Sat, Feb 05, 2000 page9

• Symbols of fertility

  • By Mark Caltonhill / SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR, TAIPEI TIMES
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  In Western culture, dragons are personified as fire-breathing, damsel-snatching monsters who die at the hands of heroes like Hercules and St. George. Dating back into the mists of prehistory, dragons are most likely a development of the despised snake; indeed the word "dragon"derives from from an ancient Greek word meaning "serpent."Slaying a dragon is therefore tantamount to killing the snake that tempted Eve and led to humanity being cast out from the Garden of Eden. In Western art, the Virgin Mary is often portrayed trampling a snake.

  First appearing at least 8,000 years ago, the Chinese dragon is also of great antiquity. Being benign, however, it is very different. It later gained such positive connotations in Chinese culture that for 2,000 years it was used by the emperor as his personal emblem. From the Ming dynasty onward, unofficial depiction was outlawed. Histories also record that "the mother of Liu Bang [the first Han emperor] dreamt she met a god, felt the dragon and became pregnant.?This is one of the reasons that the Chinese people sometimes refer to themselves as the "descendants of the dragon."

  The origins of the Chinese dragon are even less clear than those of its occidental relative. There are four main theories concerning its origins: (i) Dragons really do exist. (ii) They were derived, like the Western dragon seems to be, from some animal that now exists or once did. (iii) They represent a combination of various animals. (iv) Dragons are derived from altogether non-biological sources.

  Real dragons

  In a culture where Taoism and Buddhism allow the reality of gods, spirits and ghosts, belief in dragons and other strange creatures with magical powers is quite straightforward.

  Dragons are so well established in Chinese mythology, literature and even mentality that until recently, people took their existence for granted. Physical evidence, such as the Shang dynasty oracle-bone texts ?the earliest examples of Chinese writing ?were thought to be "dragon bones"and were ground up for use in traditional medicines.

  The fact that all the other animals named in the divination inscriptions were real meant that many people believed that dragons too existed four millennia ago.

  Strange animals.

  There are a number of candidates for an animal that might have inspired ancient peoples to tales of dragons. Examining the word as it was originally written on oracle bones, experts have suggested it so strongly resembles the word for snake with an altered head that some species of snake, perhaps a cobra, might underlie the word's etymology.

  The promotion of the snake to dragon would be natural for an ancestral people that worshipped the snake as a totem. Other contenders include crocodiles, sea horses and ammonites. Early depictions of dragons were often executed in jade or other semiprecious stone.

  Some species of dinosaur is suggested by the Chinese name konglong, "fearsome dragon."Or perhaps the opposite is true. Lobsters are called "dragon shrimp"and the name for the "longan"fruit derives from the Chinese for "dragon eye."

  Early depictions of short-legged, crawling dragons point towards some kind of giant lizard. Stronger archaeological and ethnological evidence supports a large, migratory fish which, swimming up rivers in the spring, gave rise to the superstition that the coming of the "dragons"marked the time for sowing. Dragons are still believed to live in seas and rivers, and to ascend into the clouds and cause rain. They were therefore regarded as symbols of fertility.

  Animal totems

  Early Chinese history suggests that what is now considered the homogeneous Han race, resulted from the fusion of a number of Neolithic groups, each with its own culture and religious practices. One aspect was the worship of different animal totems, sometimes related to creation or virgin birth legends. The ancestor of the Shang became pregnant after eating a blackbird's egg and the Chou progenitor after treading in a bear's footprint.

  Dragons were possibly another such totem or more likely a composite animal created during the gradual unification of these various peoples. Dragons have long been described as having deer antlers, snake bodies, fish scales, eagle claws, ox ears and a wispy goatee beard. That they did not inherit wings leaves great room for speculation. Perhaps the eagle worshippers joined the "federation"at a late date when myths surrounding water-dwelling dragons were too deeply embedded.

  In contrast to the rest of East Asia where dragons are depicted as positive forces, some of the minority races to the south of China who were left out of this supra-ethnic tribe have myths and legends containing evil dragons.

  Physical phenomena

  Alternatively, dragons may originate in physical phenomena such as cyclones. The Chinese word for these violent winds means "dragon rolling wind."Imagined shapes seen during flashes of lightning and accompanied by the "roar"of thunder are suggested as another possible origin, just as earthquakes were thought of as underground oxen turning over. The tradition of dragons hiding in deep water through the winter and reappearing in spring suggests a connection with the lightning storms of spring and autumn, and confirms their role as symbols of fertility.
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