demolished in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Many places built Dragon King Temples, but in most villages, the dragon temples were as small as the Village God Temple. In rural area, people kept their tradition and believed that there was one GOD in Heaven who was in charge of everything. At their homes they offered sacrifices to GOD, all spirits and ancestors during festivals, but no one offered sacrifices to the dragons.

 

 

Conclusion

Due to the long-time of the matriarchal clan society, it was difficult to ascertain an individual’s patriarchal clan. However, almost all groups of ancient Chinese People accepted only endogamy during the Neolithic Age, enabling Shanhaijing to identify about 150 groups of people, who came from the five biggest groups of people and had played important roles in making ancient Chinese civilization. The five most famous groups were the Zhuan Xu, Di Jun, Huang Di, Yan Di and Shao Hao. They used to live in the Pamirs Plateau, soon gathered in the area in the west of the Qinghai Lake and north of the Tibetan Plateau, then moved to other places of China.

The Shao Hao People, who spread out along the Weihe River Valley to today’s Shandong Peninsula and the eastern seashore, branched out to many groups, including the Nü He People, who worshipped the phoenix Yuan and lived near near the east end of the earth and from the Jiaodong Peninsula and eastern seashore spread out to the south and north along coastline during about 16,000-14,000 years BP.

Worrying the sea level rising, the Nü He sent the Chang Xi People to the western Kunlun Mountains and set up twelve groups of the Yue (moon) People, and sent the Xi He People to move to the southwestern Taishan and Yimengshan Mountains and set up ten groups of the Ri (sun) People. The Nü He and Xi He were the main founders of the most advanced Dong Yi Culture first in the Shandong Peninsula, later spread to the Yellow River and Chang jiang River valleys and other places, greatly influenced the development of other early cultures and had the leading role in making the Yellow River Valley Cultural System the root of ancient Chinese civilization.

The phoenix worship,which came from the Nü He People, the main founders of Dong Yi Culture, became the first worship in ancient China until the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE). Nü Wa was regarded as the highest Goddess.

Due to helping the Zhou to destroy the Shang, the Huang Di’s and Yan Di’s offspring brought the dragon worship to the Yellow River and Changjiang River valleys. The dragon outweighed other zoolatry worships and became one of the four spirit animals: blue dragon, white tiger, red Zhuque (phoenix) and black tortoise and snake. Phoenix ranked the first and Dragon ranked the fourth, recorded in Shuoyuan. 

From the Shang, Zhou and Han Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty (618-907CE), phoenix was the sign of the imperial power, while dragon was only used to be the metaphor of male elite (but not used on the imperial power).

Empress Wu Ze-tian (624-705CE) said that phoenix was the metaphor of the imperial power of empress and female ruler of the country and dragon was the metaphor of the imperial power of male emperor. After Wu Ze-tian, phoenix being the metaphor of the imperial power was weakened, but dragon being the metaphor of the imperial power was increased.

Dragon had evolved into the imperial symbol only since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when Chinese emperors started wearing Dragon Robes and calling themselves “Son of God, The Real Dragon.” Since then, dragon became a symbol of power, strength and good luck and even a totem of China as a whole in modern times. However, common Chinese people believed that dragons were in charge of rain, rivers, waters and oceans, under the leadership of the Jade Emperor in Heaven and lived in oceans on Earth.

 

References

[1] Liu Xiang (79BCE-8BCE) and Liu Xin (53BCE-23BCE, son of Liu Xiang) were first editors of Shanhaijing (before 4200BCE-256BCE).

[2] Guo Pu (276-324CE), a scholar from the Jin Dynasty (also known as Sima Jin, 265-420CE).

[3] Vivien Gornitz, Sea Level Rise, After the Ice Melted and Today, Jan 2007, NASA,

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/gornitz_09/  accessed December 19, 2022

[4] Zhao Xi-tao, Sea-level changes of eastern China during the past 20000 years, Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 1979, I-2.

[5] Song Yao-liang, Prehistoric Human-Face Petroglyphs of the North Pacific Region, Arctic Studies Center Newsletter, July 1998.

The mystery of Prehistoric Human-Face Petroglyphs, introduced by Song Yao-liang on CCTV channel 10, “Discovery”, at 21:25 PM on May 4 and 5, 2011.

http://jishi.cntv.cn/explore/tansuofaxian/classpage/video/20110504/...  accessed December 19, 2022

[6] Archaeological discoveries of Neolithic Age in Shandong Peninsula, Yantai Museum, April 3, 2007

http://www.jiaodong.net/wenhua/system/2006/12/22/000110743.shtml  accessed December 19, 2022